A Private Window

My knees were tucked tight to my chest inside the box house. ...Hhh. Dark. So pitch black I couldn't see my yellow toes. Then... a faint scrape against the paper wall. I lunged forward—POKE! Shoved one long finger straight through the stiff seam—POP! The brown paper tore open. A clean needle of warm cellar light shot inside, splashing bright across my fuzzy blue knuckles. ...Silence. I didn't back away. I pressed my wide face flat against the rough opening, peering through with one eye at the great humming furnace across the room. ...Hhh. A secret window. The big room is out there, but I am in here.