Day 12: 30 Days of Blogging – Story, Part 2


Days 11 and 12 of my 30 day blogging journey have been two parts of a story. Through the next day or so, I will then be editing the story. To read the first part of the story, go to day 11.

Cliff erosion by Clare Wilkinson on flickr CCHere is the concluding part:

Story so far:

Janice, the estate agent, is showing Joseph, a potential buyer, round an old house on a hill when he has a funny turn. Janice takes him through to the kitchen to find some water.

He followed her through an interconnecting door and found himself in the kitchen. It was old-fashioned with wooden Quaker doors and a quarry tiled floor, but it had a comforting feeling. Janice perched him on a high stool while she ran the water to find him a drink. He looked out of the patio doors which overlooked the garden. The grass was high and uncut, the garden looked unruly and unkempt. He thought of his ancient petrol mower. That lawn just might be the death of it.

Janice was looking at him with her bright blue eyes. “Feeling better?” she asked.

He nodded but it was unconvincing.

“Forgive me, it’s been a long journey.”

She nodded in return. “ You have family in the area?

“Once I did. They have probably all moved away now. I do have childhood memories of this place – it was the old house on the hill even then…”

Janice nodded once more, not really sure how to respond. She decided to move on. “Shall we look at the other reception room?”

Joseph followed her through and there was no incident. He went upstairs and found the bedrooms made up as though they were expecting a guest. He felt slightly unnerved as though he were being watched. The sun began to dip lower.

The smallest room had obviously been a child’s bedroom. He stopped by the toys, covered with dust and arranged higgledy piggledy on the the shelves. He looked at the book shelf: ‘Little Women’ and ‘Anne of Green Gables’, old books with leather binding and that old book smell.

“Would you like to go outside?” asked Janice as they came down the stairs.

Joseph said that he would.

Out in the back wilderness, a crazy paving path led away from the house and disappeared into the undergrowth.

“How far back does it go?” he asked. It was impossible to see the back fence.

“About 100 foot,” answered Janice. She was ready to get back to the office, her feet were killing her and it was definitely time for a cup of coffee. “Is there anything else you would like to see?” she asked politely, praying the answer would be ‘no’.

“I would like one more look round,” answered Joseph. “I will be fine on my own. I will see you in a couple of minutes.”

Muttering under her breath, Janice left the house. Joseph took a deep breath and walked back to the first reception room. It took him a moment to locate the photograph, but suddenly, there it was. Peggy beamed out at him from a faded colour washed photo. She was a lot younger than he remembered, wearing a bright bow in her hair and one of her front teeth was missing. Joseph grabbed a corner of the dresser as his head swam again.

The solid wood pulled him back from the memories. He thought of himself and Peggy running along the beach, shouting with the sheer joy of being alive. He remembered the delight of the warm sun on his back, the sand between his toes, the coldness of the sea when you dared to venture in for the first time.

Other memories crowded in. Peggy, a little older, playing hide and seek among the dunes. It was a game that she had been particularly good at. On this one day, unfortunately she had been too good.

The sand had given way and Peggy had been carried to the bottom of the cliff. Her head had hit a rock. She had been declared dead at the scene. Joseph had met another girl, married and after 30 years of marriage, had recently lost her to cancer. It had reminded him of the loss of his youth and he had come back to remember her.

Joseph sighed and stood up. He headed to the front door where the estate agent was waiting in the car. He had thought of buying the place, doing it up and giving it a new lease of life, but he knew that there were too many ghosts waiting for him in there. As he left, he thought he heard a seagull shout. It sounded like, “Joe! Joe!”

Joseph left and knew that he would never be able to return. He had said goodbye.

You may have had a different idea of how the story ended. Let me know in the comments.

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