The Storeroom

Note: I'm not the author of this story. I've translated it from the original Japanese into English. Please do NOT copy and paste it somewhere else on the web without my permission.Thank you for your cooperation.

The end of one corridor in my house was a cul-de-sac, and my father, who had just retired from his job and had too much time on his hands, said, "We can make use of that space by turning it into a storeroom," and set out to make one by himself.

Like a man possessed he kept at it, and within less than a day managed to construct a storeroom with a shelf and a door.
The day after that I came home, but my father, who should have been at home, was nowhere to be found.
I wondered if he was still working on the storeroom. I went to the corridor but he wasn't there. I only saw a padlock hanging on the door of the storeroom.
In the end my father didn't return that day.

The following night when my father still hadn't come home, my mother became really worried and said to me, let's break the padlock and look inside the storeroom.
I was also curious what he had hidden inside that he wanted to protect so badly. It was strange that he even went the length of locking it up with a padlock. I removed the padlock and metal fittings.

Inside we found my father sitting on the floor hugging his knees, facing us, with a faint smile and vacant eyes.

Why was the door locked? Why was my father inside?
I am yet to hear a plausible answer from him because he's gone senile since that day.
Today he still sits inside the storeroom, looking at the empty space and laughing happily.

Comments

diobrago said…
Uh.. Sorry.. But I really don't understand this story.. Could you tell me what's happen with the father Saya?
Serene said…
Oh dear! It's either there are some paranormal forces at work, possessing the author's dad or the author is having a mental problem just like Dr. Hayashi?

Perhaps the author is mentally unstable, locking his/her mentally unstable dad in the storeroom? Perhaps the author's alter-ego had locked his/her dad in the room?

It could be possible that the house is haunted in some way, I've always heard from some paranormal shows talking that cul-de-sac, especially those at hotels, tend to be where the most paranormal activity is reported O.O
ryuu said…
the father gave me goosebumps..
some sort of entity possessed the father and he may also have snapped because of the entity and became crazy or something.
blackrealm said…
Maybe he build the storeroom because he knws he was getting crazy and want no one to know it
@diobrago: my dear, haven't you noticed it's categorized under "Inexplicable"?

It's scary because you don't know what happened. I bet you're not the type to enjoy reading Lovecraft, are you?

Anyway, you can read some interesting explanations given by other readers below!

@Serene: what you said about cul-de-sac is interesting! I'll be looking out for more stories like that!

@ryuu: oh ryuu! I'm glad you find the story scary like me! No one else seems to see it that way! lol


@HN3: you're wrong! crazy people always insist they're sane! XD
Anonymous said…
@HN3 but obviously the father cannot lock himself inside the storeroom from the outside. Creepy!

I love the inexplicables series!
Anonymous said…
It's like a Junji Ito manga! omg.

Anyway, I like building my own theories as to what happened. It could be like what Serene said. The author might have ended up locking her dad or it was the mom! (maybe the mom is inhuman? lol)

It reminds me of that urban legend about a group of medical students who played a prank on a girl by putting a dismembered foot on her room and locking her there. When she found the foot, she was screaming so hysterically and what's worse is that the guys can't open the door. A few minutes later, they decided to break the door down and was quite relieved the screaming subsided. And when they opened the door, they found the girl on the corner eating the foot! O.O
Toyboxed said…
where is that urban legend originated from? its intresting...

Anyway, as usual, Ms. Saya brought me a new scary story, thank you!

It doesn't matter for me how the father get inside (altho its confusing, i guess he dug a secret tunnel beneath the floor) but try to imagine the creepy smile of him and he could come out anytime... sometimes crazy people could do something unexplained
ian wili said…
I once read that a cul-de-sac is bad according to feng shui

it said that it disrupts the flow of "chi" or something...

maybe it has to do with the insanity of the author's father
七転び said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
♡Princess♡ said…
Oh I knew he'd be in there!
For some reason this seems really familiar... but I don't know why!
(/>Д<) maybe I read a story similar at some time.

Perhaps the father was just really pleased with all the work he'd done and just wanted some time to admire it all but then was locked in by someone. Maybe his wife because she was sick of hearing him brag about it.

Or...
maybe the space isn't vacant at all but filled with invisible friends and/or treasure.
I think it's haunted!

I love inexplicable stories! So many interesting possibilities... (^.^)
Steeple said…
I heard that other story, but it was a dead hand attached to the light fixture, and they found her numb in a corner, staring at the hand...

I think this story probably sounded better in Japanese? Hahaha. Er, not a criticism of the translation, just that I would alter the phrasing and such to match the English conventions of building horrific atmosphere.

The scariest part is how the padlock get there....
@Anon(28 Dec 11:11) : Exactly! The padlock problem is the main feature of this story! I'm glad you love inexplicable stories! :D

@Anon (28 Dec 16:51): Oh! I'd never read Junji Ito mangas, I'd be too scared! LOL

And such an interesting urban legend you told me. Thank you! Why is it always those medical students who do crazy things in urban legends? Curious, eh?

@Toyboxed: dug a secret tunnel? lol
I also find "the father smiling faintly" part scary.
You're welcome, Toyboxed, it's always my pleasure to entertain you! :)

@iain wili: is that so? Maybe a cul-de-sac is a place where lots of energy gathers and becomes stagnant because it has no way of getting channelled into other pathways. Thank you for that, ian!

@Saya lii: I had the pleasure of visiting your blog! You look very cute! :)
You're living in Japan but you're not Japanese, I presume? I hope you're enjoyoing yourself in Japan and that people are nice to you over there.

