Waist Deep

48

The laundry room was small.Too small.The entire section of the basement that should have been beneath the living room seemed to be missing.I had supposed at first that it was only a half-basement, but now I had a hunch I’d been wrong.

The closet in the laundry room had a sliding door.I opened it.A few bottles of laundry detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets were on the high shelf.A white wall was below the shelf.

I tapped on the wall, expecting to feel concrete.

The hollow sound of wood echoed back at me.

I traced my fingers along the rear corner of the closet and found a finger-hold and pulled.The wall slid aside as easily as the closet door.

I slipped through the open doorway and into another world.