Back in the 70's I spent a lot of time at Prestonsburg Elementary. School days back then were simpler than they are now. We didn't have smart phones or computers and if a teacher needed something she would send a kid as a messenger. Now every kid, including me, loved to get sent on an errand run, the trip might even take you in to town on a lunch run! As the child of Joe Burke, owner of Korner Drug, I got sent out a lot and it was so cool. I might be sent on a run that lasted an hour and would get to miss math time which I hated. But sometimes the errand might not be so fun. Sometimes a teacher might send you to the basement to get Denver. Denver was our custodian, jack of all trades, janitor, handy man - you name it, Denver did it. The staff at Prestonsburg Elementary depended a great deal on Denver. Denver loved all of us kids, we weren't afraid of Denver but we were scared of the basement. The basement was inherently dark and musty. The building above shifted and groaned from the weight of 400 kids and teachers so the popping and cracking sounds in the basement were often scary, loud and unexpected. Also in the hallway of the basement was the furnace. The furnace was visible from the hallway through a archway that were covered with thick bars that reminded me of prison bars. As kids we were often told ghost stories and those bars were featured in every single one. Some said that the building used to be an insane asylum. One story was that there was a man in town who had been accused of murdering Muriel Baldridge and that he was kept in the basement. I remember one story of a Nazi who had been captured in Prestonsburg and taken to the basement where he starved to death. The stories were the stories of darkness and the stories of children. The cheeriness of the rooms, the smell of chalk and pencils and crayons were directly opposite of the spirits in the basement. I didn't like to go in the basement.
In the year 2012 the grade school building had been abandoned for several years and was sold. Soon the building would be gone forever so I was granted permission to go inside and photograph it. As I went in the main doors by the office I was transformed in to a 9 year old again. In my mind I could hear children laughing and talking. I could smell cigarette smoke and mimeograph fluid from the teacher's lounge and in my mind's eye I could see Mr. Tackett. I even went in the old office and looked for the electric paddle but I couldn't find it. I shot pictures of the offices and lounge and I even went in to the girls room and shot the low toilets, perfect for a 9 year old little girl. I walked the hallway and then walked around the auditorium. Again memories came flooding back; the magic shows that we paid a quarter to see. The show that came every year that had a scary marionette face at the top of the curtain that would suddenly come to life at random times and make us all jump. I thought of the choral performances and Miss Frazier pounding on the piano, "No, no, no!" The old wooden floors squeaked when I walked and I could smell the mustiness. I walked in to the first floor classrooms and some of the walls still had educational posters up and lessons on the chalkboards. It was eerie and I got my first feelings of uneasiness. It was like something shifted. I walked upstairs to the 7th and 8th grade rooms and had memories of some favorite teachers and some not so favorite ones. I remembered Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Fitch and Mrs. Hatfield. Then I went in to the library and found there were still books on the shelves and cards in the card file.
And then it was time to go down in the basement. I didn't want to go and I told myself, "You've shot all the classrooms, the offices, the bathrooms, the library", you don't have to go down there." I knew though that in order to tell a complete story I had to go down to the basement. So with much trepidation I started down those brown painted stairs. Even with the lights on, it was dark down there. And quiet. And creepy. The air was the stalest down here and I could hear rats. Almost immediately I walked in to a huge spider web which sent chills up my spine. At each end of the hallway when you walked down the stairs there were 2 classrooms and those classrooms were separated from the rest of the hallway with walls and a small door. So when you stepped through the doorway you were in the scary and dark part of the basement and that was where Denver worked. He had a little wicker chair and he would sit in that hallway and lean that chair back up against the bumpy blocks that made up the hallway. I walked through the door and decided I would snap just one picture of the archway with bars because it was a talking point of us kids. I walked with fast feet, my finger already on my shutter, toward the middle of the long hallway when I heard a door slam behind me followed by another door slamming in front of me. The dark hallway was blocked. Black as a moonless night in an evil forest it was. Terror filled my soul and I felt my heart pound and my stomach lurch. There was no time for a picture, I had to get out of there fast! In the dead darkness I heard a tool slowly start to pound on a pipe. At that sound a gasp escaped my mouth and my feet were frozen in place as I could hear faint noises from all around me. Even if I could have ran, I wouldn't know which direction to run to! Then I smelled gas and I knew that whatever controlled the basement was going to kill me with poison. I saw a faint light and could see some flames behind the archway bars. The being had turned the gas on the old furnace. Suddenly a cold wind blew past me and I knew I was in the presence of evil. I had to run for my life I turned right and ran like hell toward where my mind remembered the little wooden door. And something made me stop in my tracks and turn. I saw two lights, one light was red and hot and the other one was blue and cool. The two lights were alive and they started to wrestle. The red and blue ghost-like lights were so fast and as they knotted up they appeared purple. The beings engaged in a battle no human could endure. I heard moans and screams filled with rage and power. It was good and evil, heaven and hell. I felt my stomach heave and my legs quiver in sheer and utter terror. The odor of gas was getting stronger and I was starting to feel faint and sleepy. I knew I needed oxygen so I dropped to my knees and crawled, found the door and opened it. When that somewhat fresh air hit my face I was instantly revived and filled with the energy to run up those stairs. I turned to look one last time in to the basement and I could see that the red light was diminishing and the blue one was stronger. Then I heard a voice. It said, "Have you ever been whooped by Mr. Tackett?" I knew then that the spirit of Denver had saved me.
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