/yesod

Tag: basement

  • feet wrapped in rags

    …the children come out from the alcoves and holes, ragged scavenger ghosts huddled together and shuffling along the dusty floor, their hollow eyes sweeping back and forth, mouths gaping . . . they are in thrall to an old woman, an older ghost, who herds them like cattle and feeds off of their misery…

    I stand on the rickety wooden steps, watching them from above, not daring to step down into the range of their clutching hands.

  • cat below

    Working late, I hear one of the cats crying below in the basement. It is a faint, plaintive sound.

    I set aside the story I’ve been working on and get up with a sigh. Our two cats have been a considerable amount of trouble lately — skittish, fighting with each other late at night, becoming more and more territorial.

    Or, like tonight, just crying in the basement for no reason.

    I open the door to my office and stop: There in the front room are both of our cats. We regard each other, eyes wide.

    I close the door again and return to work.

    Below, the basement is quiet.