Old House Or Portal?

The old house was an errie, odd place,
no one remembered who lived there and nobody remembered when it had been built…

There were no records of its existence or who had built it, it just seemed to have always been there.

It was a small house, without a porch and had a faded gray door…

The windows were boarded up, and the roof was caved in on one side, however, despite all of this neglect, the house still seemed liveable…

Almost as if someone had just left for a brief moment and would return any minute now to bring it back to life…

It stood on the corner of two streets that met at an angle; one of them called Memory Lane and the other had no name at all—it simply ended at the old house…

The only possible way you could tell that they were connected was by looking down at your feet…

If you were out in the town walking down this other street, after about ten steps your body would stop, suddenly switching direction and follow

Memory Lane instead…

People who lived here knew not to go near the old house because things happened when they did—weird things like getting lost in time or having memories woven into their clothes while they slept at night…

It was an old house, but it wasn’t just any old house.

It had been built long ago, in the time when people still used to travel by horseback and carts….

It was a time where people would walk strolling around the neighborhood and enjoy each other’s company. The house was well-made and sturdy enough to last for generations…

It didn’t have any fancy features or decorations, but it was a place where families could be together and share their lives with each other.

But then something happened: the world had changed, people stopped traveling on horseback and carts…

They started using cars instead, which led to more traffic jams and less interaction with or between neighbors…

As time went on, the house fell into stark disrepair as no one used it anymore…

(Except for some homeless people who used it as shelter)

Its walls were weak, crumbling down, paint was peeling off of the woodwork…

It didn’t look like much anymore!

One day while walking through town, I came across this old, creepy abandoned house that had been left behind by time itself…

I remembered how I used to play there as a child with my friends; how they would hide behind trees from bullies who wanted them to give up their lunch money…

………………….

Swoosh!

Suddenly, I had soared through time and space and it was then that I realized the old house was actually a time portal!

I didn’t know or was aware at first, it was only after I’d grown used to my new life that I realized what had happened: I had somehow been swiftly teleported and traveled forward in time.

I’d wandered into that old house, and when I emerged, everything was completely new and different…

My parents were now strangers; my friends had turned into harsh enemies; even the dog who once loved me now barked at me with a viciousness that my god, would have been unimaginable before!

My whole world had changed—and it didn’t take long for me to realize why…

The house had been a secret portal between two worlds and when I entered into it, I was somehow transported
through a parallel universe…

So, now?

Now I’m here—in this strange, new, dark, land where nothing makes sense anymore…

And everyone in this
strange, haunting place stares at and avoids me like I am some kind or type of weird and sinister monster…

See,

I’m not one of their kind, ugly thin little bodies with three toes, arms past their knees, huge black oval eyes and three toed feet…

 

 

© Charles Kemp