Goodnight, Love

Goodnight, Love

The sun was a red orb as it set. I zipped up my coat as a cold breeze swiftly rushed through the trees like an omen. Jade was up ahead confidently leading the way with her brand new flash light. Lindsay hesitantly followed, and I was the last. As we cautiously stepped over the strewn branches and splintered boards, the sun set completely. Jade was excited as she found the front door hanging by a single top hinge. She anxiously pushed it out of the way and continued in. The doorway was crowded with spider webs, and the gossamer like substance caught on my hair as I passed through. 

“Jade, are you sure it’s not illegal for us to be here? This was someone’s home, I feel like an intruder.” 

She responded to my worried remark with a snide remark of her own.

“Kath, no one even lives here anymore, seriously, get over it, it’s a house.” 

I sighed and reluctantly followed behind the others. As we passed through the foyer, it was as if a world I had never lived in had been preserved under layers and layers of dust. There was a large oil painting hanging above a once beautifully polished marble fireplace, the subject of the painting looked morosely down upon the dead scene below. 

The room through the front hall was the formal dining room. There was a large filthy oak dining table. There seemed to be a dinner set for a large number of people. Jade and Lindsay didn’t seem to notice anything strange. I guess to them it just looked like another dusty room, but to me… to me it seemed alive… I could imagine the highly polished burgundy wood gleaming in the light of a thousand candles, the silver platters and dishes reflecting the light refracted in the crystal champagne glasses. 

Passing through the dining room was the ball room. A high chambered ceiling echoed the hushed whispers of our adolescent voices. I gazed around the room with wonder and amazement, and unconsciously slowed my steps. I didn’t realize I had stopped, yet I could no longer hear Jade and Lindsay’s excited mumblings. My heart began to beat wildly in my chest, the sudden solitude closing in on me. 

All around me I could see the golden walls slowly growing in brilliance. The long forgotten candles in the high chandelier and all the many sconces in the wall slowly began to glow to life. I began to panic as wispy shapes materialized around me. First I thought I was hallucinating, but the swooshing skirts and bowing gentlemen began to solidify. I could feel the breeze from the large skirts as they rushed past me, softly brushing the floor with gentle caresses. I fled from the room and ran for the beckoning safety of the door. The next room was no better, in fact, it might have been worse. A coat closet. A coat closet filled with hundreds of sticky webs drawing me deeper into the thick, inky blackness. I clawed my way out and fought through the swirling skirts once more. I ran frantically past the table with the living dishes and flickering candles. I made my way through the now lavish foyer, and yanked on the grand front door.

“No…no! This can’t be, this is a house…a house!” 

I pulled on the handle and beat at the door with terrified hands, but it didn’t budge. A hand set down on my shoulder. 

“Miss. The party is in the ballroom, this way please.”

I turned slowly to the voice and squeezed my eyes shut. Peeking through my right eye I glanced at the figure who stood before me. The small man watched me with beady eyes. He had sunken cheeks and sullen eyes. He looked as though he had worked himself so hard he was permanently tired. He was not a young man. 

“Miss. This way please? You are here for the party, are you not?”

“No, I…I don’t know.”

I couldn’t remember. I couldn’t remember if I belonged here or not. The surroundings were familiar, but they were also foreign. I decided to follow the strange little man in front of me. He led me through a grand dining room into a majestic ballroom with a mammoth chandelier and hundreds of lit sconces in the walls. There were dozens of magnificently dressed women. Glancing down, I realized I was severely underdressed. 

Faintly, I could hear some yelling in the distance. They seemed to be calling my name.

“Kathleen!” Lindsay screamed.

“Kathleen! Please wake up!” Jade this time. I opened my eyes and looked around the now crumbling ballroom. 

“Oh thank goodness!” Lindsay sighed, letting out a relieved breath. 

“I… we…” Jade sighed. She didn’t seem to want to explain but she knew she had to. Looking down, she began.

“Linds and I knew you didn’t want to come here, but we really wanted to…and then…you weren’t there… and then we found you, lying here.” 

“We didn’t know you would faint…we were so worried!” Lindsay interrupted. Jade cut her off, “But you’re OK now…let’s get out of here.”

I stood up and followed them to the door. They seemed to be eager to leave, but as I passed under the crumbling doorframe onto the porch, I stroked the heavy door. I knew I would be back. I whispered quietly to my house of dreams. 

“Goodnight, Love.”