In the Dark Basement

In the Dark of the Basement

Preface

The Being was very old and very tired. It had existed in dark places
for eons, and darkness was all it knew. The Being had a form that
consisted of energy and thoughts, but possessed no physical aspects;
it was not a creature of matter. It was aware of the nearby light, but
had no interest in experiencing it. Should the Being ever venture
forth into the light, none of the other living things in the area
would be able to see it.

The Being was aware of the other living things that came and went
nearby. Small animals were always passing nearby, but they were always
focusing their entire awareness upon avoiding predators; they never
had energy to spare for the Being. Only recently had other living
things had any impact on the Being. The people called Musquakie had
briefly caught the attention of the Being when they bid farwell to
their dead on the edges of the dark areas. The Being noticed the life
energies of the dead passing from the corpses, but it was never able
to communicate with the energies.

Then, barely a moment ago in the awareness of the Being, settlers
built houses all around and through the dark areas, cutting down the
trees and blasting away the rocks that provided the dark. But these
new intruders conveniently provided new dark spaces. The Being found
one dark space, large and cool and quiet enough, built by one of the
intruders. The fact that a building was erected on top of the dark
space didn't bother the Being. The life-forms that inhabited the
building were of no concern, either. They would never become aware of
the Being - they never did.

Chapter 1

Chuck and Brenda were ecstatic. They had both lived on the west coast
all their lives, and had looked forward for decades to escaping from
the insanity. The offer of a decent-paying job for Chuck with a
company in the Great Plains seemed like a godsend. They were finally
able to live in a little town with very little traffic, a real
honest-to-gosh town square, and real seasons. What amazed them more
than anything was they could finally afford to buy a house of their
own! Finally, a house they could call their own, with room for them
and the cats and their stuff. It all seemed too good to be true, but
here they were.

Chuck sat on the swing on the front porch, dividing his attention
between the two youngest cats wrestling in the front room and the
squirrels scampering around the big maple tree in the front yard. His
work schedule was tiring and they still had a lot of work to do before
they would consider themselves fully moved in. but at the end of the
day they could sit on the porch swing to enjoy the twilight or lounge
under the tree in the back yard and watch the cats chasing bugs and
leaves. Life was nice, and Chuck's stress level was lower than it had
been in years.

Going back in to the house, Chuck wondered where all the cats were.
The kittens were still wrestling in the front room, but one of them
must have gotten a little too rough - the other one let loose with a
cry and bolted from the front room, between Chuck's legs, and dashed
through the door to the basement. Calling out softly to the scared
kitten, Chuck descended the stairs to the basement. He found the
kitten sitting on top of the washing machine, being groomed by the
eldest member of the clowder. To his surprise, he also saw three of
the four remaining cats downstairs. Amee was stretched out on a shelf,
Sams had opened a box of towels and was napping on top of them, and
Bettina was  meowing to him from atop the workbench. "Silly cats, I
thought you liked the back yard! What's with hanging out down here?
Come on, let's go outside and enjoy this spring weather! You're going
to really miss it when winter arrives."  As Chuck headed toward the
first floor he heard the rattle of collar tags as a steady stream of
cats raced up the stairs and towards the back door.

Later that day, and Chuck and Brenda relaxed in the lawn chairs under
the spreading boughs of the maple tree, they discussed the cat's
behavior. "So, what do you suppose is up with the cat's and their
hanging around the basement?", Chuck asked. "They seem to always run
down there when they're scared or startled, or when they aren't
playing outside or eating. is it just me, or does that seem strange to
you"?

"Yeah, I've wondered about that too. I thought maybe it was that they
liked the cooler temperatures, but then when they do come out of the
basement they lie down on the sunniest windowsills or on sunny patches
of carpet. It beats me. Although I have noticed that when I go down
there to do laundry or clean litter boxes, within a few minutes any
worries I had before have either diappeared or start to feel a lot
smaller. Have you felt that? Do you supposed the kitties feel
something similar?"

"Yes, sweetie, now that you mention it I guess I have. It's weird -
what with the basement being unfinished and all, you'd think that my
claustrophobia would make me feel uneasy, but every time I spend time
there I do end up pretty quickly relaxing and mellowing out. That's so
bizarre!"

"Maybe so, but don't knock it. It's cheaper than antidepressants and
probably healthier in the long run."

Chapter 2

The Being awoke. For ages it had been barely conscious, noting no
nearby life energies with which it could communicate. But now
something was different. There were life forms. Little life forms,
very small and weak, but different from before. These  living things
didn't devote their entire consciousness to avoiding predators. They
had thoughts of hunting and of seeking food, but their hunting was not
a desperate stuggle to stay alive. Their seeking of food involved
merely a brief stroll to a dependable supply of foodstuffs that didn't
have to stalked and killed. And they spent time focusing on - what was
that? Playing? Doing things just for amusement, for extended periods?
This was new. The Being had never sensed life forms with the ability
to do this. It was time to communicate.

The little life forms were very, very young to the perception of the
Being. With ages measured in mere years, these little things were but
a trifle. Yet when the Being reached out a thread of awareness, they
responded. They emitted energies of curiosity, and of desire to know
more. The Being began slowly, learning more about them and telling
more about Itself. The little creatures found the Being to be
comfortable and hospitable, not a threat. They learned to reach out
with their own consciousnesses to probe more information from the
Being, and in this way they learned about each other.

