The Basement of Fear

Colten ran two toy cars on the floor and made bets on who would win. In first place was the sleek red car that his dad had gotten him on a spontaneous whim of generosity. The red car easily became his new favorite; it was the latest model. None of it was cheap plastic where the color would yellow; no, it was all metal. The wheels spun on sturdy spokes he had tested them thoroughly by using his parents’ treadmill. What he had in his hand was no toy but a bona fide Lamborghini that had to cost at least one hundred dollars by his calculations.

The competition was lackluster at best; it was an old, faded blue truck. Trucks were slow by nature; they were suited to carrying interesting rocks he found or transporting his larger action figures. The body was all an ugly plastic that had melted a little when he left it in front of the heater by mistake. To give credit where credit was due, he was impressed by the size of the tires. Even with large tire,s the odds of the blue truck winning were billion to one.

Colten grinned as the red car was miles ahead of blue but, wait? He couldn’t believe what he saw the blue truck was gaining on red. The truck had now tied the red car. He shook his head; this should be scientifically impossible. Colten compounded all evidence again, the red car was more aerodynamic, the color red increase top speeds by 20% and he even made a louder vroom sound for it.

The two racers were neck and neck, when one pulled in front so did the other. Colten begged for the red car to go faster, to pull out a victory at all costs. Suddenly, the truck started to ram the side of the car. This was cheating, reckless and downright villainous. The car swerved with every assault. The brute turns at such high speeds was too much and with one more slam from the truck the car spun out.

Colten lifted up the cheater and wrapped his hands around it and wanted to crush it as punishment. How dare this truck think it could gain his favor through cheating. Undoughtily, it needed to be made an example out of but not here and not now. He needed to endeavor on a searching party to find and assess any damages the red car had suffered. He stood up and looked around on the carpeted floor for a shiny cherry red. At last, he couldn’t spot it and widened his scope. Terrible thoughts sprouted in his mind, what if the paint was scratched? Or if one of the wheels was bent and would wobble when it drove?

He looked through the carpet, under tables and couches but no sight of the red car. Until he returned to the scene of the crime and made the heart retching discover that the car had fallen down the basement stairs and lay on the floor. He thought it might as well be surrounded by lava and dragons. That was were the beast lived. If he dared put a single foot past the basement door surely, he would be snatched and eaten up.

Colten lifted his head and yelled, “MOM!” He waited but no answer so again, “MOM!”

“I’m coming hold on!” his mom came down from upstairs. She had a pen stuffed in her hair and looked at him with clear frustration. “What do you want? I’m doing the taxes right now.”

He pointed down the basement stairs, “I dropped my car can you get it?”

“Why can’t you?”

“There’s a monster down there”

She rubbed her temples. Her words were sharp, “there isn’t a monster down there, you’re going to have to get it. Mommy has important business to do, so please don’t bother me unless it’s important.”

His mother left and Colten was left to solve his own problems. How could his own mother betray him like this? How could she be so wise yet so foolish not to see their home had been cursed by a foul beast. With hungry eyes that larked in the darkness of the basement, waiting to pounce and devour him. His great protecter had abandoned him in his time of need. All those portraits he had made of her apparently meant nothing now.

Colten remembered it clearly. He was sent to fetch fresh towels from the drier to clean up spilt juice. As he fumbled in extracting one towel from the tangled mess of laundry he was startled by a thud. The broom had fallen. He narrowed his eyes to the laid broom; how did it fall he thought, then there was scurrying. Before he could identify where the sound came from the beast darted around him. He feared for his life; he knew the monster was scoping him out for a weak point. To take him down in a single lethal strike. He needed to make the first move if he wanted to escape. He made a mad dash for the stairs; he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The stairs rattled with every pounding footstep until he made it to the door and slammed it behind him.

What option did he have other than leaving his red car. Only death awaited him. A rescue would result in more toys lost and no closer to saving the red car. Colten hung his head and walked off to think how he would break the news that his favorite champion had fallen. Or did he?

He thought about what his mother said. Was it fair for his red car to be abandoned? Was it time for him to slay the hell spawn? For long enough he had lived in fear, he had refused to journey beyond the stairs. But no longer! He would sprint down them on the wings of angels and rescue his red car. He stood in the doorway but before he could even set foot a paw emerged from the darkness. It was covered in thick black fur and flexed its ivory white claws. Colten gasped and clenched his chest as he watched the beast pulled the red car deeper into the basement’s maw.

A one-man covert operation to stanches his red car was no longer an option, he would have to go to battle. To take on the beast he would need help. He rushed to his room so he could draft soldiers to battle the beast. He lined up his toys and observed them with a critical eye.

“This battle is not for the weak,” he said as he marched back and forth like a general. “The beast has captured one of our own, and who would we be if we abandoned them? If any of you are not up for the task, leave, it will be dangerous and we might not make it back. So, turn back while you still can.” All of his toys stood at attention, with their focus exclusively on him. Their eyes were unblinking and ears open.

