Thursday, March 13, 2008

Bird Haunt



Just south of Hughesville is an old, decaying house. It looks like a ghost haunt, but the only spirits I met there were birds. They flitted among the brown grass as I crossed the sun-set field. In the brightness of early evening I wondered, “Why is this place empty? How many neighborhood kids have lingered on these broken steps, dreaming ghosts and double-dares?” The instant I crossed the threshold the old house groaned. Ten dozen sparrows leaped into the air, shouting among the bare rafters. I stood a moment as silence returned, gazing at the stripped wood through my camera lens. Before I could capture images of my brave trespass into forgotten space, the camera beeped once and the battery died. I turned slowly back toward the bright doorway and the song-filled fields beyond. The house moaned a second time, like an old woman asking one last moment of companionship before nightfall.

3 comments:

  1. do you think the house didn't want you to capture pictures of its inside?

    maybe it was a special moment meant just for you!

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  2. I hadn't thought of that, but it could be. It was really an interesting experience, because it looked so strange and forsaken...when the house settled as I stepped in I nearly jumped out of my skin!

    ReplyDelete