"The Man In The Basement"

Two years ago:

The mourners began filing away from the grave site back to their cars. There had only been a dozen of them, and as each of them came to Kevin and shook his hand, sometimes sharing a few words of praise for and remembrance of his mother, he asked the same question to himself: Who are you?

Kevin and his mother had lived a rather isolated life after his father left ten years earlier. He himself had no friends at school or in the neighborhood. He spent a great deal of time with books or on the internet playing role playing games. His mother had had her three part time jobs, struggling to support her son. She spent half of her days earning a living and the other half cherishing her son before sleeping so that she could start all over again the next day.

Then ... she died.

And here he was, standing with strangers dressed in black who he didn't know, with no clue as to what was going to happen next for him. As if on clue, two men who had lost sight of Kevin and thought him out of ear shot began talking about the home in which he'd grown up.

"So, he doesn't own it. I mean, she didn't ... and now he doesn't?"

"No. She mortgaged it a few years ago in the hopes of having tuition money for his continuing education."

"But..."

"Then she got sick ... and the money went to medical bills."

"So ... what happens to him?"

There was a moment of silence, in which -- unseen by Kevin -- the man just shrugged.

The second man began again, "The bank'll kick him to the streets. They won't care that he has no where to go ... no work history ... no skills. He'll end up bagging groceries for minimum wage."

"Or on the streets."

Kevin's heart was pounding with fear by now. His mother had told him stories about homeless people as part of her explanation as to why she spent so much time at her three jobs. What was he going to do now. If his mother hadn't been able to make it with three jobs and a life time of work experience, what hope did he have of keeping the family home and eating every day both?



At home, he wandered about each room, studying each and every detail ... and reminiscing about the life lost. When he reached the basement where his mother had retained so many of the items that had played a part in his upbringing, Kevin began to sob. He'd lost his mother. She'd left him, not of her own free will obviously, but still. And now, he would have to leave their home, again not of his own free will.

Then ... he looked at door that led to the root cellar ... and he thought...



6 months later:

The sale of the house had been a bit complicated. The previous owner had died without a will, and a few days later her own child had simply disappeared. The bank had proceeded immediately with foreclosure, and finally today it sold to a family from the city.

The real estate agent had tried to talk them into a larger home because of the number of children, but the parents had been planning on the future. Their kids were all well into their teens and would all be leaving for college soon, meaning that it would only be the husband, wife, and dogs.

"This will do just fine," the mother had told the agent, shaking hands one final time before telling the kids standing at the curb, "C'mon! Let's check this place out. It's the start of a new, wonderful life for all of us."



Today:

That new wonderful life had been anything but. Life in the too-small house hadn't been the heaven desired. The older children had indeed left the house, but not all for college as had been dreamed. And the youngest, who had just turned 18, had decided not to leave at all. To top it all off, the patriarch of the family had found another, younger woman and run off a few weeks earlier.

Life for the family had been one surprise after another...

And the greatest surprise was yet to come.


If you are an interested female, PM me. It is essentially the story of a 19 year old man who has been secretly living in the basement for 2 years and the reaction of the family member(s) after they discover him.