All told the drop was roughly eight feet. The proximity of the ground along with the ribbon of daylight shining through the trapdoor assuaged some of Kolkamitza’s trepidation. He told himself he would simply try to discover what the hatch was, then he would climb back to the surface. He would even phone the landlord and explain the saga to him in full. After all, he’d simply been trying to bury a cherished pet, when suddenly…

His boot soles hit bottom, creating a cavernous thud, even with the padding of the Persian rug to soften the drop. He pulled the flashlight from the pocket of his cargo pants and swung it about.

The room was large; roughly fifty feet by his estimation. But how could such a structure be possible? At this size, at least a portion of this wooden longhouse must sit directly under his home. Granted, his house had no basement, so such a thing was feasible, if far-fetched.

Moving the light above about, Kolkamitza took in more of what looked to be some form of storage unit. Furniture and crates lined the wood-slat walls, along with hulking forms made amorphous by fabric coverings. The air was musty and cool. The structure itself was like the hull of a ship, with its trussed roof and network of bulky support beams.

A light burst into view at the far end of the room. Though he only glimpsed it peripherally, the appearance of the bright orb caused Kolkamitza to gasp. His heart swelled, his testicles climbed upward.

He could see it plainly now: there was the silhouette of a man standing at the opposite end of the room. The figure’s shape cunningly refused to be caught in Kolkamitza’s flashlight. Kolkamitza stumbled backward, his trembling hand feeling about for the rope’s end. Never had his desire to see the sun been so dire.

He began to pull himself toward the light. He looked back, certain that the figure was now charging toward him. How long had the apparition been down here, he wondered, just waiting, waiting for someone to open that buried door and set him free?

When Kolkamitza noticed that the man also looked to be scaling a rope toward the same bright square of daylight, he squinted to better accustom his eyes to the dimness. The ornate frame of a large mirror slowly became apparent. Once Kolkamitza had assured himself that what he had seen was nothing more than his own murky double reflected in that standing glass he laughed weakly. He lowered himself back down.