I walked up to the front door through the dead grass and rotting leaves. The wood on the door was dark, almost black, splintering up to the top of the door frame. It had an old fashioned knocker that was made out of rusty metal, twisting into the form of a hook. I picked it up and swung it against the door, and some of the rust rubbed off on my fingers. I rubbed it off on the hem of my shirt. I listened for a moment hoping to hear footsteps heading towards me, but all I heard was silence. She was supposed to arrive here yesterday. I grasped the door knob and turned it, it being unlocked. I pulled expecting the door to open with ease, but it stayed where it had been sitting for the past centuries.
I grasped the knob more firmly and pulled. The wood groaned and finally creaked open enough so that I could pass through. The stench that hit me was so overwhelming and surprising that I almost toppled over. The smell of rotting wood, mildew, mold, and decomposing animals intermingled into a melody that brought tears to my eyes. I creaked forward hoping that I wouldn't fall into the basement.
The ceiling sloped downward towards the ground, as if it was giving up on everything that it had ever known. I walked inside, unsure if I was really supposed to be here without my mother's supervision.
We had just bought this piece of property, and the house next door. My mother was supposed to meet me here, so that we could assess whether or not this house was worth saving. Judging from the looks of it, we would be better off demolishing it, and building another house in its place, then leaving it standing and building it back up to its former glory days.
I felt something drop down on my shoulder, and looked around me startled. Bird poop started easing its way down my arm dripping onto the floor. I looked up and saw a bird's nest with a pigeon perched on the edge, looking down at me with an innocent look on its face. "Thanks." I said with a scowl on my face, and I scraped the crap off my shirt. I decided to venture further in, to assess the rest of the house. I walked into the kitchen and was greeted with the sight of mold dripping down from the wall in front of me. Half eaten food sat on the counter, if you could even call it food anymore. It was obvious that it had rested on the counter for far too long.
I plugged my nose, and kept the bile, that had started to creep in my throat, down. I turned around and was met with the door to the basement. It was cracked open halfway, revealing the rickety stairs that I hoped would support my weight. I wedged the door open the rest of the way with my foot, keeping my nose plugged with my fingers, afraid of what smells might be lurking below.
I grabbed hold of the railing, and cautiously hovered my foot over the step, unsure if I really wanted to trust this rotting wood with my weight. I took a deep breath, and set my foot down. I didn't fall through the step like I thought I would, thank god, so I ventured further into the basement. It was lit enough with the holes from the floors up above that I didn't need my flash light.
The floor was made up of dirt, not wood or concrete like I thought that it would be. There were wooden crates everywhere, with the past owners belongings spilling out of every crate. I crouched down next to one that was closest to me and I started to pull out the items one by one, looking them over, trying to picture the family that owned them. I was soon wrapped up in my little task. I was startled out of my daze by the sound of footsteps behind me. I turned around me, expecting to see my mother, smiling up at me, excited to see me, but there was no one behind me. "Hello?" I asked to the dark corner a crossed from me. I heard something shift, that knocked over a crate, spilling child toys towards me. I reached for my flashlight, wanting to illuminate this mysterious person, but when I reached for it, it was gone. I then remembered that I had left it in my truck. I had unclipped it from my belt loop because it was uncomfortable to wear while I was driving.
I looked over to the stairs and assessed how long it would take for me to dart up them, if they would even hold me up, and if the person that I knew nothing about could reach me before I could escape up them. As I was about to make a mad dash towards the stairs, my mysterious intruder stepped into the light.