Tales of Shady Grove

A hallway.. it was a hallway, He thought to himself. Long and dark with very little light, its walls some deep shade of darkened blue with black patterns everywhere, the hallway seemed to stretch on into blackness. But there was something there: a single door just at the end.

It haunted him. When opened, he was afraid he may not like what he found... But at last, the dream that had tormented him for months, blurred and confusing, was suddenly much clearer. He knew that this was not the end but only the beginning of a journey that he had been preparing for... although unknowingly.

Parker opened his eyes and sat straight up in bed. His mind raced.

This dream...this image burnt into his thoughts, would become their watermark until he uncovered its mysteries.

“What’s behind that door?” he whispered softly to himself in the dead cold air of the night. It was freezing in his room, and his breath formed clouds of steam, silently floating, suspended in midair. As Parker began to shiver, he wondered if his parents knew that the heater was broken again. However, as the thought passed through his mind his face was whipped by an icy gust. He looked to find the culprit and as he turned his head, he felt an electric jolt shoot directly up his spine; his eyes widened at what he saw.

His window shutters hung open, swaying side-to-side like two rudders.

“The wind must have done it”, he told himself, hoping he could pacify the feeling of dread that terrorized him. He glanced around his room for an intruder, but found nothing. After a long pause of decision, Parker wrapped himself thoroughly in the warmth of his blanket and carefully proceeded over the toy-littered carpet to his window. Keeping his face half-turned away from the blistering cold, he pulled the two wooden panels of his window shut. As they “clicked" into place, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to his bed. Immediately his stomach contracted, convulsing from hunger. Parker’s mind returned briefly to the dining room earlier that night, where the only thing that had resided on his plate was a few lumps of highly over-seasoned and undercooked mashed potatoes. His father, Jacob, was a lot of things, but a cook was not among them.

Another wave crashed into Parker’s stomach, painfully jolting him to the present. He began searching his mind for ideas to avoid going back to bed on an empty stomach, though as he checked the alarm clock sitting on his bedside table, he saw that it was past midnight already; his parents would be fast asleep... After a moment of hesitation, he decided to try the fridge. It was risky, but he'd never been caught before.

Tonight would be no different...

He tip-toed to his bedroom door and opened it quietly: firmly grabbing the doorknob, turning it into position, lifting the door up slightly, and ever so slowly... pushing it open. It swung without a sound out into the upstairs hallway. It was time for a mission, a midnight raid was his last option.

Parker stepped out into the darkness and it met him like a jet-black sheet, masking his vision. Met again with that familiar, yet uncomfortable feeling: vulnerability. The darkness pressing in on him always had the same effect, and soon his socks became cold and damp.

Why is it always my feet that sweat first? he wondered. It was as if they were two concerned patients, both suffering from persistent fevers while wrapped up in their little blankets; hoping that if they sweat enough, the worst would be behind them and they would be at peace at last.

***

Parker hated scary movies but had seen a few, enough to know the possibilities of what could be lurking in the darkness. He had strategies to avoid the unknown, however. When it was time for bed, he would turn his lights off and with a few well-placed steps he'd jump into the covers as he neared the bed's edge to prevent the unseen lashing out from below, grabbing his legs, and dragging him into the shadows. Some nights he’d lay in bed with eyes wide open as time stood still... staring into a mistake; his closet door left open... something was there. Something that hid from him when approached. The darkness haunted Parker, filling his thoughts with nightmarish possibilities.

But the dream was different.

He crept past his parents’ room and down the staircase, cautiously reminding himself which steps to avoid: Third from the top, fifth from the bottom. Meticulously he descended, onto the first floor, where the only sounds were the faint gusts of wind whistling as it passed by the windows and the quiet buzz of the refrigerator which grew slightly louder as Parker tiptoed into the kitchen. A night light bathed the room in an eerie, cold glow.

There, in the soft light, was the fridge.

With a little luck, Parker thought, this mission will be over in no time and I’ll be back at the base, enjoying the spoils of the raid.”

