Oskar stood in front of the massive iron door and a thought appeared. That someone . . . someone was locked in here. That that’s what the chains and lock were for. To restrain a monster. He listened. There were distant sounds from the street, from people’s movements in the apartments above. He really liked the basement. It was like being in another world, while knowing that the other world was still there outside, above you, if you needed it. But down here it was quiet, and no one came and said anything, did anything to you. Nothing you had to do.
