You slowly open the dumbwaiter door, not fully certain you should be doing this. From what you’ve seen of the rest of the place, the best case scenario is the dumbwaiter shaft has collapsed or been taken over by critters. Cold, stale air breathes over you from the darkness of the space inside. Otherwise, all is still. A shiver of apprehension shakes you as you step closer. Though there’s no sign of the dumbwaiter cart itself, from what you can see, the mechanism is still in place, though a piece of luggage seems to have been wedged into the space as well.
Despite every instinct telling you not to, you lean into the musty darkness of the dumbwaiter shaft. You can see the bottom-side of the dumbwaiter cart further up, but can’t reach it. You carefully remove your head.
You attempt to lower the cart, but the dumbwaiter won’t function. It seems to be missing some pieces…
While handling the luggage, you’re distracted by a line of mist that begins pouring from the dumbwaiter. It collects on the floorboards below, then starts to form upwards into the shape of a worn-looking man in a hat.
“Funny how you can’t leave some things behind, ain’t it? Not even in death.”
“You must be Mr. Emmett, the lodger.”
“And you must be stark mad mingling with the likes of this place, after what happened and all.”
“About that, I have something I’d like to ask.”
“Go ahead, I obviously have nowhere else to be.”
“I was fairly busy. I had been out during much of the day running a few errands for myself. When I got back to the McDermott’s place, Vera came and got me from my room. She needed help moving some furniture or some such truck. I obliged. A nasty storm was brewing, I could smell it before we left. Well, we didn’t make it far down the road before Vera’s car knackered out on us just as it started to pour rain. Lo and behold this salesman fellow pulls up right along, impeccable timing really, and gives us a lift back. Once inside we all try to warm up a bit, and I head to my room. Remember when I said I remembered fairly much everything? Well whatever happened next is the part I can’t recollect. Next thing I knew I was here, floating about, as curious as everyone else as to what had transpired.”
“Yes and no. I got along with the kids well enough, though Virgil could be a touch skittish. What boy his age, losing his pops so young and all, then thrown to a new family, wouldn’t be a bit topsy-turvy? He just needed to get his foundation under him again. Miss Elsie was a right grand kid, whip-smart, you see. She was the apple of Mr. McDermott’s eye, and he was awful kind to rent out to me. I think he enjoyed having someone around to engage with the kids, play games, teach the riddles, that sort of thing. Mrs. McDermott, though, was another matter. I’d gathered that she didn’t much care for having a lodger like myself in the home. I’m actually surprised she even asked me along on the errand that day. She usually went out of her way to pretend I didn’t exist.”
“You’ve been rather kind, stranger, so I’ll tell you this. My leaving wasn’t sudden. Mr. McDermott knew I was heading out. I’d got word of some work opportunities a couple states over, and I was fairly certain Mrs. McDermott wouldn’t be sad to see me go. I didn’t want to tell the kids until I was ready to walk out the door, as I didn’t want to linger after telling Miss Elsie the bad news. Not too good at goodbyes, you see.”
“What about the storm?”
“Storm or no, when it’s time to go it’s time to go, that’s how I see it. If you’re trying to imply that I was trying to make a getaway, well… I can see why, but that wasn’t the case. A man simply must go where a man must go when a man must go there. I felt a bit short on time at the time, yet now I’ve all the time in the world and nowhere to go. Ain’t that just the way?”
