George, a small 9 year old boy, was on his way to Fred’s house, one of his classmates. Fred was having a sleepover that night, and he had invited several of his friends. George was new at school, he had not had time to meet everyone, so he felt a little uneasy.

Stepping towards the house after his mom dropped him off, George saw there were no lights on inside. All was quiet. He wondered if this was the right house. As he stepped onto the front steps, he heard a creaking from inside. He stopped, and listened. He drove closer, and he heard it again. As he stepped in front of the door, and looked up, the door flew open. “Hey, Bud,” shouted Fred. “Come on in.”

Fred’s mom came towering over him to greet George and let him in. “Everyone’s been waiting for you. Glad you could make it,” exclaimed Clarice.

“Come on, everyone’s down here.” Fred ran off down the hall. George told Clarice thanks, and followed his friend.

George had seen which door Fred disappeared into, so he ventured down the hall until he approached the door. Fred had closed it behind him. Hurriedly, he opened the door only to find a black void. He could hear giggling on the floor, so he stepped in and closed the door. He took a step, only to find there was no floor. These must be steps, he thought. Carefully, he descended down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, Fred lit a candle. George could now see the glowing, red faces of 5 other kids. None of them he recognized.

“Hey, George,” mumbled the group, “Sit down.” George took a seat in the now circle of 6. They all sat around a single, black candle, not saying a word. George sat there for 10 minutes being as still and quiet as possible as to not offend the others. His eyes focused on the flame. It grew higher into the air with each breath he took. He sat there for 30 minutes staring into the flame. His eyes could see nothing else. Suddenly, someone sneezed. This woke George up from his trance. He looked around. He saw Fred peering into the darkness with a pale look on his face.

“Whats’a matter, Fred,” questioned George. Fred sat there, quietly. He did not speak. George was puzzled.

“We are alone, now.” Fred paused. “There is no one around.” George looked around, the red glare from the candle limited his sight. “If you screamed,” said Fred, “no one would listen.”

George sat there, looking strangely at his friend. He was too scared to say anything. “No one can help you now, George. We are alone, just you and me.” The candle burned out. “Take a guess where you are. You are here. Here, there is nothing. Time doesn’t even exist here. Nothing exists here, for we are not here.” George’s eyes widened. He stood up and ran towards the stairs. He quickly tripped over the first step and let out a loud scream.

“No one can hear you, George. No one is here. No one can help you, George.” George heard footsteps coming towards him. “No one can help you anymore, no one cares. No one cares. No one cares. No one cares.” The words repeated themselves over and over. He let out a loud scream, but not even he could hear it. He tried again, but nothing. Suddenly, he fell off the floor as if someone had turned the room upside down. He fell into the darkness for what seemed like forever. He tried to scream, but he still let out no sound. It would have done no good, anyway. He could see a small, dim light getting closer and closer as he fell. He fell into the flame, and it torched him in a bright flaming red, which he could see even with his eyes
closed.

“George! George,” shouted Clarice as she jogged down the stairs. She had turned the lights on in the basement. George was lying on his back with the 5 kids standing over him looking
down. They were questioning him as to what had happened. George sat up quickly and looked around. He stood up.

“What happened, son,” asked Clarice.

“I dunno,” replied Fred.

Suddenly, George looked around and ran out the door, and down the street towards home, where ever that was.