Discovery

I've lived in this house for five years now, so I have had plenty of time to discover every nook and cranny. You would not believe the little hidden wonders I have found over that time. I thought I had found all there was to discover, but today proved that notion wrong.

As I was making my way through the basement, a room I admittedly do not spend a lot of time in, I found something unexpected. In the back corner, hidden almost entirely behind an old desk that was already here when I moved in, sits an unassuming trapdoor. I thought that was rather interesting, a trapdoor in the basement, I was already below ground and yet I could go even further down.

I hesitated at first, the various reasons going through my head about why there would be a trapdoor in the basement were mostly negative ones. It was pretty suspicious, however it was not locked. Maybe it was empty.

Gathering a little courage, I reached down for the circle, metal handle and pulled. For an old door that had not been opened in at least five years, it opened rather easily. As one might expect, it was pitch black down there, after all, the only way light could enter was through the one little door.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I turned on the flashlight and aimed the beam of light through the opening. From outside, I could make out the ladder and dark concrete floors, but not much else. I would have to go down the ladder if I wanted to know what was down there.

Putting my phone back in my pocket long enough to go down, I put one foot down at a time and within a few seconds, I was in this hidden pocket. I grabbed my phone once again and slowly turned around behind me to see what awaited.

Truthfully, I was half expecting some secret torture room with medieval devices that were impossible to find. With a breath of relief, I realised that my fears were unfounded. In fact, this turned out to be an amazing discovery. As right before me were three large bookshelves, floor to ceiling, absolutely filled with books. Old looking tomes that probably had not seen the light of day in many years.

This was the highlight of my day and I spent many hours investigating the books. Of course, when you are in a room that is several feet below ground, losing track of time is inevitable. Unfortunately, it was well into the night by the time I finally left the room.

Prompt: You discover a trapdoor in your house, what lies beneath?

So, I actually gave this prompt to my year 3 students today, and I figured I would use it as well. When you give a prompt like this to 8-year-olds, you can imagine the kind of answers you will get. I got the usual answers like monsters and even skeletons. One boy specifically wrote dead skulls. I was unaware there were other kinds. Then I had some that thought there were secret pets hiding out down there, cute. The imaginations of children, right?