Bonus post -OR- My first short story

Back in October, Jon, Val and myself each wrote a story using the same first line: "Children used to call it the shadow game." This was the first original short story I wrote (I had written two really awful Les Miserables fan fics when I was teenager, but they don't count. Yes, that's right. Les Mis fan fiction. Don't judge me.)

So here is my little story, which I'm really quite happy with.

The Darkest Cellar

Children used to call it the "shadow game". It was as simple as it was ancient: the local children would gather on the first Harvest moon of the Third Season and count the shadows in the Darkest Cellar. The honour of having (or Hosting) the Darkest Cellar was immensely coveted; the selection ceremony was carried out with a solemnity that the local parson would have done well to imitate. The children would each light a lantern and carry it in a very serious manner as the procession visited each of this year's candidate cellars, carefully watching the number of shadows that danced along the dark walls. The cellar with the most shadows was voted the official Darkest Cellar.

On this particular night, Caleb Brown, being the previous Host of the Darkest Cellar, was leading the procession among this year's candidates. Caleb was a self-assured boy of ten, which also made him the oldest in the procession, and he prided himself on being a Learnett Skoller. (Scholars had little need of spelling). Caleb slowly opened the doors of his family's cellar, taking an almost fatherly pride in the rusty, squeaky hinges. How many other folks had an official Darkest Cellar -and- squeaky hinges? Caleb was giddy with the prospect of Hosting the Darkest Cellar two years running. He was sure there was no finer honour in the world. (Except perhaps owning a store-bought walking stick; but that would almost be too grand. Caleb didn't want the others to think he had a big head. )

Caleb waited until the last child in the procession, little Emily Miller from up the road, was in the center of the cellar, before he slowly closed the door. (Just listen to those hinges squeak!) He held his lantern up to his face and looked around the room to double check that they were all there.

"Say "I" when I calls your name, alright?" he announced to the others.

"Bobby Brooks?"

"I," replied a tall, lanky boy of nine. Bobby and Caleb were best pals and had known each other as long as the other could remember. If Caleb couldn't win this year, then he sure hoped that Bobby would.

"Mary Sue Ellen?"

"I," was the timid reply from a blond girl of seven. It should be noted that Mary Sue Ellen was timid by nature, but not afraid of dark cellars. No one was afraid of dark cellars. It was what was outside of the cellars that you were supposed to be afraid of.

Caleb continued with the role call.
"Lenny Smith?"

"I," replied a muffled voice. Though Lenny was only eight, he had the appetite of a full grown man and was always munching on something. None of the others had ever heard his voice without something else being in his mouth at the same time.

Caleb shot Lenny a meaningful look as if to say "How can you think of munching at a time like this?", but Lenny didn't seem to see it in the dim light. (Not that he would have seen it in the sunlight, either.)

"Emily Miller?" Caleb looked for the little girl to make sure that she was close by. It wouldn't do for the youngest member to get lost, especially not before they had found the official Darkest Cellar.

"I'm 'ere, Caleb" replied the curly haired five year old. She was supposed to just say "I" like the rest had, but this was Em's first Shadow Game. Caleb supposed she could be forgiven for not knowing all the rules just yet.
"Just say "I", Em." Caleb instructed helpfully.

"I," was the proud reply.

"Let's see... Rebecca Johnson?"

"What did I tell you 'bout callin' me 'Rebecca'?" came the forceful reply from the other eight year old in the group. "You know full well that my real name is Becca!"

Caleb rolled his eyes.
"Oh very well then, 'Becca'. Is you here?"

"I," replied the girl who was most definitely not Rebecca.

Caleb counted off his friends on his fingers. There were six of them so far, including himself, so that left just one more child... oh yes, Benjamin.

"Benjamin Luther?"

"I..." replied the quiet little six year old. Benjamin was not Ben in the same way that Becca was not Rebecca; and that was pretty much all they knew about the quiet boy.

Caleb turned to his friend: "Bobby, you ask me if I'm here."

"But we already know you's here, Caleb," Em pointed out.

"Yes, but it's not official until I say 'I' after my name is called out. We got to do it by the rules, Em." Caleb was firm believer in rules.

Bobby raised his own lantern to his face and looked solemnly at Caleb.
"Caleb Brown?"

"I," replied Caleb, glad to finally be getting down to business. He was the first to set his lantern down on the dusty floor.
"You all know the rules," said Caleb. "We all sets down our lanterns in a circle, then twirl around three times fast, then stop, an' count the shadows. Y'all ready?"

"Ready!" Caleb was pretty sure there were six voices that replied.

"Right then," Caleb replied, in what was meant to be his official sounding voice. "Everyone put down your lanterns in a circle."

