The House at 1492 Thunder Maze Court
-Warren Z.
Our story began in the blistering heat of the summer of ’79. The neighborhood of Gratswood in the suburbs of Yonkers, NY was a very amiable place. Residents were friendly, houses were just the right size for a medium sized family, and the grass was literally greener on that side of the Hudson. On one particular morning, Justin and Desmond Wilson were playing their usual game of “US vs Soviets”.
“Get back here, you filthy commie!” shouted Justin as he brandished his cap gun. “I’m not done with you yet!”
“Never!” cried Desmond while pretending to shoot at Justin. “Hey! I just shot you! You have to lie down for five seconds. You’re dead, remember?”
Justin furiously shook his head. “You didn’t hit me! In fact, you couldn’t hit the side of our house if you were standing a foot from it”, he declared.
Desmond moved to tackle Justin, but Justin ran away towards the end of the street, and approached the dreaded “haunted house”- 1492 Thunder Maze Court. Now, mind you, this was not just an urban legend. People on the street legitimately thought the house was haunted, especially the children who were often warned not to go venture into the house. The story has it that the house was built upon a magical gathering place for Indian shamans. Every so often, there would be a report of strange, bright flashes of light and chanting drifting through the house’s windows.
Justin stood upon the porch of the dreaded abode, and pushed open the door. “Catch me if you can!” he shouted to Desmond. With that, he dashed straight into the house.
Forgetting all the warnings of the neighborhood adults and his parents, Desmond made a mad dash into the home.
Upon entering, Desmond was awestruck at what he saw. From the exterior, the two story house appeared derelict and forgotten compared to the rest of the neighborhood. However, on the inside was a whole different house. The first thing he noticed was an enormous crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Also, although this would only occur to him later, the house appeared larger on the inside than it did from the outside.
Now, it had taken Desmond about three minutes to jog from his front yard to 1492 (he was on the heavier side, and thus was not the most athletic of kids). Within this time, Justin had fairly thoroughly explored most of the first floor of the house.
“Desmond!” Justin called from the parlor. “Get yourself over here! You have to take a look at this”.
“What is it?” Desmond inquired.
“Just get over here!”
Desmond sauntered over to where he had heard Justin’s voice coming from, and what he saw he could not comprehend.
There was Justin, his younger brother, sitting and playing with what appeared to be a lion with an eagle’s head and wings.
“Wha…wha…” Desmond spluttered. “Those… those… are gryphons” he finally managed to stammer.
“Yeah! Aren’t they great?”
“Sure… but they only exist in myths…”
“Oh, well”.
A voice behind Desmond whispered, “What are you boys doing in my house?”
Desmond spun around and saw a roughly fifty year old man standing in front of him. The strangest thing was that in his hand, he clutched what appeared to be a tiny floating ball of light.
“Oh, sorry sir. My brother and I blundered in here. We were just leaving”.
“It’s alright. You two can stay for tea if you’d like”.
“Oh, no sir. We don’t want to be any trouble”.
“I insist”, the man stated in a manner that conveyed that the conversation was over. He briskly spun around, and walked toward the kitchen. “Follow me, Justin and Desmond”.
At this, Desmond felt a little alarmed. He had never met the man before that day, and yet the latter knew his name. He decided to vocalize his thoughts. “Sir, how do you know our names?”
“Ah, you see, Desmond. I know many, many things. For example, I know that the Steelers will win the next Superbowl, and I know that the Soviet Union will collapse in approximately… twelve years.”
With that, he snapped his finger and at once, all the dishes, silverware, and appliances started moving of their own accord.
Desmond at this point did not wish to stay any longer, so he took his brother’s hand and sprinted out of the house.