the second part of the story. |
I look around me frightened. I don't know how I have ended up here. Let alone know where I was. What a sudden change in weather! First it was all sunny and bright....then I'm here... This place is cold and empty, vegetation sparse except for whithering heather and dying clumps of grass. The whole area colourless. Just grey. However, I had enough sense to understand the fact that by staying glued to the ground and not moving, I was not going to find my way back home. So I pulled my thin cardigan closer and took a slow and cautious step forward. The area about me was so plain and dreary, that there was no landmark to know where I actually had to walk to, so that I'd go back home. I just walked slowly forward, trying to forget the biting cold. After a while, I looked around me, again, to see if I could spot a tree ... or something. Nothing. Just a vast emptiness. I sighed resignedly. I will never find my way back again. Dragging my feet, heading to nowhere at all, made me feel lonlier than ever. Allowing mournful thoughts about my dear brother, actually made me feel comfortable, giving me a sense of familiarity. Suddenly, I spotted a black shape in the distance. I squinted at it. Too far away. I ran as fast as I could, glad to see that there was something in this unknown scraggly land. As I approached, I realised it was a mansion. My heart sank. A tall, square, red - brick house, probably built in the 1700's. The bricks themselves seemed to tell stories of the centuries bygone. The thought sent shivers running down my spine. I observed the eerie house with curiosity. The windows of the house were all boarded up with rotting wood, and the door padlocked. The scariest thing about the house was that it had a gigantic crack running from under the topmost window, down to the ground, just like a certain mansion from one of Edgar Pole's stories. A ghostly building, which took my breath away, just looking at it within a distance. I slowly walked up path and touched the cold, rusty gate, leading to the mansion's door. It was locked on the other side with a padlock, attached to a dirty chain, coated with rust. I didn't want to go in the unnerving house. I am sane enough to just let it be and run away from the place. But I am too curious. And it's curiosity which often led me to trouble. I couldn't possibly climb over the tall gate. Constantly reminding myself that the building is abandoned, I gave the gate a strong push. The chain broke instantly and I was thrown just infront of the house, towering above me. I stood up and brushed dust off my clothes. Sleeves rolled up, I climbed up the worn stone steps, leading to the door. And to the adventure of my life. |