This was done quickly, but not too quickly. This was the Official start of the Official Shadow Game. It was Important.

Caleb carefully inspected the circle of lights. Once satisfied, he called out his next instruction.
"Now everyone take three steps back."

Everyone did.

At this distance, Caleb could almost make out the features of Benjamin, who was standing directly opposite him. Benjamin looked even smaller than usual in the dim light of the lantern circle. Caleb briefly wondered why that was before turning his attention back to the Shadow Game.
"Everyone ready?" He asked the others.

"Ready!" This time Caleb thought he only heard five other voices replying. Was Benjamin...afraid? 'Course he wasn't. How could he be? No one was afraid of the cellars. Caleb was surprised that he even considered it. That was a low thing to think about someone, even if you didn't really know them enough to be best pals like he and Bobby were.

"On your mark, " Caleb said dramatically, "get set...twirl three times fast!"

"Twirl three times fast!" echoed back from the others as they spun around like tops before coming to an abrupt halt.

There they were - the shadows! You had to be quick to count them, or you'd miss them.

"Hurry, start countin'!" Caleb commanded.

"I got fourteen!" This was from Becca

"I got fifteen" Bobby, this time.

"I got fifteen, too!" shouted Caleb

"I got...uh...how many is fifteen?" That was Em. Caleb wondered if five was still a little young for such an important game.

"How many do you count, Lenny?" Caleb asked the boy to his right.

"Fif'teem" mumbled Lenny.

Caleb turned back to look across to Benjamin. He tried not to think that Benjamin truly looked scared this time.
"How many do you count, Ben?" Caleb thought that maybe giving him a nickname would help Benjamin relax.

"Fif..fifteen..." whispered Ben, who still looked scared even with a nickname.

Caleb was beaming. Fifteen shadows! That had to be a record. Last year there were only twelve that the six of them had counted. He felt that he was for sure going to be the Host again this year. Just think about it!

Caleb was about to say something about this being an unbeatable record when Bobby piped up.
"Hey, Caleb, ain't there supposed to be only as many shadows as us when the twirling is over?"

Caleb looked over at Bobby, a slightly puzzled look on his face.
"I reckon so. Why?

Bobby looked slightly nervous.
"'Cause I'm still counting eight shadows, but there's only seven of us..."

Caleb did a quick shadow count. Bobby was right, there were indeed eight shadows for the seven of them.
"Maybe one of the lanterns isn't working right."

"It's not the lanterns." Benjamin replied in a barely audible voice. "There's one extra shadow."

Something in Benjamin's tone made the other children unconsciously move closer to one another. As they huddled together, so did their shadows; all except one.

Em threw her arms around Caleb, burying her face against him.
"Caleb, I'm scared."

Definitely too young, thought Caleb as he picked Em up.
"Now Em, there's nothing to be scared of. It's just..."

That's when they noticed that the extra shadow was slowly walking back and forth across the room. The children froze where they stood, their shadows also frozen, all eyes fixed on the solitary moving shadow.

Caleb was getting angry. You weren't supposed to be afraid in a cellar. What's more, what if the others thought he was cheating to win again this year? Caleb raised himself up to his full height and stared straight at the shadow.
"What do you think you're playing at? You don't frighten us!"

The extra shadow then turned and seemed to look right at Caleb. Caleb simultaneously thought that it was impossible for a shadow to look at someone, and that leaving the cellar might just be the best idea he'd had all night. He tightened his hold on Em, bent down to pick up his lantern and called out over his shoulder, "This isn't much fun anymore. Let's just go home and get our apple cider."

There was a shuffle and clatter as the other children hurriedly agreed and picked up their lanterns. Bobby opened the cellar door and led the procession, who were not scared, just...tired, into the cool autumn night. Caleb turned to make sure that all of the children were outside of the cellar when he noticed that Benjamin wasn't with the rest of them.

"Ben? Benjamin?" Caleb hoped that the younger boy was just still in the cellar and not...well, not.

"I'm coming", was the soft reply. Benjamin clambered up the cellar steps, after which Caleb quickly shut the heavy door. (Why did those hinges have to squeak so much?)

Caleb gave Benjamin a worried look.
"You okay there, Benjamin?"

Ben looked himself again, small and quiet.
"Yes, I'm fine. "

Caleb gave Benjamin a playful shove.
"In that case, I'll race ya' to the Smith's barn. Last one there is a horny toad!"

The children took off running, eager for pie and hot cider. Benjamin started running as well, a smile slowly breaking across his face. The moonlight on the dusty path almost obscured the fact that there was a second shadow running alongside him.