dissecting urban space, architecture, cultural meaning and myth through the act of walking (in used shoes) and narration in chinatown/oldtown - portland, oregon

Sunday

a trip underground

Continuing to chase my shadow, through the snappy chill of the afternoon, I noticed a trap door in the sidewalk - the doors wide open, like the wings of a butterfly. I couldn't resist such a bold invitation. I peered down into a dark hole with a dim, red light way down in the mouth of the abyss.
I took a cautious first step and the old, wooden step creaked loudly as I slowly added all of my weight onto it and then again as I made my way down. At the bottom of the stairs, I could make out a long, dusty corridor with stone and brick walls. The red light was coming from a hanging light bulb about 30 feet away. There were many pipes and hoses hanging from the low ceiling that made a good target out of my head.
As I reached the end of the corridor, there was a stone wall surrounding a set of thinly spaced iron bars. I began to observe an opening in the wall to my right. It was crowned with a low arch and there was more light coming from inside it. Before I entered, I turned around to look back towards the entrance I originally came from - I had the creepy feeling that I was not alone - but no one was there. I knelt into the opening and noticed a that this was not a corridor, but a room - complete with furniture and a wood burning stove. I began to hear the faint cries of a woman.

in the room and recognizing that I was alone, I opened a door to what appeared to be a closet. There was a three-tiered bed in the corner of a surprisingly larger room than I thought. The bed was really old and decrepit and there was a ladder leading up in the other corner. I backed up and opened another door, this room actually was the size of a small closet, but it had only a chair and a lantern inside it. I backed up and explored the room more, I observed several corridors leading into other rooms and some leading to dead ends of stone walls. Some of the rooms had couches and some were full of smaller wooden rooms with bars on the back walls and rusty hinges on the doors. I looked into another room that had a solitary baby carriage in it.
At this point I turned around and headed back towards the entrance I originally came in at. As I weaved my way back towards the red light, it turned off. "Crap!" I began to move faster and then I heard the crackle of broken glass coming from behind me. I turned to look back and didn't see anyone and then moved on, but faster now. I could see the light from the entrance at the street at this point and I felt relieved but not relaxed.
I looked back as I began to go up the steps and saw a woman in a white dress that appeared to be from the late 1800s. She asked me if I had seen her baby. "Sorry," I said as I ran up the steps in exactly three strides.
Once out in the street, I noticed that the sun had gone down and I walked towards the familiar neon light of Old Town Pizza - it was time to wash the dusty taste out of my mouth with some cheap beer.

2 comments:

Tristan and On said...

nice job blogger machine

dioXUA said...

lame... it's just a basement!