Under the Rug

The people renting Mr.Talbot’s basement had proved to be quite the disturbance.  Two weeks ago he was in his bedroom just about to lay down for a good nights rest when he heard a strange noise coming from the main floor.  He thought that is was probably just his imagination until he heard the voices.  He thought that they sounded familiar, In fact much like the ones of the children living in his basement.  He slowly crept down the stairs into the living room.  When his eyes had finally become familiar with the dark he saw a saw sticking up out of the floor.  He immediately starting yelling, but he wasn’t very intimidating because the only sound coming back at him was giggling.  These giggles seemed to slap him in the face and he was very frustrated.  For once in his life he just wanted someone to take him seriously, and if a child wouldn’t then surely an adult wouldn’t either.

Mr. Talbot sat and watched the saw move in and out of his sight.  Finally a piece of his new floor fell into the basement.  He looked down and to his surprise he saw two little girls.  He thought that it might be a wild boy getting into more trouble than his parents could handle but he was wrong.  He stuck his head down and got poked in the eye.  His vision was already blurry because he hadn’t grabbed his glasses before going downstairs, but now he could barely see at all.

Mr. Talbot was furious at this point.  He stood up and ran down the stairs.  He barged in the parents bedroom and woke them up harshly.  He started to yell as loud as he could but his yell was hardly scary at all.  Mr. Talbot had a very calming voice and no matter what he did he had a sarcastic tone.  The parents laughed just as the little girls had.  They apologized but found it funny that their twin girls had cut a hole in his floor.  “Oh Mr. Talbot were truly sorry, but you know maybe the girls just wanted to be able to talk to you more often.  We live in your basement after all and you have never even tried to get to know us.”  Mr. Talbot found it offensive that they wouldn’t take his anger seriously so he went upstairs to get some rest.

The next morning he went and bought a rug to cover the hole.  The rug added a nice touch to his living room and he let his anger slip away.  What the mom said stuck in his head.  Maybe the little girls just wanted to get to know him better, yes this sounded like a nice idea.  He felt guilty that he never made the effort to get to know the family but, as the days went by he forgot about them.

Two weeks passed and it happened again.  Mr. Talbot was in the kitchen grabbing a quick snack before heading out to an evening show at the theater.  Sliding things around in the pantry and slamming cupboards shut was not his usual routine but he was in a hurry.  He finaly decided on a bowl of cereal which he shoveled down.  He grabbed his jacket and started across the new living room rug.  Just as he was about to step where the hole had been cut he remebered and cautiously moved his leg back.  He sat there for a moment pondering how lucky he was that he hadn’t fallen through.  Then it came, the bump appeared right before his eyes.  Mr. Talbot heard the giggle and couldn’t control himself.  Without thinking he picked up the chair and the thought of someone taking him seriously lingered in his head.  Next thing he new the chair came down and he couldn’t beleive himself.

The scream still plays through his head each night.  The family was gone and his basement was left only occupied with the horrible memory.  As hard as he tried it wouldn’t leave.  Her horrified blank face and the tears streaming down the families faces.  Emma was in the hospital for 3 months holding on with everything she had.  She just couldn’t make it with all the damage Mr. Talbot had done to her brain.  Under the rug was regret and the plead for forgiveness.  Surely being in prison wasn’t the way to be taken seriously.

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