Reminiscing Quietly
Olwen Juster
It was Christmas Eve when it happened.
His home was around a forest with a nearby lake. Oddly enough, it was sparsely populated with wildlife so it was pretty safe.
The younger him back didn't really have any nearby friends or neighbors to talk to. Playing after school or exploring the forest was something he never really thought of at the time. Probably because he was too tired from the long trips to home or something.
Life back then was so slow, just lying down on the grass and listening to the wind whistle through trees. It was a time he'd kill to get back to, to experience once more. It was simpler back then.
His father would come to pick him up from the nearby school, 10 minutes after class was usually done. It was just after their School Christmas party had just finished.
"Hey kiddo, time to go home."
His father would use the exact same line every time and he'd hop inside with a smile on his face, or so according to his dad. The ride home would always be the two of them conversing, normally about what he studied or if he made a friend right until we'd get home.
As soon as the car would stop, I'd hop right out the car and run until I reached the front door.
"I'm Home!"
He'd scream out, and soon his mom would come out from upstairs and pinch his cheeks before hugging him.
"It's time to eat, Olwen."
His mother with her gentle tone, said as she softly pulled him towards the kitchen but he resisted the pull.
"I want to see Grandpa!"
He managed to get out of his mothers grasp and quickly ran up the stairs, almost tripping but reaching the top.
He ran across the hall and stopping in front of his Grandpa's door. Doing what he was taught, he knocked three times, then said just loud enough.
"GRANDPA! I want to see that magic thingy again!"
Just as he waited for a response to enter like the other times. This time, there was no call to let him in at all. He got too impatient, for the first time, he opened the door without any permission.
Inside, he found no one there. There was his grandfather desk and the bill board filled with so many notes that reminded him of homework at a glance.
A few moments passed as he stood there in confusion.
Something that wasn't in the room before. A door was there at the other side of the room.
"Olwen, You're Gramps is sleeping right now. Come on, lets eat lunch. Oh, he's not here. He's probably out in the yard then."
The call of his dad made him look away from the strange door. When he looked back, it was just gone. Listening to his Dad. He went down and ate his very late lunch, due to the long way home.
Mom and Dad soon realized that they hadn't seen Grandpa. Things escalated and they called the police, authorities came in and searched the area.
For the whole week, a search party was held but his grandpa had disappeared like a ghost. There was no trace of where he was or any clue to what had happened to him.
Him and his parents were asked where they had last seen his grandpa, to which they could only say he was going upstairs after seeing him off as he got into his dad's car like the days before.
He mentioned that door he saw back in his grandpa's room but there was no hidden door or something that was found after authorities scanned the room.
The case was closed cause there wasn't any leads to go on. It was concluded by the police that he had ran away but he knew the man who was his grandfather couldn't have done that.
His grandpa was a jolly, patient and kind man and everyone in the family loved him dearly. In family gatherings, he was always part of the conversation and as far as he could remember, nobody ever got mad at him at all. All his cousins who were around his age at the time would listen to him tell stories during the night, no one ever interrupted him while he told one. He had this way of telling a story that would leave the listener engrossed.
That was the only way he could ever describe it from what he remembered. Losing him was like losing a part of his childhood and that magical feeling. A part of him, just disappearing. A person my whole family loved, just gone without any explanation.
Nothing much about his grandpa ever resurfaced. Time flew by, what once was the present was just the past to him, a memory.
The sun was setting just as Olwen arrived in front of a gate that had seen better days.
Home sweet home…..
Olwen parked his car outside the gate and got out, he was a little anxious that his car might be stolen outside of this gate but it seemed like this place had been relatively untouched. This place was a bit far but there was a town ten minutes away by car. No one should have known about this place other than his family and close family friends. The chances of a robber stumbling upon this place was unlikely.
He took in the vast green and forestry scenery that he was familiar with back during his childhood. The smell and noises of the forest was as calming and relaxing as he remembered them to be but he wasn't here for a celebration. His mom and dad had died recently, in a car crash accident.
Olwen laughed a little to himself.
I'm the only one left…
Shortly after the car accident, he was there in that very hospital they were taken to and he was also there when they were declared dead. It was messed up, he wanted to blame that person who was at fault but he didn't want to meet the face of the person who murdered his family. That person was somehow discharged by the police and he never knew why but he didn't care about any of that anymore. He wanted to bask in his childhood house, and think everything through there and what he was going to do going forward.
Olwen went to the back of his car and opened the car trunk, pulling out some luggage's and closing the trunk. There was a smaller gate next to the big one that was used for cars, this smaller gate was for people to enter through of course. After hesitating for a moment, he went through his pockets and got the keycard.
Feels weird using a keycard, I remember when it was just unlocked using a key.
He opened the door and entered, passing through the small metal gate. The small gate locked behind him with a beep sound.
Just ahead was path that went deeper and deeper into the forest. He walked on that path. It was as he remembered, soon he should come across two paths where the left one lead to the river and the right to his house. Clive went to the right.
Memories flooded his mind as he got closer to where the house should be. He walked along this path so many times then, and he was back here again. Surprising that he could even remember something from fifteen years ago.
Any second now. I should seeing the house.
Turning to his left, which was his north was the….Juster Mansion. A Victorian home standing tall and definitely a relic of a different time as it was at least a century old.
Olwen sighed, he didn't know if it was out of relief or reluctance but being here made him feel all mixed up.
It wasn't as big as he remembered but it hadn't changed at all. Recalling what his dad said back then, it was heavily renovated right around the time he was born and his father had shortly inherited it after his own grandfather had passed away from natural causes.
There used to be family reunions here frequently, everyone at the table and talking to one another warmly. These days, his mom and dad were the only people to visit it in the past 15 years to his knowledge.
"…."
