The Darkroom

THE DARKROOM - Nuria González Fernández

-“This is just what we were looking for! When could we move in?”

It was a little detached house placed on the outskirts of Groningen. It was not the kind of house she was used to living in; but since her husband died, she could not afford the cost of the 150m2 flat in Amsterdam.

Evelyn worked as a photographer for a weekly magazine and her income only allowed her to buy for food and school material for her seven-year-old daughter, Catherine; but not more.

-“Let me prepare the papers and in a few days this will be your new house. It has been uninhabited for thirty years; so, if you have any problems, please don’t hesitate to call us”.

-“Why has it been uninhabited for such a long time?” asked Catherine popping her head out from behind her mother.

The realtor kneeled down to answer the girl.

- “I suppose it’s a question of superstition. It is said that, here, thirty years ago, there lived a woman and her son – he was just about your age – and that one day, a fatal accident occurred.

The woman was a photographer, like your mother, and used to stay long hours in the darkroom in the cellar. Therefore, Eric – the boy – passed a lot of time playing around alone. By that time, there weren’t any neighbours near; and the only person Eric knew was his mother.

One day, the ball Eric was playing with bounced down the stairs, and when the child picked it up from the floor, he was standing in front of the darkroom door, which had been left ajar.

Curiosity ran faster than caution; and Eric stepped inside the room. The red light dyed the walls and the aqueous solutions of the photographic developers, giving the place a disturbing atmosphere, enhanced with the strong smell of the acetic acid.

Eric went towards the recipients where the last photographs were being printed and grabbed one of them to see the picture. As soon as he touched the chemical, his fingers started to itch and burn. Automatically, the boy took his hand away; and tried to switch on the light to see if he had come out in a rash. He never saw his hands again. He groped for the switch, but what he found was a bare wire.

When the mother came back from the garden, she found her son completely still lying on the floor. She immediately called the doctor, but no one could do anything for the child. The woman ran mad and signed into an asylum.

The legend says that the spirit of the child is still wandering around the house; but this is an old story. You shouldn’t be worried about it”.

Catherine had nightmares with Eric every night, so Evelyn decided to switch on the radio while her daughter was helping her in the darkroom, so as to break the silence.

One stormy night, the radio lost the signal and Evelyn went out of the darkroom to fix it, leaving Catherine behind. The girl was about to follow her mother; but, suddenly, the door slammed in front of her. The red light started to flicker and mysterious shadows appeared in every corner. Catherine started to panic and tried to open the door desperately, but it was blocked. She tried to yell for help, but her voice had drowned out. She was paralyzed with fear and her face turned skull white. Everything became cold and she eventually fainted, hitting her head with the corner of the table.

After thirty years, Eric had finally found someone to play with.

Esta es la pequeña historia que presenté como proyecto escrito para inglés; y ya que es creación propia, le he hecho un huequito en el blog. Espero que os guste... aunque es un poco macabra...