Present day Mark totally understood, that the giggling, was all part of an elaborate dance of foreplay, but that, was not a thought he’d entertain for long. Back in his childhood, it was just proof that the family had reason to not like those two. They were weird. Nobody, as in nobody, ever giggled for no reason at all. No one got dressed up like that. Plus, the times anyone else got all dolled up or pretty was for funerals and weddings.
As the thoughts continued to flow, Mark recalled that later in the evening, his uncle had put on a suit. This confirmed that his uncle was crazy too. A suit in the summer in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. That was just nuts. And those two kept giggling and looking at each other as if they were hungry for food.
That night, they had insisted he goes to sleep as soon as the sun had set. Normally, during the summer, one goes to sleep when one is dead tired. Having nothing else to do, there was no TV or children books, Mark agreed to go lay down early. It was about 9pm when he closed his door to his room to wait for sleep.
Sleep never came. He kept wondering what was the reason the family was so divided and why was this uncle and aunt, the only ones who seemed to have so much fun with life, had the coolest cabin to hang out in, and never seemed stressed or eager to fight someone. Whatever secret they had, they understood something about living that he needed to know.
As sleep failed to arrive, around 11pm, Mark decided to investigate the sound of footfall he had heard. Not being afraid of the dark, he figured he’d sneak up on whomever it was and get a good laugh out of scaring them.
So, little Mark set off to find out what was going on in this lovely cabin. Little did he know that he was about to uncover a degree of knowledge that would transform his life permanently.
He was old enough to know that people were romantic, even though to him that made no sense. He also knew, from the talks around the block, that people could be freaky and do all manners of crazy things in the name of love. He half expected his uncle to be rummaging around the house for some syrup to use in the silly play people did when they cared for each other.
What met him was sort of like what he had seen older cousin laugh about when watching shows that they weren’t supposed to see. There was a few pieces of clothing that littered the floor towards the back end of the cabin. The one area his aunt had insisted he not get too cozy with. His uncle had not said much about it other than not upsetting his aunt.
It was his uncle’s shirt first, followed by his shorts, followed by her heels. Wait… when did she have them on to begin with? And they were way taller than any he had seen on anyone before. The last item he saw on the floor was her apron.
So, this back door that otherwise led to nowhere must be a secret passage. He had explored all the rooms of the cabin, as it was not the biggest one imaginable, but it was not small either. It was a single floor model cabin. Whatever room was behind that door, it most likely was outside and tiny. Maybe a closet.
Mark ears perked up. He heard some laughing, some giggling, what sounded like smacks and more giggles. There was the faint sound of hushes. Whatever fun they were having, they were having it without him. That was not cool, even for late night. He could have participated. However, he was not going to give up his clothing at all.
Gently opening the door, he was plenty surprised to see there was a small amount of space. Being very careful not to make much noise, he used the light from his watch to illuminate his path. He knew enough from the hood to know the importance of memorizing the lay of the land quickly. Once he was sure to know where the first step was, he turned the light out and slowly made his way down the rather steep short staircase.
For a ground level single floor cabin, this was a very tight passage to a very small room. Must be the only tiny space between the bottom of the cabin and the floor.(editorial note… picture a short steep staircase to a small bunker below the cabin but not quite completely underground) He could reach up and touch the ceiling. The sole source of light came from a candle. The place looked like a vintage castle. The weird shadows made the center pillar look more like a weird thick tree trunk with short arms on it.
As he moved around the shadows, he saw his aunt and uncle holding themselves perfectly still and quiet. His uncle was cool and calm, his aunt looked mighty worried and scared. What were they up to?
As he pieced the puzzle together, he understood immediately that he was early to an initiation of some sort. A secret room where grown folks did what kids were not supposed to know. They weren’t naked, but that was just his lucky timing. This was not where he should be at all.
He took a look around the room, took in the images, and realized that he felt very comfortable in this place that was unlike anything he had ever met in his life. Trying to sound as mature as he could, he raised his left hand in an apologetic wave, cleared his throat and attempted to speak.
In a squeaky voice that was breaking, he managed to put a few words together.
“My bad. Sorry. Do carry on with your play. Your secret is safe with me”
He gently back pedaled away, making a point to calmly navigate the shadows, and made his way back up the stairs. After closing the door, he let out a deep breath. He had seen the very secrets of love making that only showed up in his cousin’s special shows. Difference, this didn’t look staged and comically fake. Something about this felt perfectly normal.
The only part he didn’t understand, why would a man bother doing all that with a woman anyway. Just didn’t make sense to invest all this energy to play with girls. Instead, his uncle could have more wisely used that energy to work on his project car, a ‘67 Vette. That would be far more rewarding. Far more enjoyable. He could even share that experience with another guy or with him. Ah well, grown ups did silly weird things with their spare time anyway.
Mark, in present time, laughed at himself. He was too young then to understand what he had seen. He was glad that when his uncle spoke to him the following day, nothing was out-of-sorts and he was not in trouble. The conversation was quick and simple. He had no questions to ask and was not going to repeat this to anyone. The uncle seemed very comfortable with that stance and let the whole thing rest.
It would be another year before he managed to convince his parents to let him visit that cabin again. This time, he was starting to understand why men did stupid things around women. He was starting to feel that silly stupid buzz in his chest whenever a certain gal showed up around him in school. They were cool friends, but now all of a sudden, the attraction butterflies roamed about.
Unlike his other friends who didn’t mention having these feelings, Mark had noticed that he was very acutely aware of everything that Melissa did in school. Worse, his focus was challenged in class when Melissa and their teacher Amy chatted academics. Those two royally messed with his adrenaline. Having to preserve his street cred, Mark made no mention of this to anyone.
Shallows of the Deep 