The Being learned things new and wonderous and amazing. Being a
solitary being, the Being initially knew nothing of the concept of
being part of a larger unit. The Being knew nothing of play, of
recreation, of comfort vs strife. The Being learned the concept of
symbiosis - that a creature could depend on another creature, who
would in turn depend on the first creature. These were totally alien
concepts, but without prejudices or biases the Being could simply
absorb the knowledge.

But what was more foreign to the Being than any other thought was the
feeling these small creatures derived from their symbiotic creatures.
These larger creatures possessed greater energy fields than the small
creatures but were too unaware to make proper use of their own
energies. The Being probed these larger creatures as well, but
couldn't learn a lot; their energy patterns were too scattered and
unfocused. But the Being could sense easily that when the small
creatures were in the presence of the big creatures, both of them
emitted great volumes of energy that was of a warm, very flavorful
nature. The Being relished these times, as joining in the energy of
these periods provided it with it's own feelings of pleasure. Pleasure
- what an interesting new concept!


Chapter 3

Several months pass. Chuck gets settled in to his new job. Brenda
finds a local job and  finds the work and her coworkers to be
enjoyable. As the calendar passes from March through April and on into
the summer months, the weather grows progressively warmer. Finally, as
July draws to a close the weather is it's summertime usual -
temperatures in the mid 90's with humidity hovering between 80 and
90%.  Neither Chuck nor Brenda are spending a lot of time outdoors as
the heat persists until well after 10:00 PM. Even the cats are only
spending an hour or so at a time outdoors. The air conditioner runs
non-stop and makes the interior of the house fairly comfortable. The
most comfortable part of the house, though, is the basement. No matter
how hot the temperatures get outside, the basement stays nice and
cool. A few weekends spent trapped indoors have persuaded Chuck and
Brenda to spruce up the basement a little. A few fluorescent lamps, a
throw rug over in a corner with decent light coming in through the
windows, a couple of easy chairs, and the unfinished basement is
starting to look and feel like a second family room.

Chuck eases back in the recliner. "I don't know about you, but I have
no problem with hibernating down here for the weekend. It's too darned
hot to mow the lawn, and I like being able to cuddle with the kitties
down here."  As he says this he gives an extra scritch to the tummy of
little Harriet, curled up in his lap. Harriet releases an extra-loud
purr as she settles deeper into her catnap.

"You won't get any argument from me. And you know, when you suggested
moving the spare TV down here? I don't really feel a need for that. I
like the peace and quiet."

"Yeah, me too when I think about it. You know, something has been on
my mind lately..."

"Yes? Or do I have to guess what it is?"

"Well, it seems to me that things have - changed since we left the
west coast. No, I know the obvious stuff is different. I mean, it
feels like things just seem to go better now. Like, maybe we are
luckier than we used to be. Good things, random good things, just seem
to happen more often. Could that just be because we're in the Midwest
now, living in farm country, or could there be something more to it?

"I don't know what's behind it, Chuck, but I've felt it too. I've been
afraid to mention it for fear of jinxing things. But I think about it
all the time, and I feel so very grateful for it. I've never been a
religious person, but it sometimes make me wonder if I ought to be so
I'd have somebody to thank for it. Do you know what I mean?"

"I do. But you know, I don't think you really need - how do I want to
say this... you don't need... I don't think we need to be able to
thank anyone, I think that if we feel grateful for it, that's enough.
Does that even sound sane?"

"I guess it does. I can't really say why, but I guess that feels
right. I guess the best thing to do is just be glad for it."



Chapter 4

Monday morning again. Brenda is gone already, on her way to work.
Chuck stumbles around half-conscious, trying to get ready for work. He
goes through the usual routine - get out of bed, take a shower, brush
his teeth and take his pills, get dressed. Head downstairs, barely
managing to not fall down the stairs. Open a couple cans of gooshy
food for the cats and check the kibble feeder. Scoop the litter boxes,
check the water bowls, be sure the air conditioner is set and the fans
are on. Track down each kitty and give each of them a pet and a
snuggle. Stand at the back door and shout to all the house "Ok,
everybody, I'm off to work. Everybody, every single one of you, be
happy, healthy, safe and comfy. All of you beautiful kitties, and
beautful mama - heck every beautiful critter that lives in this house
- all of you be happy, healthy, safe, and comfy". Thinking warm,
loving thoughts towards the whole group of living things in the
household, Chuck hefts his briefcase and makes his way to the garage.

A few feet away, the Being felt the energy being radiated by the
two-legged creature and the emotional content it contained, as well as
the energy that came from the four-legged creatures in return. Having
been exposed to the concept of "love" by tasting the energies of the
cats and their humans, it recognized the radiated energy as being
positive and good. Having picked up on the idea of returning positive
energies to those from whom you receive it, the Being directed it's
own stream of positive energies towards the two-legged animal. Not
having a physical form meant that the Being tasted the "love" energies
differently than did the two-legged and the four-legged creatures, but
it did the best it could. The stream of energy it directed towards the
two-legged thing tasted like "Experience the things that bring you
joy". Earlier in the morning it and the cats had gone through the same
routine with Brenda when she left the house. Who would have guessed
that the Being's "Experience the things that bring you joy" would
translate to increased luck?