Figment of Imagination

Chapter Two

 "I knew you were not sleeping" shouted my mom as she took off the blanket from my face "Oh! Goodness, what happened Emma?" she said and sat beside me trying to comfort me.

It was my mom, I eased down but still trembled with fear. I hugged her and began to cry. I did not want to let her go. I felt I should never be alone again.

"what happened? Is everything okay" asked my dad as he ran upstairs into my room.

"I don't know, she is sweating so much, her temperature is high, and she is shivering." Said, my mom

"She was alright when we left," said my dad.

Both my parents sat beside me, and my dad called the doctor. I held mom as tight as I could. I did not talk a word. I could not talk. I could not explain what happened, I was not sure what was going on. My parents kept asking me what happened, but I could not reply. It was like my brain froze and I had nothing I could think of. Looking at me this way, my parents were scared. They wondered what happened to me. I wanted to say something and get a hold of myself but I could not.

"Mom? Can I sleep with you tonight? Please?" I asked

"I am not leaving you alone sweetie. We are so sorry to leave you alone tonight; I will be right here beside you" My mom replied. I never felt so comforting before in my life. I was able to get hold of myself. I was able to think well again.

My body temperature did not decrease but I felt safe being with my parents. I laid down, holding my mother's hand tight, and rested my head back, and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, I could feel a warm hand holding mine. I could hear people talking around me. I opened my eyes I saw my mother sitting right beside me holding my hand. She must have not left for a second. She was wearing the same clothes that she wore last evening, her eyes looked tired and her makeup was still on her face. Dr. Connor and my father stood near the door talking to each other. At this point, I felt the incident that happened the previous night to be a bad nightmare and nothing more. But I felt better, but I don't think I was completely over with it.

"Hey, Sweetie! How do you feel now?" asked mom

"I feel much better mom" I replied

"Did you go down to the basement yesterday?" asked mom

"No mom I did not, I swear" I replied

"What happened last night Emma? What brought you to this state? Could you tell us?" asked my Dr. Connor.

I began to tell them every detail I remember "After you left, I shut the door and came here to my room and began to read. I heard a noise down and I thought it was Mitsy, but she was with me in my room, right on this bed, I decided to go down and check. Everything was in its position. So, I came up again. The second time I heard a door open, I thought you both came back but when I went down and checked it was the door to the basement which was open. I do not know-how. I shut the door and sat down to watch T.V. Mitsy was sleeping on my lap and suddenly she woke up starring at the basement door when I saw the door was open again. I had locked the door the previous time but somehow it opened. I went to shut the door, but I saw opened further again and I heard some footsteps coming up. I ran back into my room, but I heard footsteps again and it kept getting louder and I was so scared. I was panicked with all that happened but then mom, it was you. You came into the room."

"Maybe the basement door opened when we opened the front door, and the footsteps were just ours. We came in and saw that the T.V. was on and we did hear you run to your room." Said, mom

"I guess there is something wrong with the door to the basement we will get it fixed, don't worry." Said, dad

Something about it did not feel right to me but I was weak, felt so depressed and afraid. I was confused. Everyone left me to rest in my room and went down. I was all by myself, I could not sleep. Nothing felt the same anymore.

Ever since I was a child, from the day I remember, I was never allowed to go to the basement. I have asked why but the answer I get is only grownups were allowed down there and no one else. There was a phase where Dr. Connor, Dr. Witty, and my dad used to hang out downstairs almost every day and mom used to take food downstairs. Later it all stopped, and no one went down there for a long time. Then one day they got the basement renovated and ever since then it was kept locked. I was curious to know what happened downstairs, but I never disobeyed their word, mostly because I was not left alone.

I spent most of my day in my room, I did not feel like eating. My first day of being alone turned out to be a bad experience. I kept thinking about it, I could not help it. I could not stop. I heard someone come to my door, I knew it was mom because I could hear her voice. She opened the door and walked in.

"Emma? You were in your room the whole day, come on out let's go for a walk and get some fresh air." Said, mom she was in her night gown. She looked like as though she just woke up.

"Okay mom." I said and nodded

"I'll go change then" she said and left the room

I got down from my bed, changed my clothes. I washed my face and went downstairs.

"How are you feeling now?" asked my dad who was sitting on his lazy boy watching the game.

"I feel better dad" I said and smiled.

Mom came out of her bedroom, as she brushed her hair with her fingers tying with a scrunch.

"Come lets go." She said, as she walked out to the door.

I followed her and we both went out for a walk. I felt much better as I took a walk with her. We grabbed an ice cream and walked to the park nearby. Mom and I spoke a lot, but she did not ask me anything about what happened the previous night, neither did I want to talk about it. There were so many questions in my mind but never really got an answer for that. I wanted answers to that, I was in search of it.

"Mom? Can I ask you something?" I asked

"yea sweetie." Said mom with a smile

"Why wasn't I allowed to go to the basement ever since I was a kid?" I asked

My mom remained silent and looked at me. The smile on her face had disappeared. I do not think she saw this coming, but I wanted my answer.

"There were some incidents that happened to you when you were a kid and ever since then you did not want to go down to the basement." Replied my mom. I was not satisfied with her answer.

"Of all that I know, I was restricted from going down," I said

"Umm! Yes, that was to protect you from your fear." My mom said again

"What was that incident mom? That made me so scared that I did not want to go back?" I asked again

"you...umm... you sure you want to know?" my mom questioned

"yes mom, I do want to know," I replied

"You were once locked in the basement alone. It was an accident. The door got jammed and you got claustrophobic. You cried a lot and felt difficult to breathe but some how we broke the door and got you out. Ever since then we kept you away from the basement." She said

"But mom, I'm grown up now. Can't I go down?" I asked again

"We do not want to take a chance and trigger that memory again. We can't see you in that state again sweetie. That is why I panicked last night when I saw the basement door open and you in that state." My mom said

"But mom...."

"Emma! Let us not talk about this. We will talk about this someday later but not now."

I kept quiet but not all my questions were answered. Maybe this is the reason why I am not allowed to the basement, but something did not feel right. – why don't I remember such an incident! - I thought - One day I should go down there and see for myself – my curiosity increased.