The Cellar: A Post-Apocalyptic Novella by Richard Dela Cruz Read Free Book Online Page B

his face. He hoped he wasn’t blushing too hard as he went for a large can of hominy grits and pulled it off the shelf. He was surprised at how heavy it felt.
    “Light a fire under it!” Lara snapped her fingers.
    Daren carried the can outside the cellar and waited for Lara’s next instruction. She slammed the door and turned back the hand wheel to lock the room. Then she waited a few moments.
    “All right,” she said, “time to go back in.”
    “Huh?” Daren was incredulous. “You made me take out this can just to put it back on the shelf? It’s not like I didn’t get enough exercise tonight.”
    “Just keep quiet and pay attention.”
    She turned the hand wheel counterclockwise and opened the door. The room, which had its lights on when they left it, was dark again. Lara stepped inside the room and switched them back on.
    “Come inside and bring the can with you.”
    Daren sighed and hauled the can back into the cellar. He looked over at the shelf where he took the hominy grits. The can dropped from his hands and landed on the floor with a loud thud. It rolled away from his feet until it came to rest beside a sack of flour. Daren stared at the shelf and rubbed his eyes over and over again.
    “The can!” He pointed at the shelf with a shaking finger. “It’s there!” He looked at the floor. “And there!” He turned to stare at Lara. “There’s two of them!”
    “That’s right.” She oozed smugness.
    “But how?” Daren walked forward and looked at both cans.
    “Beats me,” Lara said. “Every time I take something away from the room I go back and there’s another one on the shelf again.”
    “You mean if I take something, go out, close the door and come back, I’ll see another one on the shelf?”
    “You saw it, didn’t you?” Lara chuckled softly. “But it only works after you close the door and lock it. I did that with a packet of bacon eight times and ended up with exactly eight packets of bacon.”
    “Unbelievable…” Daren picked up the can of grits and placed it beside its twin.
    “I tried an experiment once. I threw cans around, cut open sacks, poured stuff on the ground. And when I went out and came back everything was back in place. It’s like I was never there at all.”
    Daren considered the possibilities of the cellar. If the strange magic in the place held, it would mean that no one in the village would ever go hungry again. No more settling for rats and mice ever.
    “Do you realize what this means?” He rushed over to her and squeezed her arms. “We can feed both our villages forever!”
    The excitement of the moment took possession of him. He grabbed her by the waist and twirled her round and round. After the dizziness got too much for him, he plopped her back on the ground and staggered back. He collided with a shelf and knocked several cans to the floor.
    “Wow.” It was her turn to look shocked. “What’s gotten into you?”
    Daren felt heat rise to his cheeks. He felt mortified at what he just did. They hardly ever went past friendly banter and suddenly he was grabbing her and carrying her around. What is wrong with me?
    “I’m sorry.” He bowed his head and scratched the back of it. “I don’t know what came over me. I was just so happy—”
    “It’s okay.” She looked down and stroked her hair over her ear. “I thought it was kind of cute.”
    Daren squirmed in place and coughed into his fist. Desperate to end the awkwardness, he stooped down to pick up the cans. In his haste to put them back on the shelf a few more rolled off. He knelt down to grab the newly fallen cans and shoved them back on the shelf, which caused even more to topple to the floor.
    “Stop it already!” Lara held her sides and laughed. “Just leave them where they are. They’ll all go back in place later.”
    Daren got up and avoided her gaze as he tried to endure his embarrassment. Why was he acting like a clumsy idiot?
    “All this excitement’s made me hungry.” She