These two essays are dated February 26, 1991, which places them in the eighth grade, I believe.
Rachel H. [last name omitted]
February 26, 1991
I'd say that the best basement I've ever been in was my own. It's small, but it's the perfect place to imagine that I'm in ancient Egypt. We have a new furnace and it's smaller, so I can walk around it. We have a little storeroom which isn't in use anymore. I pretend that there's a huge monster or a hidden passageway in there. [Note--I really have to wonder if I was taking some liberties in my descriptions here, because I never remember pretending there was a monster in there. A hidden passageway, yes, but never a monster.] Once I even dreamt that it led into a vast underground temple. What a dream! [Note--I don't remember that!! Dammit!]
Wooden posts hold up the ceiling, or floor. I pretend these are pillars.
Over in one wall, behind the water tank, there's a tiny opening. I don't enter there anymore for fear of spiders and 'cat business.' I say that that is the secret opening which Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon found behind a couch in King Tutankhamon's tomb.
And best of all is the woodroom! It's all mine now. One half is filled with junk (I hope someday it can get cleared out. [Note--yes, there's a parenthesis there that's lost its mate. Or rather, I forgot it.] But my half is amazing. On my old toybox there's a King Tut mask, an Osiris canopic jar, a bejeweled dagger, a beautiful rock, a lava totem pole, and a lava letter opener. [Note--by "lava" I meant hardened magma...I think...whatever that black stuff is.] Above this, resting on a wooden fenced-in area for the logs, is an old T. V. Inside is a cage. Deep within this, in the shadows, is an image of Bastet, the cat goddess. In front of her is a glass shard. Laying [sic] in front of the T. V. is a pure white rabbit fur. On it is an alabaster-like (or so I say) owl with glinting rhinestone eyes, and a metal owl with a turquoise belly and emerald eyes (fake, of course). There's another thing but I can't remember.
In the corner is a golden throne with a gold statue of the hawk god Horus. He wears a shell ring as a crown and has several knick-knacks [sic] in front of him.
Rachel H. [last name omitted]
His throne has a snake head painted on it. [Note--this is a continuation of the previous paragraph given before the page break.]
Beside him are some giant scales, with an ostrich feather on one side and a heart on the other. They're gold and have a rhinestone necklace hanging from them, and a bracelet that shimmers rainbow colors. [Note--I've long wondered what became of that bracelet!] On the bracelet are rainbow rhinestones, along with a green one and a red one.
Across the room is another golden throne. It has a red seat. On the back, which is shaped like a headdress, is a painting of the jackal god Anubis and the king. Beside this is a small stand with an Anubis canopic jar. Two dog statues and a gold pyramid are in front of him. Around the room are some other things, such as an eagle-headed cane. A mummy, some pyramids, and other things are painted on the walls. Hanging from things are long, whispy [sic] cobwebs with rainbow reflecting glitter in them. This glitter is everywhere else, as well. Some lanterns and bottles make up just about the last things in the room, besides some other things sitting around. As you can tell if you've read this, the woodroom is a great place to be. If you don't believe anything I've said, just come over and see. It's true, believe it or not! [Note--it really was. Before the sewer kept flooding into the basement, that is.]
(Now I remember! On Bastet's rabbit fur is a snowglobe on a stand. It looks like a crystal ball, with two children and a polar bear inside. I just wanted to say that.)
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