My Parents’ Farm – 2017
May 31, 2017
The lights are on, but no one’s home
One nice May day towards dusk, three siblings went out to Mud Level Road on reconnaissance.
They were totally spooked when they saw the living room light on. So they walked around the house, goose-stepping through brambles and ivy searching for a human-sized path or other signs of forced entry. Given the broken windows on the back side of the house, and the lightly worn trails, they concluded that animals have moved into the house. Either one bounced off the wall and hit the light switch or their father left it on the last time he was there. It made them happy to conclude no squatters have taken possession of the house.
It took a while to dig our way into the house, because the door was blocked by shifting debris on the porch as well as from within the house.
THE KITCHEN
Worse than before because animals have torn open the garbage bags, effectively turning the house into a landfill. They are surprised it took this long to happen, since the house has been vacant since November of 2014.
They suspect the wall calendar is not from 2014, but was chosen for this prominent location in the kitchen because cardinals are their parents favorite bird.
A duct-taped door falling off its hinges and the steep narrow stairs to the second floor. They were relieved to find the structural integrity of the house persists. Although they held their breath on the way up these stairs, the did not encounter any rotted wood.
SECOND FLOOR
The typewriter.
The bedroom which faces the front of the house.
It seems inevitable the house will burn down if left unsecured and powered on.
THIRD FLOOR
Even though they knew there must be animals in the house, the evidence was distressing.
They glanced around, torn between wanting to flee and absorb every detail – What books were their father reading before pneumonia drove him out? Was their mother’s wedding dress in here somewhere? Do their clothes still smell like them?
EXIT
And on out the door they went, being careful not to slip and fall into the avalanched debris.
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