The Cellar

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The Cellar

During one boring December afternoon, I decided to wrap some of my Christmas presents. I found everything I needed, except for the wrapping paper and I soon came to the conclusion that it must have been placed in the cellar when I had recently moved. Eager to get the wrapping paper, I made my way to the cellar. What happened next I will never forget:

I reached the bottom stair, and squinted my eyes to try and get accustomed to the darkness that enveloped the room. I tenderly reached out and flicked the light switch. It was just as I had thought, the light didn’t work. There must have been a fault with the wire. I looked back, the hall light casting a thin beam down the stairs. It would take me too long to venture back, so I hesitantly departed from the only strand of remaining light and entered the dark void.

        I edged my way down the columns of ageing books, which had deteriorated from the dampness that seemed to suffocate me and press down heavily on my lungs. As I walked down the aisles, I felt something compress under my left heel on my boot. Unable to see what I had stepped in, I crouched down and inspected the pulpy mush. Screaming I stood up. It was a hairy ball, which had a long slimy leathery tail. It could only be one thing. A rat! Terrified to go any further, I turned to go back upstairs where I could retrieve a lamp and be able to see further than my nose. But, as I spun around, my elbow caught the rotting pile of books and before I could move anywhere, the pile fell down and blocked my only known way of exit. I was trapped! The books, having just been disturbed sent out billows of dust, which made me choke and splutter. The books blocked any possible strand of light, and threw me into total darkness.

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        My mouth went dry from the fear, but I some how managed to scream. My mind in total shock, I started to try and burrow my way out to the other side. But, as I soon realized to my horror there was no getting through. Standing back, I tried to regain my composure and took a few sharp deep breaths. I needed to calm myself, or I would be panicking for ages. I tried to think about any other route I could possibly take, but the darkness made everything seem strange and abnormal. It almost made me feel like I ...

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