action taking place on the other side of the
room, suddenly more interested in their current surroundings. The
boxes that were concealing their presence from themselves had
obviously been down there for quite some time. The dank space had
caused a fair amount of mold to form along the bottom of the boxes
that were in contact with the floor; the yellow-green life creeping
upward toward the higher stacked containers. The sides of the boxes
were lined with various people’s names and short descriptions like, bathroom and books ; likely the current contents of
the moldy brown squares. Other names and descriptions had been
crossed out on various boxes, indicating that this had not been
their first storage task, though their condition would suggest that
it would likely be their last.
The remainder of the dimly lit corner was
fairly empty. The floor, though covered in a thick layer of dust,
was remarkably clean given the condition of the boxes, suggesting
that, at least occasionally, someone must take a moment to visit
the secluded space with at least a broom and maybe a dustpan in an
attempt to tidy up the place. Scanning further he didn’t see any
oil containers or paint cans, as he would expect to find in such a
space. There were no tools or spare pieces of wood for
miscellaneous repairs by the building attendant and there was no
old food or random crumbs of any kind.
Now, of course he didn’t expect to find food
stored in such an unsanitary place, but its presence might have
helped to explain the rather large rodent currently scurrying
toward Jason’s left foot.
“Jason,” Derek whispered as he tapped his
friend’s shoulder.
Jason showed no signs of acknowledgement,
still focused intently on the two men in the cage.
“Jason,” Derek whispered again, a bit louder
this time as he peeked around the boxes to see if he’d heard
himself.
His counterpart continued to work on the
electrical box as the other Jason set up the machine.
Glancing back toward the quickly scurrying
rat, Derek watched as the small animal disappeared beneath his
crouching friend, but before he could offer another warning, Jason
quickly jumped, almost springing to his feet as the unexpected
rodent brushed against his dangling, nether region.
A warning obviously no longer of any use, he
quickly slapped his hand over Jason’s mouth to muffle the yelp that
he was sure would follow as Jason locked eyes with the rat who’d
paused in his journey to offer up his own ‘what the hell’ look.
“What was that?” the other Derek
questioned.
Jason, Derek and the rat froze, all seeming
to exchange the same, ‘we’re busted’ glance.
“I don’t know,” the others continued.
“Go check it out.”
“Me? Why don’t you go?”
With Derek’s hand still over his mouth,
Jason could only offer up an ‘I told you so’ stare.
The rat, apparently bored with its newly
discovered company, continued on its way, making its way around the
boxes and into plain view of the cage.
Realizing that they were safe again, since
neither of them had investigated the strange noise after seeing the
rat, Derek removed his hand from Jason’s face.
Allowing a moment to pass before moving
again, Derek and Jason again slowly peeked around the boxes,
watching as the others made final preparations and now stood
holding the tiny wired orbs in their hands.
Derek knew what the other him was thinking.
He wanted to stand up and tell him to go for it; to not doubt his
genius roommate and push the button, but he knew he wouldn’t and
moments later the button was pressed and the men in the cage
vanished, their clothes dropping to the floor where they’d
previously stood.
“I guess that explains where our clothes
went,” Derek laughed as he pictured the look of shock on both of
their faces when they’d discovered their nudity. Given all that had
just happened in the last ten minutes however, he’d almost
forgotten that he was naked. Jason on the other hand
room, suddenly more interested in their current surroundings. The
boxes that were concealing their presence from themselves had
obviously been down there for quite some time. The dank space had
caused a fair amount of mold to form along the bottom of the boxes
that were in contact with the floor; the yellow-green life creeping
upward toward the higher stacked containers. The sides of the boxes
were lined with various people’s names and short descriptions like, bathroom and books ; likely the current contents of
the moldy brown squares. Other names and descriptions had been
crossed out on various boxes, indicating that this had not been
their first storage task, though their condition would suggest that
it would likely be their last.
The remainder of the dimly lit corner was
fairly empty. The floor, though covered in a thick layer of dust,
was remarkably clean given the condition of the boxes, suggesting
that, at least occasionally, someone must take a moment to visit
the secluded space with at least a broom and maybe a dustpan in an
attempt to tidy up the place. Scanning further he didn’t see any
oil containers or paint cans, as he would expect to find in such a
space. There were no tools or spare pieces of wood for
miscellaneous repairs by the building attendant and there was no
old food or random crumbs of any kind.
Now, of course he didn’t expect to find food
stored in such an unsanitary place, but its presence might have
helped to explain the rather large rodent currently scurrying
toward Jason’s left foot.
“Jason,” Derek whispered as he tapped his
friend’s shoulder.
Jason showed no signs of acknowledgement,
still focused intently on the two men in the cage.
“Jason,” Derek whispered again, a bit louder
this time as he peeked around the boxes to see if he’d heard
himself.
His counterpart continued to work on the
electrical box as the other Jason set up the machine.
Glancing back toward the quickly scurrying
rat, Derek watched as the small animal disappeared beneath his
crouching friend, but before he could offer another warning, Jason
quickly jumped, almost springing to his feet as the unexpected
rodent brushed against his dangling, nether region.
A warning obviously no longer of any use, he
quickly slapped his hand over Jason’s mouth to muffle the yelp that
he was sure would follow as Jason locked eyes with the rat who’d
paused in his journey to offer up his own ‘what the hell’ look.
“What was that?” the other Derek
questioned.
Jason, Derek and the rat froze, all seeming
to exchange the same, ‘we’re busted’ glance.
“I don’t know,” the others continued.
“Go check it out.”
“Me? Why don’t you go?”
With Derek’s hand still over his mouth,
Jason could only offer up an ‘I told you so’ stare.
The rat, apparently bored with its newly
discovered company, continued on its way, making its way around the
boxes and into plain view of the cage.
Realizing that they were safe again, since
neither of them had investigated the strange noise after seeing the
rat, Derek removed his hand from Jason’s face.
Allowing a moment to pass before moving
again, Derek and Jason again slowly peeked around the boxes,
watching as the others made final preparations and now stood
holding the tiny wired orbs in their hands.
Derek knew what the other him was thinking.
He wanted to stand up and tell him to go for it; to not doubt his
genius roommate and push the button, but he knew he wouldn’t and
moments later the button was pressed and the men in the cage
vanished, their clothes dropping to the floor where they’d
previously stood.
“I guess that explains where our clothes
went,” Derek laughed as he pictured the look of shock on both of
their faces when they’d discovered their nudity. Given all that had
just happened in the last ten minutes however, he’d almost
forgotten that he was naked. Jason on the other hand
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