Growing up, me and my sister (older by 2 years) spent a lot of time playing together. We even liked each other I believe, although she liked to be a little bossy, and me being the youngest of 3 girls, I was a little whiny. This went on like this til I was about 10 and and she 12. Then we kind of got our own friends, and of course were a tad bit too cool for each other.
We used to be intrigued by our not so big basement. It is mostly dirt with crumbling cement walls. A few wooden shelves line the walls. It has a massive freezer in it, in which we all believe had to be put in before the house was actually finished. No one is quite sure when our house was built, but it has been improved upon many times by my Dad and sometimes with help from other family members. I lived in that house the entire time from when I was born up until I was 18, and moved away. My parents still live there.
Our basement was, when I think of it, a big deal in our house. It was not a basement for playing in, it was used for storage. Food storage mostly. I would always be the one who got sent down there to grab the potatoes out of the huge potato bin I remember my Dad building when it became clear we'd be harvesting a big pile of potatoes from our garden every year. I also got sent for our homemade beet pickles, chokecherry jelly, and dill pickles. Any meat that needed to be brought up was usually my responsibility, and the ice cream as well: let's NOT forget the ice cream. It wasn't something we had all the time, a treat really, mostly to go with the apple pie my mom made.
Speaking of ice cream, this is really where my basement adventures with my sister began. We would sneak down there with a spoon and just grab a bit here and there. The ice cream was always rock hard, but it was enough to satisfy our appetites. I later learned that this was a trick my Mom and her sisters used to do at their house as well.
One night we decided we wanted to sleep in the basement. Why did we want to do this? The ICE CREAM, that's why. My Mom entertained this idea but was pretty skeptical we would last the night. The only light in the basement had to be turned on from the upstairs and it was on the other side of the door. I remember being scared that the door was going to be closed while we were asleep. There had never been any reason to close it before, and seeing as there were no windows, it was pitch black.
My sister and I carefully laid our blankets out on the hard cement floor, snuck some spoons, and said goodnight to our parents. We had a flashlight I believe. We probably giggled for a good bit, and when we thought we couldn't hear mom and dad creaking around above us, we turned to the freezer and opened it. The freezer had a light in it, and so we easily helped ourselves to a bit of ice cream.
I don't really remember what all exactly happened that night, but I was scared. I was really scared, and I'm pretty sure my sister was too. After a few hours our courage failed us, and we gathered up our blankets and traipsed upstairs to our shared bedroom. I don't think Mom gave us a hard time about it, but definitely had a knowing smile on her face. Needless to say, we never attempted a slumber party down there again.
I used to have this recurring dream about that basement as well. It is a bright sunny day out, middle of summer, and I can even hear birds chirping. I am about 5 and my sister 7. We go inside for a drink after playing outside and we decide to play hide and seek inside.
My mom is hanging clothes on the line outside, and humming away a tune. My sister decides I can hide first. She goes back outside by my mom so she doesn't peek at where I am going. The windows are open and I can hear her counting slowly, deliberately. I hear mom join in with her and I am delighted to play this game. I decide I'm going to be REALLY sneaky and hide in the basement, which is not where either of us would usually hide. I left the door open and the light on, just for a hint.
I giggle to myself as I look for a spot, thinking she will NEVER find me. I see a big white door with a steel handle on it beside the freezer. This door does not exist in real life. I open it and seeing it is completely dark, I go inside and close it. After declaring "ready or not here I come" I hear my sister coming down the stairs, she knows I'm down here somewhere. I hear her calling "Natalie...Natalieeee, where are you?" I giggle and I look around this strange room I'm in as my eyes are now adjusted, but I see nothing, I feel dirt in my sandals, and touching the walls, they are dirt as well.
I start to panic a bit and I call out, "I'm in here, I'm in here" but my sister can't hear me. I can't open the door, and I'm getting a little cold in my t-shirt and shorts. I can now hear my mom getting a little worried and she calls out as well. They are both on the other side of the door, but they don't open it. I remember wondering if they even could see it, after all I had only just discovered it myself. I start crying and they keep calling.
This is when I usually wake up. I have had this dream a number of times while living there in my teenage years and a few times while living with my sister later on in life. It always disturbs me and no, there really is no door there, nor an inkling of any door having been there.
On another note, my sister has a recurring dream about the basement as well. It involves there being a present from our Grandpa (my mom's dad) down stairs. She never opens it.
Truthfully I haven't been in that basement for a few years. Even though I've been moved out for 7.5 years it still creeps me out. I think my sister hasn't wanted to go down there for a long time, and this is why I was given the task of fetching things. Next time I'm back to visit my parents, I think I might just take a little trip to the basement to get some ice cream.
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