When He Fell

The garage had been locked for years. There was never a reason to enter it until the day he fell.

John had just moved into the upstairs apartment, situated on top of the very large, two-car garage below. It was a one bedroom with a small kitchen. It was recently painted with new carpet and wood paneling throughout, just perfect for a twenty-two year old fresh out of college.

John was of average height and build, but due to his near sightedness and the fear of touching his corneas, he was forced to wear glasses. John had majored in psychology. He had just landed a job at the University Medical Center. His job was to meet with the hospice nurses, some in groups and some one-on-one, allowing them to talk about their experiences with death and dying. On few occasions, the sessions involved simple written quizzes; there were no right or wrong answers. The nurses enjoyed their meetings with John, and he was pleased with his recently acquired job. John finally saved enough money to move out of his parent’s home.

It was summer; a beautifully warm and sunny day. John unpacked all the boxes and broke them down to be placed in the recycling bin. A large jar of homemade beer from his college buddies, whom he kept in contact, was given as a house-warming gift. As he walked around the foot of his bed, he noticed a floorboard was weak. He stepped on it a few times. One board was weaker than the others. He marked the location in his mind and decided to just step over it. The Verizon service man connected the phone and FiOS Internet. John was setting up his Hewlett-Packard desktop when he noticed another weak board in the living room next to the wall. Again, he marked the location in his mind and decided to just step over it. After a few hours of cleaning and interior decorating, while the homemade beer chilled, he sat down, unscrewed the jar, and admired his work.

Later, he returned home from shopping at Sprouts Farmer’s Market. After failing at being a Vegan, because he used organic milk in his Latte, he still wanted to maintain a plant-based diet. So, he settled in at being an Ovolactovegetarian; a Vegetarian that eats eggs and dairy. He was placing his bags of baby greens into the small refrigerator when he heard a creaking sound coming from the living room. The sound was quite loud and distinct, so much so that it startled him, and he dropped a package of meatless ground beef onto the floor. He wanted to go look into the living room, to check out the sound, but he thought he better pick up the Tofu ground beef; it was going to be his dinner. As he bent over to pick up the package, out of he corner of his eye, he saw a man. With his heart racing, John stood up immediately, but no one was there. With the package in his hand, he walked into the living room.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” John walked around the apartment. He checked all the rooms; the closet, the front door, and the windows. The place was empty. The screens on all the windows were secure and the front door was locked. John sat down on his bed. The package of meat-less ground beef was still in his hand. He walked to the kitchen and placed the meat into the refrigerator. Again, he heard the creak, but this time it came from the bedroom. He hurried to the foot of his bed. He stepped on the weak board, duplicating the sound. John looked around, but there was nothing, and no one to cause the floorboard to creak. John rested on the bed, and soon he fell asleep.

When John awoke, the sun had set. It was night. Groping in the dark, he reached over to switch on the lamp. Something was blocking his vision. His glasses, which he had not removed, had a film of dust covering the lens. He took them off. Using the inside of his shirt, he cleaned the lens. Looking around he saw the bedside table and the lamp were both covered in a thin layer of dust. John walked into the bathroom and switched on the light. To his surprise, the mirror, the hand towel, the toilet, and the basin all had a thin layer of dust covering them. John emptied his bladder, washed his hands, and dried them on the inside of the towel. He went in search for his mobile. Not remembering where he placed it, his stomach began to growl. He went to the refrigerator. When he opened it, he could not believe what he saw. All of the bags of baby greens were filled with wet and wilted vegetables. He threw them all in the trash. He rinsed out a glass and poured some of the organic milk. The milk looked like yogurt and it had a bad smell. He poured it down the sink and rinsed out the glass. He continued looking through the refrigerator. Everything had to go. Finally he gathered the plastic trash bag and headed outside to the trash container, but when he opened the door, the entrance was completely overgrown with climbers and wall shrubs. John could not get out, he was completely locked in. He went to the windows, but remembered he was on the second floor. He turned to search for his mobile. Finding it, he was unable to obtain a signal. He turned on his desktop computer, but he was unable to access the Internet. He had no landline, for he had not gone to purchase a phone. John flopped down onto the sofa.

What is going on? He wondered.

After a few minutes, he remembered the weak floorboards. He removed the screen and keyboard from off the table. Next, he moved the table. With his hands, he pulled up the carpet until he located the weak floorboard. Using a knife from the kitchen drawer, he pried away the weak plank. Once removed, the other groove sides detached easily from the tongue sides. One by one he was able to lift up the laminated floor until he reached the underlayment of plywood. He hammered through the plywood and the boarded floor beneath, which still had the original old joists and nogging lain down when the place was built, back in the 1920’s. Finally, he worked his way through to the garage beneath. The opening he created was just large enough to squeeze through. Using a flashlight, he looked down inside the garage. There were lots of cobwebs, but not too cluttered with old furniture.

At my height, he thought, if I hold onto the floor, it would be just a short drop.

So, by going feet first, he lowered himself into the opening. Just as he was positioning himself to grab onto the floor joists, he felt something with great strength grab his legs. It pulled him down into the garage.

“No! Stop! Stop!” He yelled, but it happened so quickly that he did not have time to get a good grip on the joist. Within seconds he was on the garage floor beneath.

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“I don’t understand,” the ninety-year-old lady said as she opened the door to John’s apartment. Two police officers entered the apartment, and saw the damaged living room.

“Ma’am, there’s a hole in your floor,” one officer said, “we must check the garage.”

“But what would he be doing down there?” The old lady walked down the stairs and unlocked the rusted pad lock that had sealed the garage for over thirty-five years. With a Stinger flashlight, one officer scanned the area. There on the cold, dusty floor was John, lying in a fetal position. The officer checked the body, and then phoned for an ambulance.

“How did he get down here?” The old lady asked, but the officer did not answer. He returned and searched John’s apartment. He saw the half filled jar of homemade beer. With a gloved hand, he picked it up and sniffed the contents. He bagged it and took it with him.

“What do you supposed happened?” The other officer asked.

“Looks like he drank some kind of tainted mixture.” The second officer held up the bagged jar. “My guess, DMHP. It’s been surfacing recently, smuggled in from Afghanistan.”