The Forgotten Pantry Door

Lizzie headed down the basement steps. During hot summer days the damp cool basement was refreshing, especially the pantry of canned goods. Lizzie often took a doll with her but this day she was alone. 

The only light in the basement was streaming in through the windows. It danced along the floor and swirls of dust arose behind the girl’s skips. She paused halfway across the room and stared at the workbench ladened with wood crafting tools and a variety of jars full of nails and screws. She wondered what all the tools were for. 

Lizzie walked the remainder of the way to the pantry door. She pushed on the door, the hinges moaned as the door gave way into the small room. A light switch was right next to the doorframe and the girl flipped the lights on.  

The light cut through the darkness, reflecting off of jars of fruits and vegetables. Orange apricots picked in the orchard and then canned up in the kitchen. Snap beans from the garden, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, pears, and grape jelly, a rainbow of colors lined the pantry shelves. 

Dust had settled on the jars, Lizzie wiped a finger across one of the jars. The glass was cool to her touch. Suddenly, she heard the door creak as it closed. The light flickered before it went out. She was thrown into complete darkness. A shiver ran through her body as she got her bearing. 

“Shhh I won’t hurt you.” a soft voice broke the silence of the dark. “I can help you get out of here.” 

Forgetting about the darkness, Lizzie looked around for the source of the voice.

“Where are you?” Lizzie asked.

“I’m right here. You are not alone.” 

“It’s dark, I can’t see you.” 

“I’m here to keep you safe. When I was little I would play down here like you do. This was a good hiding spot for hide and seek.”

“Brr it's cold in here.” Lizzie hugged herself as if to stress the feeling. 

“The door is right over here.” The voice of the little girl said. “Just walk towards my voice and you will find the door.”

Lizzie moved towards the voice, arms outstretched in front of her. Slowly she passed the shelves until she found the deep freezer next to the door. She felt her way along the top of the freezer until she touched the wall. Reaching out with her right hand, Lizzie found the doorknob and pulled on the door. 

As light from the basement poured into the pantry Lizzie ran across the floor to the stairway. She turned to thank the girl that had helped her but no one was behind her. With her spirit renewed, Lizzie went back to the pantry doorway. 

“Hello … where are you?” Lizzie stuck her head in but could not pierce the darkness. She tried the light switch but the lights did not come on. Just then her mother called her for lunch and Lizzie dashed upstairs. On her way, Lizzie decided that she would search the basement after lunch. 

After lunch, Lizzie and her mother went to buy Lizzie new shoes. After visiting the shoe store, they took the shoes to their cobbler so that he could customize the shoes. Lizzie was born with a birth defect and a standing order from her doctor instructed the cobbler how to adjust the girl’s shoes. 

An afternoon of shopping wore Lizzie out and she forgot about the adventure she had in the basement earlier that day. Lizzie watched her favorite television show after dinner and then her mother put her to bed. 

_____________________________________________________ 

The next morning after breakfast, Lizzie went upstairs to her mother’s sewing room. Lizzie was dressed in a pale green and pink floral shorts set. A lace eyelet fringed the hem of the top and the legs. It was a sunny day outside and Lizzie knew that when her mother finished sewing that they would go outside. 

Lizzie quietly played with her dolls as the sewing machine rhythmically whirred. She wrapped scraps of fabric around her dolls in an effort to change their clothing. Then the doorbell rang. Lizzie’s mother pushed her chair away from the sewing machine before heading down to answer the door. 

“I’ll be right back. Don’t touch the sewing machine, dear.”

“Okay, mommy.”

Lizzie listened as her mother’s footsteps got farther away. A cool breeze whipped Lizzie’s long hair around her face. Lizzie looked around to see if a window was open. Not in the sewing room, perhaps in one of the other rooms. Lizzie got up and went into the hallway. 

“Was that your mother?” a voice behind her asked. Lizzie recognized the voice from the pantry.. “This is my mother.” 

Lizzie turned around and there stood a cloudy-looking little girl and her mother. They were dressed in long dresses and wore square brimmed bonnets. 

“Yes, that was my mother. Who are you?”  

“I’m Margaret and this is my mom Beth Sanders.” 

“Where do you live?” Lizzie asked.

“Oh we live here to watch over the innocents like you.” 

“What? I’ve never seen you before. Where do you stay?” Lizzie was confused and startled by the response.

“We lived here and when we passed over we stayed here to help protect children from the evil down below. That’s why I helped you out of the basement.” The cloudy ghost lady vanished while the girl explained their purpose to Lizzie. 

“Below? Below what?”

“The basement. There is an evil in the basement that likes to hurt children. I closed the door to keep the evil from getting at you.”

“Oh, thank you. Where did you disappear to?”

“I was only there to help you. Mother wanted me to stay by her side. But I wandered off to help you.”   

“Do you play with dolls?” 

“I had a teddy bear that I would play with.” Miraculously a scruffy teddy bear appeared in Margaret’s hands. 

“I have a teddy bear, also. But mine is black and white not brown like yours.”

Lizzie heard her mother’s steps on the stairs. She turned around to greet her mother. 

“Mommy, meet my friend.” Lizzie called out. She looked back over her shoulder the cloudy images had vanished. She went into the sewing room to see if they were in there. Lizzie could not find any sign of them anywhere.

“Did you say something to me, dear?” 

“I wanted you to meet my friend but I don’t know where she went.” Lizzie pouted as she looked down at her feet.

‘Well, I can meet your friend later” Lizzie's mother reassured Lizzie. 

Lizzie had a feeling that Lizzie’s mother would never meet Margaret and Beth Sanders. But at the same time she felt special to have these two special cloud friends.