Staying Inside

Chapter 1: What?

I sighed irritably, going down the stairs to my room. Having finished lunch, my parents went back to their work, and I was left to entertain myself once again. It has been three and a half weeks since we went into lockdown - everyone knows why - and one could only have so much patience. Even during the social distancing phase, there wasn't much to do as my school was shut and there were only three other houses in my neighbourhood - of which in one lived my enemy, and another was long abandoned. As an adventurous extrovert, it was indeed my worst nightmare.

I stared up at the ceiling and began reminiscing the days before I was under house arrest. Yes, I understood the reason why I had to stay at home and wished for all those suffering to get better, and there was no way I was going to be ten feet near anyone but my family, but I liked being dramatic, so I continued with my thoughts.

Now, I have done everything I possibly could, and at this point, every little thing was ticking me off. Reaching the bottom, I kicked open my door. I had the entire basement to myself, and it allowed me to do as I pleased. I picked up the ball lying next to my table and began tossing it at the wall repeatedly. Only a few seconds later, I collapsed onto my bed, chucking the ball away in the process.

"I'm bored-" My whining came to a halt when I heard a click, like that of a lock opening.

I shot up straight and looked at the door. It seemed to be as I left it when I walked in. I glanced around and saw the ball lying next to a crack in the wall. I knew it had always been there, but it had never made such a noise before. I crept towards it and picked up the ball. I am not sure as to what compelled me to do it, but I threw the ball at the crack again.

The absolute shock I felt when it opened like a door is unimaginable. In front of me was a tunnel. In my room. I drew in a sharp breath. "Oh my God," I muttered incredulously.

Realising that this might finally be something exciting, I grinned and ran to my wardrobe to change into a more fitting attire- light blue pyjamas were perhaps not the way. I rummaged through, before finding what I was looking for - flexible, yet sturdy pants, a random old top and a camo jacket - yes very unnecessary of me. I tiptoed downstairs to grab my boots; my mother would definitely not approve me wearing them in the house.

After I successfully made it back and locked my door, I sat on the floor and pulled them on. Just as I approached the passageway, my phone buzzed with a notification. I glared at it from afar. This entire time I was lazing around no one bothered texting me. Not now. I had more urgent matters to attend to.

I peeked through the passage, realising it was very dark. I backtracked and grabbed the torch from my adventuring backpack before I went back to it. It was decently sized; enough for a person to fit through. "I guess I'm doing this," I said and began crawling through. It was dusty, as expected, and had some cobwebs here and there, but was in a better condition than one would think it would be in. The real question was, where did it lead to?

As I went further, I came to a divide in the tunnel. One kept going straight, while the other turned left. I decided to keep going straight and come back later to the alternative turn. After a few minutes of coughing and uncomfortable wriggling, I reached the end. In front of me was another door. I could hear some groaning coming from behind it. My eyes widened as I inched away from it.

I debated my options. I could turn back now, but I would never know what lay beyond. In the end, my curiosity won. At least if I died, it wouldn't be of boredom. I aimed my torch at the door - in hopes, it would blind whatever creature was on the other side - and slammed the door with my foot. I jumped out, only to see a person falling off his chair, startled. "Oliver?!" I exclaimed. 

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Hello! I'm back with yet another short story. 

I think we're all doing more things (not school work) now that we are at home. 

So, let me know what you think.

Aiming to write a lot more from now.  :)