“Very well then. Let’s see if you have what it takes.”

He needed to select only the best. Not anyone could handle such a deadly mission. First up was his teddy bear. Although, large and being a bear Mr. Snuggles could match the beast. Colten shook his head; Mr. Snuggles fought off monsters from under his bed when he slept. Monsters were scared by cute and cuddly things, beast on the other hand would love to tear up someone like Mr. Snuggles. His next option was Fishman, a superhero with the ability to talk to fish. It was a gift from his uncle who wanted to save a couple of bucks and got him the knock-off. Colten didn’t know precisely what kind of beast it was but definitely wasn’t a fish; thus, this hero proved himself useless. His last option was Sargent Jones. He had successfully served three tours in the backyard and was a super commando. He had seen Jones’ cartoon and just how many bad guys he was able to beat up. Unfortunately, he was severely mangled by a dog which left him without his right leg and forced him to retire.

Colten paced around his room and considered his options. His only real option was Sargent Jones. His wound was a problem and would severely hinder him but his knowledge about how he survived a dog attack would be invaluable. Additionally, his veterancy and tactical mind could be the key to the beast’s defeat. He tucked the sergeant under his arm and started to put on his battle armor.

Colten would need only the finest steel as anything less the beast would turn into ribbons. He dug through his mother’s kitchen for her pans. At first, he tried the heavy cast iron skillets in the oven, but they were far too heavy. He settled for the next best thing, her pots and silver wear. He found a pot that tightly sat on his head and took butter knives and forks and ducted taped them to his arms and legs. Perfect, like a knight ready to slay the monsters, he only lacked a weapon. A knife or a laser gun would had been better, but he couldn’t have those without adult supervisors. He opted for the next best, a spatula. Although not as cool as a laser it provided reach and a solid smacking ability.

With his armor and loyal troop, he was ready to face the beast. He stood at the entrance of the dark abyss that was the basement. He knew what death awaited him but he had to do it. Colten made one last call to his mother,

“MOM! If I don’t make it back don’t give my toys away!”

He looked at Sargent Jones, “this is it, it’s now or never.” Then to the basement, “if you can hear me beast I am coming for you and what you’ve stolen from me!”

Slowly step by step he descended down the stairs. The basement was unfinished with red brick and gray mortar. The washing machine made a rhythmic clanking as it finished a load of clothes. A wide assortment of junk filled the empty spaces. From spare blankets to half used cans of paint could be found. Colten was almost positive that there was a portal to another world hidden in the junk and that was where the beast crawled out of. The portal would have to be another adventure the beast was his only focus.

Colten swallowed hard as he kept his eyes open for any signs of movement. He stepped heal first so to quite his steps. He stood on the last step before he would officially enter the lair of the beast. Were his efforts in vain? Had the beast already torn apart his red car into millions of bits? Was he leading himself and Sargent Jones to the same fate? It would have been easy to turn around and forget about the red car. To act as if the basement never existed. He shook his head and said to himself, “I’m not scared.”

He took a deep breath and fully stepped into the basement. His eyes narrowed, scanning his environment. Boxes, old cans, forgotten furniture but no sight of the creature. Things were quiet… too quiet. He would have heard something that was if the beast didn’t know about his presents. It was too late he was already spotted. He snapped his neck from left to right forward and front, but he couldn’t spot anything. He almost jumped when he saw two green glowing eyes looking back at him for a stack of boxes.

He consulted with Sargent Jones and came up with the plan that Jones would flush out the beast and Colten would give chase. He threw Jones across the basement right at the beast. The army man dive bombed the boxes and sent their contents flying. As the boxes crashed down like an avalanche there was a high pitch yelp as the beast fled. Colten moved as soon as the beast did and violently swung his spatula. He bounced from wall to wall and gave close chase. Soon he cornered the beast agist one of the walls.

He finally had a clear view of the beast, and it was not as large as he thought it was, nor as hair and certainly not as scary. In fact, it wasn’t a beast but a black cat and in its mouth was his red car. Colten dropped his weapon and knelt down. He felt guilty about chasing the cat around with a cooking tool. He extended his hand to the cat, but the animal hissed at him. He attempted again but moved slower and although hesitant that cat let him get close. He was able to take the car out of the cat’s mouth and give the animal a little scratch under the chin. “Sorry for chasing you and thinking you’re a beast.” He didn’t see a collar on her and she looked a little thin too. He had always wanted a cat, and it seemed this was the perfect opportunity.

Before he could make an appeal to his parents about keeping a cat he needed to recover the sergeant. After looking through a few of the boxes he found Jones unharmed. He took the soldier in one arm and the cat in the other. He left the basement and that was when he heard his mother call, “What’s that banging?”

“MOM! I found a cat in the basement. Can I keep it?”

“Huh? Sure, whatever, just be quite please.”

Colten pumped his fist in the air and decided on a name, “I will call you… shadow.”

Sorry for the bad punctuation.