The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet

Ten-year-old Eric Hinkle is about to play soccer with his friends, Neal and Julie, when his mother reminds him to clean up the basement. He is disappointed, but when Neal and Julie arrive, they offer to help him. However, Neal is not much help at all. He tries to start a game of soccer in the cluttered basement, and when his first kick rebounds, causing the ball to hit him in the nose, Julie tells him that it “serves [him] right” (6). She follows the ball under the stairs and sees a small door that is slightly ajar. Eric realizes that although he has noticed the door before, he has never looked inside the closet. Julie swings the door open and finds the ball. When she steps inside to retrieve it, Neal accidentally pushes Eric into the door, which slams shut. Inside the closet, Julie screams that she is falling.

Eric quickly opens the door to find Julie standing in the closet, staring at the floor. The ball has vanished. Julie tells them that there were steps leading down from the basement floor. The ball rolled down the steps, but when Eric opened the closet door, the steps disappeared.