Biding the danger is a choice with consequences

Nineteen-year-old Candy Jo was standing in the upstairs hallway of the home she had lived in for 10 years. Her family was moving from the county to the city and were picking up the last of their belongings.

Candi Jo had stood in this spot many times over the past decade, wondering what lurked behind the wooden ceiling panel. As a child, she had often tiptoed and reached her hand upward, but was unable to reach. At 15, she was 5 feet five inches and dared to touch but never pushed the panel open.

Her two younger brothers never mentioned the panel. If they had, they could have tackled this mystery together. Every fiber in her being told her that evil was beyond the wooden doorway but she had no way to prove it.

The area was only about 14 inches on each side and not large enough to put large items or furniture through. A child or small adult could possibly lift themselves up inside. She asked her grandmother what was beyond the ceiling, and she said probably only wires.

Later, on four or five occasions, she closed her eyes and moved the panel slightly with her fingers. She knew that dust and cobwebs would be inside and did not desire them to get into her eyes.

Once she took a quick peek and saw the blackness of no light through the tiny opening, but allowed it to shut quickly without actually obtaining a good look. Candy Jo did not want to be responsible for unleashing anything from another realm into the atmosphere.

She could feel in her bones that the attic was a portal and all hell would break loose if she let out what was waiting inside. Once she thought of getting a stool or chair to stand on so she could push the door with both hands, but feared that if she opened it wide, something otherworldly might snatch her up and she would never be seen again.

In these random moments, when she dared push the panel, Candi Jo felt as if something deep in her soul was saying "No!" so she backed off. Once a line from the C.S. Lewis book The Magician's Nephew came to mind.

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger, Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had.

Candi Jo did not desire to go mad out of curiosity, but she needed to know if her grandmother was correct about wires or if something sinister was behind the panel. The opening was not large enough for furniture or other items, so what was the purpose?

Various tales from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour came to mind. She envisioned bats, rats, or birds flying out and attacking her. She thought of scenes from the films The Birds, The Dunwich Horror, and Gargoyles, which fueled her anxiety.

Candy Jo imagined thousands of glowing, prying eyes behind the panel of beings who would be staring at her from the eerie darkness. She just knew demonic voices would be screeching, "We've been waiting for you. Let us out, let us out!"

On this final day, she stood once more beneath the attic panel, knowing it would be her last chance. The house would soon be torn down, and the opportunity would never present itself again.

Her grandma and brothers were downstairs and had no idea of the trauma she had endured these past 10 years. They could not imagine the torture she was putting herself through now.

Candi Jo reached up with her right hand one final time. She would push the panel open, look, and run for her life, hoping nothing would follow and attack her family.

The scripture "God has not given us a spirit of fear" came to mind and gave her courage. With her eyes closed, she touched the wood and gently pushed. Just as she was about to open the door, a voice resounded deep within her spirit that said, "You shouldn't tempt God."

She debated whether she would be protected if something evil lurked in the crawl space or if it would be allowed to grab her. The decision was made. Candi Jo quickly pulled her hand back, the panel fell into place, and she walked down the steps. A few months later, the house was demolished.

She wondered if she had chickened out or if she had done the right thing by leaving well enough alone. Would she have only found dust and wires or unleashed something that could cause harm?  For the rest of her life, the decision she made that last day would haunt her. She did not bide the danger, and now it was driving her mad.

She second-guessed her decision not to look, but was thankful she did not have to encounter anything that might have frightened her. Although no one else seemed troubled by the attic panel, Candy Jo still believes to this day that something unseen was in there.