Lindsey McDonald (i_changed) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2011-09-04 21:13:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | lindsey mcdonald |
Underneath (narrative)
"Okay, from the top. The earth's outer layer is called...?"
"The crust."
"And what's underneath that?"
"Mmm...the mantle?"
Lindsey smiled at his son. "Yup. And under that? Come on. You know this one."
"The outer core."
"And under that?"
"The inner core."
"And under that?"
"Underneath that... nothing."
"Just the soft, chewy center."
Zack mock-laughed at his father, then. The joke had been cheesy and they both knew it.
"Hey, hon. Oven light just went out. I need a bulb from the cellar."
Lindsey's blood ran cold. He wanted to help Trish out. He did. But... the thing was in the cellar. The thing. And every day, every damn day...
"There should be some in the hall closet," he said. Anything to avoid going down there again.
No, Trish said. Not the right ones. After another glib comment that didn't save him, Lindsey got up and opened the door to the basement.
"They're on the shelf," his wife called. "Where we keep those thingies."
He started to the door, dreading what was coming. Everything was so perfect, so heartbreakingly perfect. The perfect wife. Beautiful, smart. Frisky in the morning. The smart son, who adored him. Who cracked jokes. Who made Lindsey smile.
And underneath?
Underneath there was this. He couldn't explain it, and he knew that was because he wasn't allowed to. Pieces were missing. It felt wrong trying to think about it too hard. But he knew what was down there. And it wasn't nice.
It was big and mean and had a torture chamber, and it piled up hearts on the floor, hearts it ripped out.
He could hardly move, waiting for it. He actually shut his eyes today to brace himself. Lindsey just stood there until his wife urged him on.
"Hon? How's that lightbulb coming?"
He still couldn't think. It was all hazy. It was all fine. He was fine here, and he'd wait, and the demon...
Lindsey opened the door. Turned the knob, and stepped through it, starting down the stairs. The stone necklace he'd been wearing fell to the floor and broke in half.
Lindsey remembered, now.
But this wasn't the basement.
This was...
He opened the door again, to look back on where he'd just come from. It was gone. It wasn't the cellar door anymore, it was office door with his name on it, and out the window of that office was a city he'd never seen.
Lindsey furrowed his eyebrows, looking out his new window.
What was underneath, this time?