I stood outside the gate in hope of being received having already rang the bell once. I assumed no one was home, but there was a faint attraction that drew me to this place while I was taking a walk under the night sky, clearing my head of thoughts that had me uneasy these past few days. The moon was clear and bright, sitting serene in the heavens, taking away the glimmer of the stars that lay behind this white piece of brilliance. It had almost distracted me from the house that I stood in front of had I not heard a faint voice exuding from the premise.
I was confused to where I actually was, to be honest, I had wondered off into a neighborhood that was unfamiliar to me. I had walked for almost an hour, following the road in hope that the path I take helps me to find answers to the questions that were bottled in my cranium. There was something in this house that made me stop looking at the pavement and turn my head towards the gate. From where I was standing, the house had me in awe from the moment I saw it. It was of an unorthodox architecture which had me perplexed considering that I have seen many houses in my time. This one was definitely very peculiar. The house was fairly big which made me think that the owner was very generous, but as I looked closer I could see that door was locked from the outside pretty tight as if the person were really insecure. Had I not seen this earlier I would've not rang the bell, luckily, no one else was around to see this very embarrassing situation I found myself in.
I opened the gate which brought me straight into the garden. It was lush green from the way the moon shone on the grass’ dew that it made the floor a replica of the night sky. It was very beautiful. I walked closer and as I reached the door I came across a full set of locks and chains that held the door firmly, as though it were Fort Knox. There was an engraving on the door as though someone had etched it out with a knife or a blade, it said; “Speak, I Open”. I was confused. The notice was beyond my comprehension that I said the first thing that came into my mind.
“May I enter?”
All of a sudden the chains and lock fell from the door and it crashed onto the Welcome mat which looked really clean as if the person who lived here had just vacated the house. I immediately grasped the handle of the door and carefully pushed. I was not left in darkness as the moon helped me by coming in through the windows that lay high above the door and on the walls, illuminating the front entrance to the house.
I was amazed at the detail that had gone into this house. It must’ve taken a lot of blood and sweat to be put into the construction of this magnificent structure. To my left there was a library. I guessed so from the look of the cupboards stacked with an endless number of books. I came across a lot of books, ranging from fantasy to fiction, adventure to romance, biographies and self – help books, which gave me the impression that the person who stayed here was enthralled in reading vivaciously. On the table lay a book that caught my attention as it was the same novel I had sent to a dear friend of mine for her birthday. There was a mug aside the lamp which meant that whoever was reading the book, wanted read it until it got over. Sadly enough, there was a bookmark demarcating the page which the person had left while reading, implicating that whoever was reading had some other things to do.
The kitchen seemed to be an ordinary one so besides glancing through the draws and cupboards I was more intrigued in going upstairs, in hope that I would find out who lived here and why I was drawn to it. The stairwell coiled towards the first floor and as I climbed the steps I took notice at the paintings that were nailed to the wall. No names were mentioned but I could easily figure out that these were the proprietor’s family, a Father, a Mother and what looks like to be two sisters that have families of their own, considering that the women were the centre of the two paintings with the husband at her side with her daughter and little son, and the other also at the centre with the husband closely aside, although no sons or daughters.
I reached the first and also the top most level and there was only one room here. I carefully made my way across the carpeted floor and as I walked the air around suddenly got thinner, I was beginning to lose my breath; I started trembling as if I were going to pass out any moment. I wanted to know what was inside that room. I picked myself up and drew in a deep breath before almost breaking the door down from pushing too hard. I fell and landed face down on the floor. As I looked up I saw a bed, I used the edge of the bed to support myself but before getting up I noticed another set of paintings that just lay on the red and black carpeted floor. The moon came to my rescue and I could see clearly 4 paintings, each one having one person in each of them. 3 of them were silhouettes of what looked like men, the other one was very clear; I’ve seen this person before.
I did not know him so well that I could be comforted by his presence or knew him less that we haven’t chatted before. I could not put a name to this person, but what was very clear was that I knew someone who might know who owned this house. This painting was less dusty than the others as if it was the last to be brought down from the walls which were facing the bed. I finally decided to get myself off the ground and I immediately got the shock of my life.
There was someone sleeping on the bed.
I was frightened. I did know that there was someone lying on the bed because I did not hear any breathing or snoring, but there was a body – like figure under the covers. I did not want to open it as I was too scared to see something I did not want to see but I wanted to know who this person is and do I know him/her? My hands stretched to the end of the cover which was over the head and I slowly pulled it back. From the small ray of moonlight that peered through the window gave me a glimpse of the person whom I thought was the owner and to my amazement;
The person had no face.
I had lost my step, falling backwards onto the floor out of complete shock. The person who was sleeping seemed to have had a black mask on but after pulling most of the covers I could tell that it looked to have been sown into the body. I looked carefully at the face and I could not believe my eyes. It looked somewhat like me. The facial structure, the body figure, the height, it all looked like me. But how is this possible? Who is that? Why is he here? Should I wake him??
Where am I? Should I be here??
