In the basement, down the rickety stairs, across the rust stain on the torn carpet, in the room full of childhood toys, is where my friends live. I visit them everyday. They are my friends. Today I open the door and I sit on the bed and close my eyes.
“Jeremy!” She exclaims. I open my eyes, and there are my friends.
Hi, I hear myself say.
“How was your school today?” He asks, leaning against the bookshelf.
“Careful. That will fall,” I warn. But it does not fall, even though he leans against it very hard.
“We should play a game today!” She exclaims. She exclaims a lot.
We decide to play How Long Can I Hold My Breath? I win and he looks sad. So I say I cheated and breathed through my nose. We play again and he wins and he is happy.
“Jeremy!” A voice calls from upstairs. I do not like the upstairs. It is too bright.
I tell my friends I have to go and I will see them tomorrow. Then, I walk upstairs and into the light.
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“You are always in that darn basement Jeremy,” My mother says as I sit down at the dinner table.
“Yes” I hear myself say. I hear myself say a lot. But my mother frowns and it seems like I didn’t say “Yes” at all.
“Jeremy? Are you listening to your mother?” My father says trying to stare me down from across the table.
I think I nod and my father is satisfied so I know I did. We eat mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner. I mash the green beans with my spoon too, but my father says that is not mature. After dinner, I wash my hands. I like the way that the water is cold against my skin. I decide to put my face under too to see how that feels, but my mother gets angry. I go upstairs to my room. The dog is hiding under my bed and I call him to sit on the bed with me. The dog does not, so I sit on my bed alone.
I go to sleep.
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It is the next day. I am in the basement again. She has a surprise for me.
“Close your eyes!” She exclaims. I close my eyes.
“Open them!” She exclaims again. He holds a slumped cake with no candles.
“Happy birthday!” She exclaims. I smile and say thank you for the cake. Before I can eat it, my mother calls from the light. I say I will be back tomorrow and go upstairs.
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I ask my mother what is the date? She does not hear me, so I try to ask again.
“What is the date?” I ask.
“It is October 1st,” She responds. I am angry that she does not mention my birthday. My father does not remember either. I wash my hands after dinner and go upstairs to my room. The dog still stays under the bed. My mother comes upstairs and almost steps on him but I do not say anything.
“What is wrong with you Jeremy?” She asks trying to be nice. I don’t want to tell her about my birthday, so instead I turn away.
“Jeremy, please,” My mother says from behind me.
“YOU ARE GOING TO STEP ON THE DOG!” I scream before she does.
I turn around and see that he has gone back under the bed.
“Jeremy,” My mother says, forcing me to look up. Before she can finish her sentence, my father calls her to go downstairs. She looks at me funny, so I scrunch my face up too at her. Once she leaves, I go to sleep.
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The next day I go to the basement, and my friends are there.
“How was your school today?” He asks, leaning against the bookshelf.
Someone called me crazy, I say.
“It is okay! You are not crazy!” She exclaims.
My mother calls from the light and I say I will see you tomorrow to my friends.
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“Jeremy,” my mother says from across the table, “Eat your food, please.”
I eat my food and she looks satisfied. We do not talk about her almost stepping on the dog yesterday.
“How was your day, son?” My father asks. I say good, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.
“Good,” I say. He nods, and I wash my hands after dinner. I go upstairs and see the dog still under the bed. Then, I go to sleep.
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The next day in the basement my friends want to play a game again. She suggests another game of How Long Can I Hold my Breath? He agrees and we play again. I let him win and he is happy.
“Jeremy! Why are you sad!” She exclaims.
I say I do not know. I say that no one understands me.
“You should come join us all the time,” He says.
I agree, but say I do not know how to do that.
“Come with us! We will have to play a longer game of How Long Can I Hold my Breath?” She exclaims leading me further into the basement. My mother calls from the light, but I do not respond.
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I see my mother crying in front of three gravestones. My friends are there too. He stands behind the larger of the three, and she stands behind the smallest. He holds the slumped birthday cake with no candles and I see that the gravestone is marked the same day as his birthday. Her gravestone is also marked the same day. The third graveson says Jeremy Peterson, Born July 3rd, Died October 3rd. I smile because now I will be with my friends forever. We walk away and I hear my mother saying, “We don’t have a dog. We don’t have a dog. We don’t have a dog.”