There’s a light on a timer in my late uncle’s house, and nobody can find it. The house has been empty for two years, but the power is still on because I never got around to disconnecting it. It comes on in the front room at exactly 7:40 every night and shuts off at eleven. The breaker for that room has been off since the estate sale. I’ve stood in that room with the panel labeled and a flashlight, and I cannot find what’s lighting it.
Last week I got there at seven and sat in the dark to watch. It came on at 7:40 like it always does, and it wasn’t a lamp. The light was coming from behind the old bookcase that had belonged to my uncle. I moved it away from the wall and found a narrow gap I had never noticed before. There was a small glass panel behind it, glowing softly through the dust. I reached toward it, but before I touched anything, the light went out.
I pulled the bookcase completely away from the wall and found a hidden wooden door. It had no handle, only a small brass keyhole. I searched the house until I found a key taped underneath the bottom drawer of my uncle’s desk. It fit perfectly. Behind the door was a narrow staircase leading down, even though I knew the house had no basement. At the bottom was a room with a single chair, a desk, and an old electrical timer still counting down.
On the desk was a stack of envelopes, all addressed to me. The earliest was dated two years before my uncle died, and the newest was dated three weeks ago. I opened the newest one first because I didn’t know what else to do. Inside was a photograph of the front room, taken from inside that hidden room. In the photograph, someone was sitting in the chair upstairs, even though the house had been empty for nearly two years. On the back, my uncle had written one sentence: “The light comes on when someone is inside.”:::
