Memories

A short story about a mans past.

It was a cool, dark night and the fog was beginning to settle around my bare feet. I looked in bemusement at the dead memories that surrounded me. The once lush grass had turned to dirt beneath my feet. The bright green shed was falling apart at the hinges, and looked like a withered old man with a sagging forehead. Before me stood the house I once called home, now covered in web and blacker than the night on the inside. No more love circulated through this house; the blood had ceased to flow. The shutters and sliding door had all turned grey, the stone porch lay caked in dry mud and leaves. No moonlight shone on the house. The small windows were wide open, but emitting no light; the blackness seeped out from inside. I could hear faint cries coming from underneath the house, through the access hole; a young woman whimpering. The night air stabbed at my bare skin. I moved closer to the house, but stopped. Something was odd. I turned around to better see the yard. Just beyond my line of sight stood a tall woman with glowing yellow eyes. I tried to squint to get a better look. The sliding glass door behind me slowly opened. I turned my head to see, and again heard the soft cry beneath the house. A light suddenly flickered on somewhere in the depths of the house; I could only barely make out the glow. The fog was becoming very thick around my waist, I could no longer see my feet. I turned back to the tall woman and saw that she was not alone. The entire yard was filled with tall figures and glowing yellow eyes. Their bodies had no definition nor facial expressions, only blackness. The fear rose in me, I knew that they were there for me. Their yellow eyes showed no signs of remorse or understanding, only justice. I turned to the house and ran; the figures did not chase me. I scraped my bare feet along the jagged porch, and jumped inside the pitch black house. My heart raced as I turned and slammed the sliding door, locking it as I did so. The inside of the house was no different; the counters were chipped and dirty, the floors were scuffed and moldy. Mirrors were shattered all around me, and the furniture had become trapped by a spider. I slowly made my way further into the house, stepping carefully around the broken glass. To my right was a soft glow of the light coming from the downstairs den. I walked around the kitchen table and glanced to my left at the hallway full of rooms. Only one room was open. In it sat an old dried up woman on the edge of a bed, staring at me. She said nothing, and I felt no fear. I continued towards the den. The light was peaking through the door. I softly pushed it open and the light got brighter against my eyes. I guarded my face from the brightness and when I looked again I saw a young girl playing cards on the couch. She looked up at me and smiled. My hands hopelessly dropped to my side and my eyes began to fill with tears. I turned to look at the dead and rotting house, but it was no longer there. The floors were polished, the kitchen was alive with bubbling foods, and the moon shone through the sliding glass door, illuminating the clean and plump furniture. The old woman from the room was young again, running around doing things. I looked down at my hands to see if I was real. Tear droplets fell onto my hands; one, two, three. I looked back into the den. The tears ran down my face and saturated my shirt; it was a constant stream. The young girl looked back up at me and smiled. This is just where I want to be, I thought to myself. I get a second chance. The girl said something to me, but I couldn't hear over the loud television.

I sniffled. “What?” I asked.

“Did you die your hair black?” She said.

My face was quickly overtaken by a smile I could not contain. I sniffled again. A feeling of happiness flooded my body for the first time in a long time. It is real, I told myself. This is where I’m happy, here in my dreams with her. I feel alive here. I can cry here. The dried up sponge that was my heart began to soak up blood. I get a second chance to make it all right. I can be happy again. And then I woke up.

 

Author's Note

This story is set in a dream-like state. If something seems weird, that's why.