THE FOREST DWELLING
TOO QUIET TO BE FORGOTTEN
The house stands alone now, out in a field of grass, with most of the windows missing their glass.
The bank didn’t even want it, holding their worthless demand note. It’s too far out, and there’s no place to launch a boat.
They removed all the forest for a mile around. There were no birds, no animals — nothing nearby making comforting natural sounds.
It was almost painful — the quiet of it all — when the family left quickly. They said, “It was such a close call!”
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Before the house was rebuilt, the whole land was at an unusually low cost.
Perhaps it was nature just reclaiming what it had lost.
At first, there were spiders everywhere — not just in the corners or behind the old chair. There were spiders in their shoes, in the shower, and entangled in Mother’s hair.
It was oddly strange when the local animals became wholly deranged. There are quite a few stories that the nearest townsfolk often exchange… about sometimes having slithering snakes in the beds. When walking down the upstairs hall, one might drop on your head.
There’s, expectedly, some doubt if the family finally moved out.
People have said there are graves out by their old, collapsed shed.
Anyone can still make an offer — a low property-buyer quote. It remains there, unpainted, quiet, and remote.
© 2024 Peter W. Collier
