STRANGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OMNIBUS by Benson Grayson Read Free Book Online

try the cellar. He had had only a brief glimpse of it through the open cellar door when they moved in and thought it might be warm and cozy because of the boiler located there. Turning on the cellar light, he slowly descended the stairs. The light bulb was very dim and much of the cellar remained in shadow. Along the ways he saw the outline of crates, large and small and of broken furniture. In one corner, he beheld a spinning wheel of the kind he had seen in one of his picture books.
    Suddenly he glimpsed movement in the shadows. Some vague shape seemed to move. Then he saw what he believed to be two large yellow eyes staring directly at him. Then heard a loud crash, which could have been the boiler starting up. Petrified, he turned and ran up the stairs, slamming the cellar door shut behind him.
    Running for safety to his mother, he found her in the kitchen feeding the baby. He blurted out what he had seen and pleaded sobbing for her to protect him. Irritated at the slamming of the door, which had upset her daughter, Jimmy’s mother rebuked him coldly, chiding him for being so foolish. When he refused to be calmed, she gave him a smack on the cheek with the back of his hand and ordered him to go straight upstairs to his room and stay there.
    Jimmy’s father returned that evening from work and found his wife still furious about Jimmy’s behavior. Normally a patient man and very fond of his son, he was tired after a hard day’s work and feeling stressed by the need to learn a new job. Going upstairs to see Jimmy and hear him explain what had happened, he was as deaf as Jimmy’s mother to the story of a dangerous thing hiding in the cellar. When he was unable to talk Jimmy out of his delusion, he finally lost his temper too and gave his son the first spanking he had ever received.
    Jimmy, once a cheerful, outgoing child, became increasingly sullen and morose. He stayed outside the house all day regardless of the weather and had to be dragged inside to eat. In desperation, his parents took him to a child psychological, who tried to cure him of his obsession. When that failed to cure Jimmy he was taken to other child psychologists, including several who recommended the parents going with Jimmy into the cellar and showing him that there was no dangerous thing hiding there. They did so, but despite the absence of any untoward thing in the cellar, Jimmy refused to be convinced.
    Jimmy’s parents next tried taking their son to a psychiatrist specializing in childhood disorders. All agreed that Jimmy was extremely bright but suffering from an unshakable obsession which if not cured could result in series mental illness. One even mentioned the alternative of a lobotomy, very rarely used except in the most extreme cases.
    Jimmy’s parents were seriously considering institutionalizing Jimmy when his maternal grandparents stepped in, offering to take their grandchild into their home. The grandfather had owned a small farm in Ohio. He was now semi-retired, renting out most of his land but still keeping a small heard of dairy cattle. His parents gratefully yielded up their troublesome son, and he was taken back to Ohio by his grandfather, who had traveled to Washington to escort him back to the farm.
    Jimmy never saw or heard from his parents or sister again. Under the sympathetic care of his grandmother and grandfather, he rapidly regained his old sunny disposition. He did very well at school, had many friends and enjoyed helping his grandfather tend the cows after school.
    A few months after starting school, Jimmy returned to the farm and found his grandparents sitting in the living room. His grandmother was weeping, and his grandfather is looking very grave. When he entered, his grandmother rose and hugged him. “Jimmy” he heard his grandfather say gravely. “I have something I have to tell you.”
    His grandfather placed him on his lap. “Your parents and sister have all been taken by God,” he said softly, kissing him on