Alyssa Wisniewski
Student Life Editor
“Mom, Dad! Where are you guys?” said Liam. The dark, ominous clouds rolled in as he tried to free himself from the fence that was completely destroyed.
“Liam! We’re right here sweetie,” said his mom. This gave Liam some hope. He knew if he could make it to the basement, that everything would be okay.
Liam opened his eyes to a dark room. He heard rain pouring and claps of thunder as he realized he had already lived the nightmare he just had. He started to cry, he had only lost his parents four months ago. Liam went downstairs to find Uncle John, sitting on the couch drinking the last of his beer.
“Hi Uncle John,” said Liam.
“Kiddo, what are you doing up? It’s almost 3 a.m.!” said Uncle John.
“I couldn’t sleep, I had the dream again.” Uncle John didn’t say anything. He too was dealing with the loss of his sister. Liam crossed the living room to the very small kitchen looking for a snack to calm his nerves. Liam opened the cabinet to nothing but the back wall of the cupboard. “No food again,” Liam thought to himself. He put his hand in the cabinet trying to see if there were snacks, or just something he could eat. In the corner of the very last cabinet was a small wooden black box. Curiosity struck Liam as he reached for the box. He inspected it and called out to Uncle John, “Uncles John, what is this box for?” Liam waited for a response then realized his uncle is asleep after finishing his last beer.
Liam took the box to his room. He unlocked the latch and opened it. Inside was a tiny key. Liam’s first instinct was to see if the key was for his bedroom door. Another roll of thunder clapped as the lightning struck. The whole house became dark. ‘I need to know where this key goes to,’ said Liam. He went to his closet and found his bathrobe and a flashlight. He headed down the hallway quietly. He tried all the bedroom and bathroom doors and still the key didn’t fit anywhere. Liam went back downstairs to try the front door and the coat closet. ‘Darn, I thought for sure the key was for the closet,’ he thought to himself.
The last place to check was the basement. This did not frighten Liam. Liam’s parents taught him that the basement is the safest place to go. He walked over to the basement door, passing his Uncle sleeping on the couch. The key did not work for that door either. With Liam’s brain full of wonder, he slowly tried to open the door. To his surprise, it was unlocked. ‘Uncle John always has this door locked and closed. Why is it open?’ he said to himself. Liam looked down the staircase to see complete darkness. He put one foot on the top step and slowly walked down the stairs with his flashlight in one hand, the key in another.
He flashed his light at the darkness. There were many moving-boxes and old tools Uncle John used for work. He kept searching and found a trunk. He wiped off the dust and tried to make out the words written on it. It read: “Property of Mary Barrington.” ‘My mom? I didn’t know she even had a trunk,’ thought Liam. He looked at it more this time, paying attention to details. Under his mother’s name was a little lock. So small, Liam had not seen it at first. He looked down at the key he found. He placed the key in the lock, feeling the key turn. Click, the box became unlocked. Eager to see what was inside, Liam opened the box, “What in the world is this?”
Alyssa Wisniewski can be contacted at
awisniewski@kscequinox.com