@Princess Pon: I'm glad you're also a lover of inexplicable stories, dear. :)
A lot of people seem to think the wife is the one who locked him in? lol Yeah but I can understand the urge because my own father can get really annoying sometimes and it makes me want to lock him away somewhere! XD only joking!

@Steeple: Hmm I don't quite get what you're saying about the "English conventions." You mean you wanted to have a clearer, more solid ending? I have no intention of altering the phrasing to match the English conventions, because after all I'm supposed to be showing you JAPANESE ghost stories and urban legends. And the stories are not just for native speakers of English. I'm translating these into Enlgish so that anyone who is familiar with the language can enjoy it.

A dead hand attached to the light fixture seems much less scarier to me. It's less imaginative and sounds like fo people who like to be spoon fed clear endings all the time.

I don't imagine my stories appeal for everyone's taste, but I'd rather not to hear it when you don't like what you've read. No offence, but next time please keep it to youself. It REALLY demotivates me. It makes me want not to post anymore. So there.
caramichi said…
The door to my room used to be located at the cul-de-sac. I moved the door a few years ago. Thank goodness, or I will be extremely terrified reading this !(◎_◎;)

Thank you for your hard work, Saya (^ν^)
Anonymous said…
Hmm... Someone seemed really possessed. O_O
Anonymous said…
Saya, looking at your recent replies (and a new rule in the Rules for Commenting) I feel that some of the readers' comments have offended you. I understand that you have a day job and other business to take care of in real life, Saya, and thus SIU may not be in the top of your list of priorities. Especially because translating isn't an easy task (I have a translation class in college so I know)… and with no pay, too!

I can feel how pressurised you are if people kept asking me to post more stories and when I did some negative, unconstructive comments started popping up. But demotivating comments may appear from time to time but when you receive such comments remember that you have a lot of people (around the world!) behind your back who support you in whatever you're doing, including in real life—so just take your time, Saya!

Sorry for the long, preachy-sounding comment, but I just love this blog so much that I don't want it to die because of some negative, demotivating comments. So guys let's don't push it too hard on Saya, please. Let's just appreciate her stories for what they are and enjoy with eagerness the wait for her future stories! (and we're lucky Saya is keen enough to reply to our many comments!)
@caramichi: That was a good thing you did, my dear. :) Thank you for thanking me!

@Anon (30 Dec 18:28): You look shocked! lol
@Anon (30 Dec 21:25):
Thank you dear, for your very kind words. Please don't apologize. I can feel your kind, caring soul behind your words.

I'm glad I finally have someone who understands how hard translation can be! lol As you said I'm doing it for free and I just want to enjoy it, without too much stress.

Yeah I know, it's true demotivating and negative comments can appear from time to time. That's why I thought I'd put up a rule to prevent it. I don't think I'll be able to prevent every single negative comment from coming in, but I wanted to reduce the chances.

Don't take me wrong, everyone's entitled to have his or her opinion, I'm NOT some crazy person who demands everyone should approve and praise my stories. It's OK if you dislike my stories BUT I just don't want to know it, that's all.

Like the other day there was a girl who posted a comment saying that she found one of the stories labelled "funny" wasn't funny at all. I was like, OK, but why on earth are you telling me this? As if I care.

I want everyone to know that I really want make your experience being here as comfortable as possible, and I don't want you to think I keep going around nagging people all the time. If you ever think I am overreacting and being unreasonable, I am always ready to apologize.

Anyway,
Thank you very much again, dear Anonymous, and take care! :)
七転び said…
I'm honoured to have you visit my blog! :D, Yes! I'm currently in Sydney for the New year but I will be returning in 3 weeks, everyone is really really friendly, even though my Japanese isn't quite fluent, they are very kind!

Your blog is my favourite place on a late night! <3
Unknown said…
Oooh! I love inexplicable stories! So many possibilities as to what could have happened! The father 'smiling faintly' creeped me out too. Perhaps he knows what happened and that is why he is smiling?
Please do not be upset by mean comments, Saya san! You post the most amazing stories that non Japanese people would otherwise have no access to. And translating anything to English is not easy!
@Saya Iii: Oh! You're a brave girl! You live in Tokyo, right? A few years ago I often had to go to Tokyo but I always found the place a bit frightening! Too many people, cars, buildings! lol Yokohama (my hometown) is a nicer place, I think! lol

I know how hard it can be for someone to live in a foreign country, so I'm happy to hear people are nice to you in Japan. Take care, and don't go near 歌舞伎町! XD

@Tani: As always, you're very kind. No, translating is not easy, the more I do it the more I realize how different these two languages are.

And I realize I could edit these stories more so that they would become more refined, but if I do that it would lose the "first-hand experience story" feeling, you know. Don't forget, none of the people who wrote the original stories are professional writers but many of them are supposed to be just reporting their own experiences. So their writings are usually not so great, what with the bad grammer and disorganized sentences and all that, which makes it even harder to translate them (in my opinion).

Anyway, thank you Tani. I was very touched by your words. Take care and comment again! :D
Aki said…
sooo I googled "cul-de-sac" and found out that it's probably just like where my bedroom is placed.


then I remembered about when I woke up to hear my mother telling me outside my room, "why are you locking your room???" in a slightly angry voice





...but I never locked my room in the first place.





----


haha, the door's knob is always been kind of hard to operate, though it was my first experience of having it locking itself.
Anonymous said…
well i think there's something bugging me more than who locked him there. Like what drives him to build the storeroom in the first place?? I mean he managed to finish it within a day...for what?
Anonymous said…
there was a reason why that room wasnt in use and that there was nothing in it!