Electrocuted and Swallowed on Another Mundane Day

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

"Son, help me carry this to your room," Jamie Packer said as he finished signing the receipt forms for the deliveryman, and closed the front door.

His father was a tall, lanky man, with rounder brown eyes and graying, spiky crew-cut hair. He was dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers similar to Kairo.

Kairo hurried off the sofa, his attention no longer on the Sistine Chapel TV documentary. His eyes widened with glee at the Arnum cat logo all over the shrink-wrapped closet and boxed lamp.

"It came earlier than advised." He eagerly felt the crinkled plastic wrap around the closet.

"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 Ama Cross pendant, which glinted with surreal light. Its shiny surface was 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 metal falling leaves, giving it a magical quality. Its simple mattress and bolster pillow made him feel like it was set for an ancient Chinese cultivator. It was his beloved 19th birthday gift.

Other antique-looking pieces were 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 of his desk and the window with velvet curtains.

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 wiped 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 Ama Cross pendant still around Kairo's neck.

The cross-pendant swelled with a white magical light, casting rays that struck the lamp's power cord to make it spark and swell with raw electricity, running up to the power source.

The lamp's power source ignited dangerously with the electricity, spitting out sparks that touched the bed's bronze metal, and triggering a lightning reaction across the frame to activate the figure-8 symbols on the closet door.

Whirls of green-white magical light overwhelmed the closet. It opened to a cosmic vortex within the space.

The room became fantastical with a wondrous galaxy map cast over the walls and floors.

Kairo's eyes sprung open. 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 bought that renaissance painting!" An image of a fine art hand print was his last thought before his body was sucked in, and swallowed by the vortex.

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