Parker froze as the fridge door opened. The moment of truth. His heart plummeted while his stomach roared in anger at the sight before him...

Nothing. There was nothing there, at least as far as Parker was concerned. No pudding packs, no pre-made packaged lunches waiting to be unsealed... only boring stuff. The stuff his dad would use to make the meals that would sometimes be, on a good day, edible. He turned away from the fridge and thought for a moment... there was another option... He didn’t like it, but it was better than going back to bed on an already-empty stomach; he could ask his dad to make him something. It wouldn’t be good, but it would be better than nothing.

He walked from the room to the stairs, leaving caution behind as he attempted to steel himself for what lay ahead. As he neared the top of the stairs, Parker planted his foot on the third step from the top. He shifted his weight onto it purposefully in an effort to clear the air of the awkward silence, letting the horrible sound act as a messenger to the two sleeping souls on the other side of the door, waking them gently and notifying them that they had a visitor. A desperate visitor.

“Tap... Tap... Tap...”

Three quiet knocks should be enough to do it, he decided. He didn’t want another lecture.

He waited… listening intently for any sign of movement; the awkward quiet creeping back in. Parker became unsure of what to do as the silence stretched.

***

Deciding that obviously the first three weren’t enough, he braced himself for another knock”. This time, he’d knock louder. He decided that if he counted down, he’d have the courage to do it. In the quiet darkness he counted.

3…2…1.

The door swung open and Parker stood there, his hand hung in mid-air, balled into a fist, ready to knock.

“What is it Parker?”

His father, Jacob, stared down at him. His eyes sleepy, his voice agitated, his long-ish blond hair stood up like tufts of unkempt fur from another night lying in bed restless, tossing and turning between arguments concerning him and his better half, Parker’s mother, Sarah.

“I just wanted to see if you or mom could maybe make me a sandwich or some macaroni? I can’t sleep and my stomach’s growling... please?”

“If you wanted food you should have had the food I made earlier.”

“I didn’t like it.”

“You used to love mashed potatoes, what are you talking about?”

“I like the way Mom made them.”

“Well Mom is too busy now to be cooking so you’ll have to deal with them the way I make them or start cooking them yourself-

“But you guys told me I can’t use the stove-“

“Jake, I swear, just go down there and make him some food” said a voice from the darkness.

It was Sarah. He hardly heard her voice anymore unless it was being used in arguments with his dad or every blue moon when she’d quietly open his door at night and sneak in to have an adventure with Parker. Under his covers, they’d go flying over rooftops and trees, crawling through caverns with only their one flashlight, hiding in their tent from monsters prowling outside... She was never short of ideas, and Parker cherished their explorations together. Sometimes he would wait in bed for the moment she got home from work, hoping she’d come see him. But since the day Jacob lost his job, the nights she’d visit had gotten fewer and farther between. He wondered when the night would come when she would go on one last adventure with him, before telling him that he had gotten too old or she was too busy, and their sacred moments would be over and forgotten.

Jacob obeyed reluctantly, leading Parker back down the stairs. He was quiet. Parker knew it. The lecture was coming, he was only gathering his thoughts.

As they entered the kitchen, Jake flipped the switch to the light hanging above, and it began:

“So, you know, here’s the deal” he started, “From now on, when you’re hungry at night, come in here and make whatever you want. At some point, you gotta stop asking your mom and I to make you food all the time.”

Parker thought for a moment, then spoke up.

“Okay…does that mean I can have Toaster Strudels as much as I-“

“Forget it,” Jacob said, shaking his head in frustration, “Ask your mom next time you need to eat, and every time after that. Tell her you don’t like the food I make. I’m sure she’ll love to hear that from you.”

And with that, Jake walked from the kitchen, up the creaking stairs, and Parker was once again alone in the quiet kitchen.

