Drafts

The field

"Listen. Are you sure this is a good idea? Like sure sure? Because this house is giving me the creeps and it looks like it might collapse on us.." Charlotte called out, gripping her backpack closer to her chest.

"I never said it was a good idea. You are the one who insisted on joining me." I shrugged, stepping closer to the front door.

"Because I didn’t want to leave you alone here! Yes, this house isn’t somewhere in the middle of the woods but it is still off the main road, if something happened to you..." she trails off, obviously not wanting to think about it.

"I know, and I appreciate it. But...I don’t want you to force yourself to stay here when this place creeps you out...How about you stay here? I’m not planning to be inside for hours or something so you could go back to the car and if something I can call for you."

Hesitantly, she hands me the backpack although smiling softly when I give her hand a reassuring squeeze

"Okay…But we’re going to get food after this..." She points at me and jumps off the stairs, swiftly making her way back to my car.

"Of course. There are some chips in the backseat!" I call out once she’s comfortably seated back in the passenger seat.

Within seconds, she lifted her arm up with the snack in her grasp.

"Not anymore!" Is the last thing I hear as I pass the doorway of the abandoned house.

It was creepier than I expected, even if not being one of the huge dark mansions known in movies with their vengeful ghosts and dark forests all around. Instead, it was a simple 2-floor house in the middle of an old, dry field. Everything has a thick layer of dust small bits floating around, paint that peeled off the walls, and sometimes spider webs on it.
"Oh... Fuckin- Achoo!" I sneezed violently, mumbling curses under my breath.

The 1st floor consisted of a kitchen conjoined with the living room, a closed room, and what seemed to be a closet under the stairs. Walking further towards the kitchen I made a mental note of the style of the furniture. Glass doors with elegant framing have started losing their white color over the years, revealing the brownish color of the wood, and the black countertop. Although the dinnerware seemed to be older, probably being passed on through the family. Every other time this would've been a beautiful showcase of the older furniture, but right now it did nothing else but give me the creeps. Other than that there was a dinner table by the wall with four chairs and a simple vase with fake tulips. Those flowers were probably the only thing that didn't look affected by the years, their yellow petals still standing proudly. Above the table was a small window, I reached out to open it, almost falling back when it finally budged and opened.

The living room however could have been more fortunate. A simple red couch accompanied by two armchairs of the same shade, a small table with some old newspaper placed between the seatings, and a simple dresser with an old-looking TV on top of it. I stepped closer to the coffee table, leaning in to take a better look at the newspaper. 1973. It was barely visible as most of the text was faded, but it was there. Straightening back up I take one more look around the living room. The red of the couch and armchairs faded with age as well and considering the amount of dust it was definitely not a good idea to sit on it.

On my way to the closed room, I took the newspaper and put it into my backpack, hoping to be able to read it later.

When I opened the door I was met with a small bathroom, nothing interesting about it. The vanity was primarily empty except for some bandages and pills. Although not really interesting, the room was still well designed, following various shades of gray.

The small closet was the last thing on this floor, and while it was a bit bigger than I expected, there still wasn’t much to look through, as the only things filling the shelves were empty jars, some boxes with old electronics, cables and a few empty baskets.

The stairs creak under my weight, seeming close to breaking. It was very different from when I was a child, although I was never inside the house, it seemed brighter, and more put together, even if I just saw it from the window. Yet I didn't know what to expect on the second floor, hence I never saw it before.

It was a lot darker due to the lack of windows in the hall. Reaching into my backpack, I took out a small flashlight, lighting up the hall. There were two doors along the walls, one on the right and one on the left, and one on the ceiling, presumably leading to the attic.

The door on the left led to a spacious bedroom. A big king-sized bed in the middle, with a dressing table to its right and closets to its left, every piece of furniture following a darker palette. On the table, there was a small black box with a lavender ribbon and a white, more fancy looking one right next to it. The black one simply held a few rings, necklaces and other jewelry. I couldn't open the other one. The closet consisted of many old dresses, blouses, and nightgowns. "Hm...one would think they would be ruined by moths..." I mumble and reach out to touch the fabric. It felt nice to the touch, and would probably be wearable again after a wash. I close the closet again and step out of the bedroom.

"1 more…" I sighed as I went to the other door. There was no way I was going to go into the attic though.

The last room in the house was a small art studio, with blank canvases, and unfinished works lining the walls.

Plants that once stood proudly in their pots are now in long-time decay. Other than that there were a few boxes with old painting supplies in them, brushes, paints, practically everything. Really an artist's dream back in the day, the paintings, although mostly unfinished, perfectly captured beautiful landscapes, portraits, and the artist's feelings. I took one of the smaller ones of the house off the wall, returning with it to the car.

"Found something?" Charlotte eyed the painting curiously.

"Nothing too unordinary, but I found some magazines, and" I held up the painting" even an art studio!"

"Put it in the backseat. We're going back to town now I hope? You did promise food after all…"

"Yeah yeah, just try not to spend all my money, you know I'm broke!" I laugh and put the painting down before getting back into the car, putting on my seatbelt.

"No promises!" She cheered as she started up the car and headed towards the town. I reached for the radio to turn on some music until we got back, Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses just starting.

⪻⪻⪻☬⪼⪼⪼

Soon enough, The Harborview diner was in sight. It was a small family business on the side of town, and its white and red palette stood out amongst the neutral colors of the houses around. The car stopped in the little parking lot by the building. Once we locked the car, we made our way into the diner, immediately finding ourselves an empty booth by the windows. We sat in comfortable silence while we waited for Hunter, one of the waiters.

The brunette rushed to our table, notepad in hand.

"The usual?" he asked, eyes skipping over us both.

"Of course, but add one brunette waiter to the list." Charlotte called out, earning a wink from Hunter.

"On it!" And with that he was gone, hurrying back into the kitchen.
I relaxed more into the comfy leather bench, the leather cooling down my skin while my eyes took in the surroundings. The Diner was almost empty, except us and a young couple by the window.

⪻⪻⪻☬⪼⪼⪼

𝙰/𝙽: 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚜 ( 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟷𝟹𝟶𝟶 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜) 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 :(
𝙱𝚝𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙸 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