By Bob Senitram
Because…aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
This is not much of a horror story but this is a true story.
About a month ago we had what they call a 100 year rain. Nothing like what they experience on the coast, but it was pretty horrible for us. And “horrible” is almost “horror”.
That’s the best I can come up with this Halloween.
Anyways, after unloading about 35 gallons of water from our basement, tearin’ up the carpet and loading it in a dumpster along with everything else that was down there, it was time to start tearin’ down the drywall.
One weird thing about our basement is the octagon shaped storage room outside the main area.
Now our house is built on a hill, so that storage room is entirely underground.
No windows, no vents, just a small 100 square ft., octagon shaped room. The drywall is water damaged so I start there. After finishing the side walls, it’s time to take down the drywall opposite to the entrance. I cut around the wall corners with a hand held vibrating saw, take a crowbar and start pryin’ if off.
Instead of insulated foam, I see something else.
Something odd, out of place.
Wallpaper.
Faded yellow-greenish wall paper behind the frame that held up the drywall. Curious, I quickly tear down two more panels and I see an outline of a door.
No door trim, just a old doorknob. I don’t take down the frame ’cause I think it might help keep that room from collapsing.
I reach past the frame, and turn the handle and the door creaks open.
The light from the octagon room reveals a light switch. I click the switch and old timey fluorescent lights above flicker a little bit and lights up. Same faded yellowish-green wallpaper. I look around ’cause I don’t want no creepy crawlies droppin’ on my head.
Looks pretty clean, considering.
I go in.
It’s a hallway.
I walk to the end and there’s another door. I open it, light switch to the left of the inside wall. I flip it on, the lights flicker an light up. Same yellowish wall paper.
This area is bigger, I step in and the roof goes higher. It’s got a row of square fluorescent lights in-between the roof tiles. Old seventies style roof, the cheap particle board squares painted white with the thin white aluminum strips in-between, holdin’ it in place.
On the right and left of me are rows of walls about every 6 feet. I think this was the 60s version of cubicles. Small rooms with no doors, just walls separating the rooms with a hall-like space in-between. I walk down the hall as the lights flicker. Each room/cubicle has one desk, one chair and a small file cabinet.
I couldn’t tell how far it went, but it seemed like the farther I walked, the more rooms appeared.
It felt like I was walking endlessly down this hallway. No end in sight.
Each space seemed like a carbon copy of the last.
Then something caught my attention.
I’d already passed it, so I had to backtrack a few spaces.
There was something there. But what?
Then I spotted the anomaly.
On one of the desks was a floppy disk.
The label read: “Return to Arcade: Volume 2.”
Curious, I take the floppy disk, turn off the lights, and close the entrance doors and go to my pile of old pc stuff I should have thrown away 20 years ago.
Finding my old PC with windows 95, I plug it in, but it uses the old timey monitor, which I just happen to have because I never throw nuthin’ away. One keyboard and mouse later, I’m up and running with my super secure password 1234.
I don’t know why, but something inside me was tellin’ me I had to load that disk.
I pop the disk in and anxiously await as it loads.
The screen goes black. Then the little white cursor/block flickers.
It starts typing…
“BOBBY, ARE YOU THERE?”
My face flushed at the sight and I quickly replied, “YES, IT’S ME.”
I wasn’t sure if I should answer, since a floppy disk obviously can’t talk to you.
Then the reply, “GOOD, WE WERE WORRIED.”
I typed again, “WHO ARE YOU?”
“THANK YOU FOR FINDING US. I AM MANY, AND THE MANY ARE ME…WE HAVE A WARNING FOR YOU…”
AND NOW YOU KNOW!!!
Song in my head:
COMING NEXT: Yahoooooooo!
SELECT PAGE TWO FOR THE SECOND FEATURE: Icing on The Cake
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