At the edge of a forgotten road, hidden by tall, untamed grass and thick overgrown trees, stands an old house. Its wooden boards are warped and weathered, like an old man bent by time, but the house still clings to the earth, unwilling to give in to the years of neglect.
The shutters hang crooked, one of them barely hanging on by a single rusted hinge, swinging with every gust of wind as if it’s reaching out for something lost.
Inside, the air is thick with dust, but there is an undeniable sense of stillness, as if the house is holding its breath. Sunlight, dim and faded, filters through cracked windows, casting long, tired shadows across the floors.
A forgotten child’s toy lies in the hallway—a small, wooden truck, its paint chipped but still vibrant in its abandonment. It’s easy to imagine the sound of small feet running down this hallway once, a child’s laughter echoing off the walls.
The living room tells the rest of the story. An old, threadbare couch sits facing a fireplace, its once-bright colors now muted and dull. A family portrait still hangs above the mantle, tilted slightly, but untouched. In the photo, a mother, father, and two children smile brightly, the sun shining behind them on what looks like a perfect day. Their joy is almost palpable, frozen in time, a stark contrast to the emptiness that now fills the room.
The house was once a home—a sanctuary for the family that built it, filled with the sounds of dinner being made, bedtime stories being read, and the small, everyday moments that make up a life. But something changed. No one knows for sure what drove them away. Some say it was a tragedy—a sudden accident that ripped the family apart. Others say it was hardship, the kind that slowly erodes everything until one day, there’s nothing left to stay for.
Whatever the reason, the house remains, long after the people who filled it with life have gone. It waits, as if hoping that one day, the family will return, and the warmth will fill its walls again. But they won’t.
And so the house stands, a monument to lost dreams and forgotten memories. It’s a place where the past lingers in every corner, waiting for someone to remember what it once was. But as the years pass, the house sinks further into the earth, its wood rotting, its walls crumbling, until one day, it too will be gone—leaving nothing but an empty lot where once, love and laughter lived.