He stared downward at the floor as he felt blood rush to his face, his cheeks reddened and his head went warm. Embarrassed and frustrated, he waited till he heard the quiet “thump” of the bedroom door closing to quietly walk back up the stairs and into his room. As his door closed, he heard the unmistakable sound of yelling.

“He’s eight years old, he’s not supposed to be cooking all his own meals...Are you even listening? When are you going to check the heater?”

“Sarah, it's working fine!”

“You didn’t even check it! For all I know you forgot to pay the electricity bill again.”

“Oh right, like I forgot the first time. With how much you complain about it, I really don’t know why you can’t just pay the bills yourself.”

“Another fight... great” Parker whispered to his empty room, throwing himself down onto his bed.

Staring up through the thick, black air at the motionless ceiling fan, he wondered why he felt like he was the problem with his parents’ marriage. He thought about running away. If he could run and find a place to stay, somewhere to hide where they wouldn’t find him, then they could move on with their lives and make whatever food they wanted. They could be happy.

It was a sad thought: his parents having the house to themselves, laughing and not even noticing he was gone. They would be much happier without him, he knew it.

And as a tear slipped from his eye, followed quickly by a few more, Parker curled under his blanket and imagined a place he could go to escape. A place he could explore. A place like under the covers. He smiled and wiped his eyes, and as he relaxed in his bed, his mind wandered, and his eyes grew heavy. His hunger was forgotten, his worries dissolved. Pancakes, clouds, cities in clouds, flying next to flocks of birds...

The hallway.

It’s dark blue walls...patterns of what looked almost like interconnected black clovers covering the deep blue, holding it back. An empty hallway with only one door. A wooden door. It’s golden doorknob gleamed. Parker’s breath quickened. He stood on one end of the hallway, a dead end, and on the other, the door. He knew he had to walk towards it, but he was deathly afraid of what it could mean. The unknown. He was afraid of the unknown.

Parker took a step towards the door, feeling like he could take a thousand steps and not be any closer to it. It seemed to be sitting at the end of a long tunnel, a light at the end of the darkness. A spotlight seemed to shine on it through the dark hallway. He wanted to go through it. He took another step, and another as he made his way toward it. His courage excited him and he began walking faster, faster till he was running. He ran through the hallway, the door coming ever closer.. then everything began to tilt as if someone had picked up the back end of the hallway, letting him spill out the other side. Parker lost his balance and fell forward. As he began to slide towards the door, it swung open. Beyond its threshold stood a white void. The hallway continued to tip further until he was falling straight down. Through the dark hallway, past the blurring black patterns and bluish walls, down into the doorway; the white void inside growing bigger and bigger as he neared it. It covered his vision and swallowed him whole. He passed through the doorway and fell into the void. He kept falling, and as he looked below him he saw a black dot coming into view. But what started as a tiny black dot moved outward in a circle, forming a spiral. The spiral continued and soon he was falling through it. Endless white with a whirlpool of black, sucking Parker down...down...down...

“Cheep! Cheep Cheep! Cheep! Cheep Cheep!”

Parker woke to the freezing darkness of his room with a startled gasp of breath and looked to the source of the sound; a peculiar yellow bird was perched on his windowsill, while his window shutters again hung wide open. With a flutter of flapping yellow wings the bird was gone, flying away into the night.

Parker quickly rose and walked to where the bird had stood, and a plastic dinosaur defended itself, ramming its three-horned head into the bottom of Parker’s foot. “Oww!” he whispered, limping to the window and peering outside. What he saw made his heart stop.

His mind froze over and thoughts slowed to a crawl. The bird landed in a tree at the edge of the forest, right outside his neighborhood. A swirl of black was etched deep into its bark, a symbol that reminded Parker curiously of the dream he had left so abruptly.

In a moment, Parker had put on his shoes, stuffed a few things of importance into an old backpack, and snuck quietly out of his room, shutting his bedroom door carefully behind him. Silently down the creaking staircase, through the front door, he ran swiftly into the night…the shutters of his window still hanging open... swaying in the icy breeze of the midnight air.