Personal Narrative-The Girl In The Basement

The Girl in the Basement

I was startled by the eerie presence of a little girl. My arms were soon covered in goose bumps! I told Rob, but he just rolled his eyes. He ran over to me when, minutes later, I gasped in fright. I dropped the box I was holding. “Her spirit flew into me, Rob!”
Rob searched my face as he held me. “You’ve been so stressed again lately; you have to pull yourself together, Sweetie!”
Abruptly, the presence of the little girl left me, but then I saw her standing but a few paces away from me. She stared at me with eyes as dark as a moonless night. Her deathly pale face was framed by pitch-black hair. “Don’t let him patronize you like that!” she hissed as she faded away before my astonished eyes.
Rob and I put everything down to the figment of my imagination. We continued the daunting task of fixing our run-down basement. It was a mammoth undertaking. Despondency tightened its grasp around my throat. I felt an old familiar feeling. Depression, you strike again; the coldest winter in Toronto in over two decades isn’t helping matters!

“Don’t be depressed; your pain takes me to such a dark place,” the girl said softly.

She was back! I was inextricably drawn to the waif-like girl; she strongly resembled both my daughter and me. Mesmerized, I approached her. I held out my hands to her. I deeply regretted the pain I had inflicted upon her over the

years.
Without warning, her spirit flew into me again. This time the impact knocked me off my feet! I floated towards the ceiling! Trembling with fear, I shouted Rob’s name. “Please help me down!” I cried.
But he couldn’t reach me. “Kathy, come back!” his voice was panic-stricken.
Suddenly the girl was by my side again. Her breath was ice cold against my face when she spoke, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll help you fly away to find yourself. That should stop your yearning!”
We flew out the window and into the biting cold January air. She disappeared, but I soared higher. I looked down. Rob’s face appeared tormented as he stood in the snow and ice, shouting for me to return. I tried to turn around, fly back to him, but I couldn’t. Panic consumed me. What if I never see my sweetheart and my beloved children again?
Desperately I tried to push down with my arms to slow down my speed. My arms turned into wings! They were soon covered in ice as I flew higher up into the freezing winds. Rob was now just a speck on a frigid Toronto sidewalk.
Like a bird when winter approaches, I headed south. With my black hair flowing behind me, above magnificent Lake Ontario I flew. I was escaping from reality, but sadness tore me apart. Tears froze on my cheeks.
Eventually, I managed to change direction. Frantically, I searched for our warm brick house. It remained elusive, like everything else I had searched for my whole life. I was distraught; I couldn’t find Rob and my children.
Quite unexpectedly one day, I finally spotted our house. I swooped down like a powerful eagle. I saw them, huddled around a fire in the back garden. Oh no, far too much time has passed! Mark and Wendy had become adults and Rob was older and wrinkled.
“Thank God I found you guys!” They didn’t run up to me, just stared at me with cool detachment. “It’s me, your mother!” I screamed to my children. “Rob, say something!”
“It’s been too long!” Rob retorted.
“Way too long,” Mark and Wendy agreed.
My heart ached. “You’re always searching, although we’re right over here. Mother!” Wendy exclaimed. Her dark eyes flashed and her voice chilled me to the bone. I recalled an accusation from another time. Mark nodded; his soft blue eyes were unfathomable. I struggled to escape into pain-free oblivion.
“She’s been out too long!” Rob’s voice became clearer. “Kathy, come back!”
The paramedic’s face floated above me as I regained consciousness. Then Rob and my children’s frantic faces swam into view. I had slipped and banged my head against a cupboard in the basement. A box of photos were strewn all over the floor. A yellowed photo of a young girl caught my eye. Black hair framed her ethereal face. I shuddered; did her haunting dark eyes glint with a hint of accusation? I hugged my loved ones with all my might. My heart smiled.