The Secret Room

Using her grandmother’s temporary absence to her advantage, Kelsey crept downstairs to the forbidden basement.

She didn’t know why other than her grandmother said so. At the bottom of the stairs, she pulled a door open, revealing a dark room. “Whoa,” she muttered in awe, “what is this place?”

A pentagonal-column occupied the center of the room as a prismatic-beam of magenta light streamed upward from the column. Kelsey approached and leaned forward, placing her palms against the sides. She stared intently at the center. “Kelsey?” Her grandmother called from upstairs. “You’re not in the basement, are you?” Creaking stairs told her her grandmother was coming down.

Oh no, she thought and turned, except she couldn’t. Her hands were stuck to the side of the column. Crap! 

Something began to happen. The lights in the column began to swirl hypnotically. “Kelsey!” Her grandmother called behind her but Kelsey couldn’t turn away. She was in a trance as the lights swirled faster until Kelsey was thrown backward.

Some time later, she woke up. “Where am I?”

(~175 words)

This story was originally published on September 13, 2016.

Written for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers, a flash fiction challenge hosted by Priceless Joy from 2015-2019. In this prompt, we are challenged to write a piece between 100 and 150 words (more or less 25 words) using the photo prompt given.