Chapter 2: Electrocuted and Swallowed on Another Mundane Day

Kairo was excited to see his Tamu order arrive three days earlier than expected.

"Kairo, help me carry this to your room," Jamie Packer said to his son, who'd been lounging on the sofa watching a Sistine Chapel documentary.

Kairo hurried to examine his goods, eyes widened with glee at the Tamu cat logo all over the shrink-wrapped closet and boxed lamp.

"It came earlier than advised." He looked at his father, a taller, lankier man with rounder brown eyes and graying, spiky crew-cut hair. His dad typically wore plain t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers around the house.

"Wait here while I get the trolley," Jamie said, heading deeper into the small, two-bedroom house.

Kairo watched him pass the living room and disappear through the sliding double doors, happy to examine his new goods. He played with his polished silver Holy Mother Cross pendant: its shiny surface an indication of his rubbing habit when excited.

"Right. Let's get these moving." Jamie returned with the trolley.

The men grunted and heaved as they nudged the wide, solid, shrink-wrapped closet onto the trolley's base. Being a head taller, it was a beast to move. Once on the trolley, they wheeled it and the lamp box easily into Kairo's room. There wasn't much other furniture, but every piece was a treasure.

His bed was a teak wood frame carved with blossom vines, sparrows, and delicate bronze falling leaves, giving it a magical quality. Its simple mattress and bolster pillow made him feel like an ancient Chinese cultivator. It was his beloved 19th birthday gift.

Other antique-looking pieces included a writing desk, a gold-gilded wall mirror, and camphor wood two-tier drawers in the fashion of the early 20th century.

He helped his father set the closet near the foot of the bed, on the wall opposite his desk and the still-drawn velvet-curtained window.

The lit lamp stood proudly between his desk and bed head, casting a mellow, soothing glow.

"Enjoy," his father said when he left his room with the package mess.

"Room complete," Kairo said, wiping sweat from his brow with his drab gray t-shirt.

Drawing his curtains, he saw the moon hanging over a wild lawn and cluster of leafy citrus trees in the starless, still backyard. Tiredness swiftly hit him, making his body dull and heavy, as if the night sky had reminded him to sleep.

"Right. Bedroom done." He yawned, changed into a comfy dark-gray t-shirt, jeans, and socks, and stretched out on his bed to fall into a deep slumber.

The baroque lamp's light swelled over his head where its rays struck the Holy Mother Cross pendant still around his neck.

Unexpectedly the lamp's power source sparked with electricity. Some touched the bed's bronze metal, triggering a lightning reaction across the frame to activate the figure-8 symbols on the closet door.

Whirls of green magical light overwhelmed the closet as it opened to a cosmic vortex within the space. The room became bright with a wondrous galaxy map cast over the walls and floors.

Kairo's eyes snapped opened. He gritted his teeth and yelped pitifully when he felt volts of electricity coursing through his body to make him numb.

"I'm being zapped to death?!" He didn't want to believe it. But the pain was too excruciating to be a lie.

Through his bloodied vision he saw the closet's vortex space grow bolder. His teeth chattered to chip bone and mind felt like it was buzzing with pins and needles.

"I'm either dreaming or going into hell. I haven't even kissed a girl and bought that renaissance painting!" An image of a fine art hand print was his last thought before his body was swallowed by the vortex.

The doors snapped closed, the lamp stopped sparking, and the room returned to its normal slumbering state.