In The Shadows

This story is not what it seems.

In The Shadows

                 I stood there and looked at the old, abandoned house. All withered away. Everyone said that it was haunted but I knew better. The truth was that the only ghosts lurking in those shadows were the memories of my dark past.

          I struggled to walk up the fragile steps. My body was not as strong as it was thirty years before. Indeed, the beauty and strength of my old home had died away with my youth. As soon as I entered into the house, I felt a shiver run through by body like a flash of cold lightning and everything in the house began to return to the way it was so long ago. 

          The light-bulbs blazed with energy. The fire danced with passion. The blanket of dust was gone. The tarnished place had been revitalized to the place I sought shelter.  However, I was not fooled. I knew that it was all just a façade of reality and another one of the many tricks my mind conjured up to torment me.

          As I wandered through the pages of my past, I could not help but take notice of how wonderful my life was. But I had lost it all. It was my fault. I was a coward. Incapable of protecting all I held dear. I walked up the stairs with ease as my body had transformed with the house. It only made sense that we would be revitalized together in my mind after withering together.

          I got up to the bedroom and opened the door. As I walked in I heard whispers. Whispers from a voice I immediately recognized. Tears trickled down my cheeks like a fountain of memories pouring out of my eyes. I stood in front of the mirror to admire my new, but familiar reflection. Then I saw her standing behind me. She was wearing that black dress that I had loved to see her in because of the way it wrapped around her hips like a serpent around its prey. Oh how I wished I had stolen those moments. Wished I had kissed her enough while her lips were still red, before they turned pale.

           She came from behind and slipped her hands under my arms to caress my chest with her palms as she rested her head on my back. I was sure that she could hear my heart beating. Even the dead could have heard something that loud.

          Finally, I heard the gunshot. A sound that has haunted my soul since I could remember. I turned around and she was gone. Why couldn’t I have stolen that moment until the end of time? Just like before, she had stolen my heart and taken it to the other side with her.

          I ran out of the house like a bat out of hell. When I got outside of the house I fell to the floor as my body had returned to its former ancient self along with the house.

          I thought that that was the end, my destiny coming to pass. I thought that I was going to meet my love but I was wrong because I survived and am still alive. In silence I wait to hear her call my name so I will know that death is on the horizon. Until then, I will not forget you my queen.

          

Author's Note

This piece is a chance for me to show that I'm not a one-trick-pony. I am capable of many different types of writing. I'm doing a lot of self-exploration and experimentation. Trying many new thing in hopes of besting myself with my reinvention.

Reviews

[Vanesa Markovic]

For whatever reason, I started reading this in a woman's voice, and continued to even after the revelation of the deceased wife. I think it might have a different feel if I was to read it again, as I assume it was intended, but I enjoyed the picture that was painted in my head originally.
A love lost is nothing more than memories, and when faced with something, like this old house, that trigger them oh so intensely, it can feel like those memories are real...if only for a moment anyway.
I could really relate to the widow in this piece, very realistic of a mourning heart.
Lovely read.

[Matching Socks]

Eerie story, I enjoyed it.
We're often haunted by ghosts of our past.
Good story Kristan.

[Lizardo]

I really like the story and It's very good
Good story

[Sami Khalil]

A good rendezvous with the shadows of your past and a good reinvention of yourself. Double bravo...........