I dream of a desolate house with layers of many. Windows that once shined are now matted over by remnants of cheap plywood. As I approach the steps, I am overwhelmed by an uncanny feeling of having been here long before. Reaching for the door, I pause with a chill of hesitation. Courage … for on my heels I sense a much greater threat.
The doorway opens to reveal a spacious room offering residence to hushed echoes. This house, with its common appearance, is so deceiving with cavernous rooms entranced only by hidden doors.
The eerieness of these ghostly surroundings now strangles my sense of direction, but yet I know that somewhere within this shell of what once was a home is my own secret refuge. Blindly stumbling from door to door, I find myself in the midst of a now-forgotten room, once filled with frivolity and anticipation of tomorrow. The memories are so haunting that their driving force stops me dead in my tracks. I turn and run, harder and faster, up the stairs.
Out of breath and crazed with fear, I reach the landing to face my source of safety — an entrance now cluttered over by boxed-up contents of old. One more doorway and I will be forever safe from my pursuer.
The latch offers little resistance, and with a warm welcome, the doors swing open. But what is this! The once musty room that no other soul ever dared to enter has been cleared of all remnants of the past. The windows brightly glisten with the reflection of the sun, and the room is now overflowing with sunlight so warm and soothing that it almost has a blinding effect. I close my eyes and when they reopen, I find myself no longer lost in a dream.
I am awake. It’s a beautiful new day, one in which I am safe and at home, here within myself.
© 1984 HSE
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