Photo: © Ted Strutz
“Where exactly does your uncle live?”
“You’ll see.”
I narrowed my eyes. Larry relished building tension. Perhaps mandatory in magicians, but guaranteed to annoy offstage!
“This better not be a trick!” I warned.
“It’s not,” he responded. “Scouts honor.”
“You’ve been kicked out of Scouts.”
He laughed.
We traipsed through deserted woods. No house anywhere. Not even a cabin. Just scraggly trees, weeds, and a spooky car wreck. Larry made for the latter.
I followed warily, smelling trickery.
“Here,” he reached under the hood, pressed something, unveiled stairs. “Ta-da! Uncle’s Red’s subterranean house!”
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Na'ama Yehuda 
The house was a surprise
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Well, Larry IS a magician … 😉
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I like it! I like it! it triggers the imagination to another world. I’d love to go down those steps inside the car’s belly 🙂 and see who lives there. Brilliant. (from threefoldtwenty dotcom)
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Thanks, Frankie! I admit my imagination was triggered (and slightly alluded to in the text) by a scene in the movie “Red” 🙂 It intrigued me then, and was my first association when I saw the photo … I WOULD love to visit such a place! 🙂
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I loved the twist at the end there!
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🙂 Thanks! The credit should sort of go to the movie “Red” (so I put a little nod in the text…) 🙂
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I like it too. Remainds me of this:
min 1:12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HXgPGZcXe4
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Exactly !!!!! 🙂 This was my immediate association … hence the ‘clue’ in the text, too … 🙂
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Oh, wonderful adventure! 🙂
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🙂 For Larry, for sure. For the narrator? We hope … 😉
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Na’ama Y’karah,
In reading the comments, I see I wasn’t the only one whose mind flipped straight to Red and John Malkovich. 😉 Loved your take. At the very least life with Larry wouldn’t be dull.
Shalom,
Riochelle
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(no ‘i’ in Rochelle 😉
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What did I miss? Sorry, drawing a blank … did I put in an extra “i” anywhere or is that from the movie?
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OHHHH — now I see the ‘i’ was you just adding an extra first person emphasis … 😉
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Yeah, we can say that since there’s no ‘i’ in team. 😉
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And all I could think of was the movie “The Lovely Bones” – NO! Don’t go in there! Don’t believe his magic trickery!
Go figure. This from me, who usually chooses the positive side of things…
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Well, for all we know, we don’t know what his Uncle Red has down there. Or why he’s even down there to begin with … so your … um … caution … may be warranted. Also, Larry is a tricky-by-profession kind of person (who was tossed out of Scouts …) 😉
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That’s what I was thinking… not all is copacetic with Larry-Boy… 😉
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Yep. I’d say wary is probably at least somewhat warranted. 😉
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Wonderful dialogue and tension. The house made it playful again, but there is a dark undercurrent throughout, that you wove so well. Chills.
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Yay! Thanks, Dawn! 🙂 A little “dark undercurrent” — what perfect pun! 🙂
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Not having seen any of the aforementioned movies I have to say, it stands alone very well.. My first thought was ‘his magic may well come in handy down there…’
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Glad it stands alone–it is not really based on the movies in any way, only that the image association sparked the story … sort of … 🙂
As for the magic bit … yeah, it may well come handy down there. Who knows who that uncle Red is — and why he’s down there … 😉
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The scene leading up to this fun twist is also excellent, character building in such few words. And the twist is marvellous.
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Thanks! 🙂 What generously kind feedback! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it! Now, I do wonder what is REALLY down there … 😉
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That would be so cool! A sub-ter house hidden in an old wreck. The thing I used to imagine as a little child playing out in the woods.
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Ha ha Jelli, I so agree! 🙂
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What an inventive take on the prompt! I had an underground den once as a child, but it was nowhere near as cool as the one you write about.
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Aw…thanks!! And … oooh … underground den sounds cool!!! My sister and I once wanted to dig ourselves a swimming pool in the backyard … Didn’t get very far, but the fantasy was worth it. 🙂
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Is Larry’s uncle a Bond villain with his hidden lair? Fun one.
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I guess we don’t know … so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled and my wariness dialed in … 😉
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This seems interesting – ‘Uncle’s Red’s subterranean house’. I would really love to explore his house if you plan on writing this story further.
Wonder if Larry’s magic has put that house there?
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I’m interested myself! 😉 Who knows, maybe it will be elaborated on in another post or story … It certainly has plenty of potential for imaginative exploration … I have some ideas already …
As for Larry’s magic, if he is such a good magician that he can conjure up subterranean homes under abandoned cars I may even forgive his tendency for trickery … 😉
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That must be some house below an abandoned car. Nice!
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Who knows what’s underneath there, eh? : ) Thanks Abhijit!
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This is so imaginative, I really enjoyed it.
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Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it and delighted you left a comment! Do visit again … 🙂
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Wonder if there is really an Uncle Red. If there is then would love to visit his house, even with a dodgy nephew. Nice one.
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🙂 It would be quite fantastic, wouldn’t it?! Then again, only if I knew how the door opens from within … Thank you for the comment!
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There are no smoke and mirrors in your magical storytelling, Na’ama. I enjoyed the humour and pithy exchanges in this. Well done.
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Thanks, Kelvin! 🙂
It was fun to put together, and … I still don’t know what exactly awaits in Uncle Red’s den …
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And now I wonder how it looks like… more James Bond than magician I think.
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Perhaps … I’m thinking, maybe it is a little bit like the below-ground ‘bunker’ in the movie “Red” … though who knows, really!
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Excellent! I had no idea what to expect 🙂
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🙂 Glad you liked it, Linda!
Who knows what’s under that hood, anyway! …
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Very cool, I challenge every boy scout practicing or expelled, not to want a house like that!!
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Totally! 🙂
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Very unexpected use of the prompt. I figured his uncle lived out of the delapidated car. Not under it!
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🙂 Well, surprises abound … (especially with a magician friend … perhaps the trickster runs in the family … ;)).
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Very imaginative.
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Thank you, Lisa … I still wonder why Uncle Red dug himself a house one enters through the mouth of a hood of a deserted car … 😉
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