After procuring the key from his pocket, he slowly unlocked the door before grabbing the handle. A loud creaking sound was made as he pushed the door open.
"I'm home…"
He tried finding the light switch by the side of the door.
Where is it….. Oh, there it is.
With a flick of the switch, the lights in the foyer room lit up. On his right was a sign in the wall or picture frame on the wall, it showed a crude drawing of what he could see as a snowman.
huh…. wonder who put that up there?
On the left was a cabinet, on top was a vase filled with dead flowers. That was probably when they came in here around two weeks ago. My parents…
Olwen quickly went in the living room and turned the lights on. He pulled his luggage's to the living room before locking the main door.
"Hah…."
I'm here…. back here after 15 years.
He sat carelessly on the couch, looking over everything in the living room. Other than the place being a little dusty all over, everything was basically untouched. Clive took a look at the kitchen, game room, storage and the other rooms on the first floor. They were all in clean condition other than the dust.
"Wow…. It's like this place is frozen in place."
It's like opening a time capsule from long ago. Nostalgia was the only thing in his mind this entire time.
He went back to the living room after checking everything out. Out of the corner of his eye, there was teddy bear just below one of the small tables in the room.
"Isn't this Popeye?…."
The teddy bear in his hands was one of his favorite toys, something he snuggled with when he went to sleep back then. He couldn't help but smile just a little at the fluffy thing before realizing something.
"Wow, I really feel old now…"
Popeye was a small plush teddy bear, he had the signature black ball shaped eyes and Popeye was color brown color. He went over to the center table and plopped Popeye on the table. A sense of satisfaction came over him for some reason. It was decided then that he would look for more things like the teddy bear, starting by searching the living room for more things.
"A doll…"
In one of the cabinets, there was a blonde haired doll. It was dressed in a pink dress of sorts and had a reddish pink necklace on its neck. Who owned this? Looking at the doll didn't evoke any memory in his head or any familiarity at all.
Maybe it was left by one of my cousins here and it was forgotten? Weird that mom or dad didn't return this. Well, it's probably been forgotten by whoever owned it. Its covered in dust like the rest of the house, another thing untouched for a long time.
Olwen placed the doll on the table near the teddy bear and ventured into other rooms to find things that caught his eye.
After some time, it was dark outside by the time he collected a bunch of other stuff in rooms that weren't locked. Time really flew by fast, exploring the house was a lot more enjoyable than he expected and because of that.
Olwen collapsed right onto the couch.
Guess going here was a lot better than I thought, It seemed kind of dumb considering what just happened recently, but its been oddly relaxing in a way and not depressing going around this place. It was probably my way of coping maybe?
He shook his head, this was the time to just take it slow and think it through but he wanted to leave that for tomorrow. Just getting here was exhausting, it took 4 hours to get here and it was the first time he drove for that long. Rest was what he needed. He closed his eyes. He wanted to just stay still like this, even for just an hour and not think about anything else.
"….."
His consciousness sinks to a depth where'd he would sleep for a while.
BANG BANG BANG!
BANG BANG BANG!
"Erugh…."
BANG BANG BANG!
"…."
BANG BANG BANG!
"What the hell is that?"
Clive stood up from the couch. There was no way he could sleep when there was a sound like that coming from upstairs. No way that an animal was doing that right? The only thing he could think of that could make that sound was a person.
What the hell…
He got a knife from a kitchen before he went to the second floor. If there was actually anyone up here in the second floor. He had to be ready to threaten whoever it was but he hoped that it was his imagination or something. It would be better if it was just nothing but him maybe losing it after feeling empty for a couple of days.
Olwen checked each room carefully and found no one inside any of them. So far so good, the last one he hadn't checked was his grandfather's office. He carefully opened the door enough to have a gap to peer through.
What the hell… Why is this room so dark compared to the other rooms in the house.
With the room being so dark, he had no choice but to slip in as quietly as he could and tried groping for the light switch in the room. He turns on the lights after finding it.
The office was something he used to visit, there was the luxurious looking curtains that he remembered right away, A deep blue carpet covered the entire floor.
The air was calm and regal. That was the impression he had as a kid. Maybe it was because he could just feel the history in this room.
It was now his, he just realized.
There was no one in the room, just as he suspected but there was something he didn't remember that was present in the room now. Why the hell was there a door behind the study desk, clear as day.
I don't remember that being there…. Where does it lead to?
He started walking towards the study desk but stopped in place. He was hearing something from below or behind the study desk.
Is that crying?
Whatever it was, it put him on edge.
He cautiously approached the study desk and found a young boy. The boy was sitting on the ground with his head hung over, he couldn't see the boys face but they had gray hair. The boy just kept quietly sobbing.
All the fear in his head was replaced with confusion. Who is this boy and how the hell did he get in this house?
"Hey….."
Olwen called out and waited for a response. The boy just kept sobbing and didn't look up to him.
What should be done in a situation like this, He couldn't exactly leave this boy here alone? His first thought was to call the cops but it was probably better to calm the boy for now then call. It didn't seem like the boy was carrying any weapons so he put the knife on the table before he gently touched the shoulder of the boy.
"Hello…..?"
Throb.
"Hu—"
Throb.
All of a sudden, without a warning.
Throb.
Clive's head started aching, and his legs felt weak. He tried grabbing onto the table to try and stabilize himself, but his arms had no strength in them and he fell on his back.
What the hell…
The pain was in his temple.
It's like someone was slowly jabbing a knife into his head, and then spinning it around like a screwdriver.
"…..Ah!"
This stab felt deeper than the others.
It's like whatever was cutting through his head finally hit the center of his brain. It was taking everything to not burst out screaming.
"Ha…."
Everything's getting dark.
Am I dying?
I can't die..
I have to-
I have to live for them, It can't end like this...