House (part 1)

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heinzs
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House (part 1)

Post by heinzs » Tue Feb 17, 2004 3:51 pm

House

The house looms sinister -
a foreboding edifice -
windows, like so many eyes,
staring into the depths of my soul.

Gingerly I touch the gate -
an electric shock throws me back.
My hand throbs and stings
from the strength of the impact.

As if to beckon me,
it swings open noisily
on rusty hinges
and then stops.

Cautiously I pass through
and continue up the walkway
o'ergrown in weeds.
I make my way to the stairs,
rickety from decades of neglect.

The door creaks disapproval,
the rusty hinges complain,
but I insist and swing it open,
like a portal into another world -
far removed and unfamiliar.

An atmosphere dank with mold
assails my tender senses -
dust and grey cobwebs
festoon the interior of the room -
like so many tattered draperies.

I am attracted to the fireplace -
a huge pit, sufficient,
in my imagination's eye,
to roast a whole spitted boar
and still have room for the cauldron.

The stones glisten as if moist
with some dark, sticky liquid.
The mantel looms above the pit,
and at either end, perched in wait,
is a stone gargoyle, leering.

Above the fireplace is his portrait -
life-sized, dark and foreboding -
that evil soul who once these halls
called "home" - and reveled'
in his unspeakable debaucheries.

The Lord of Greystone Manor
still dominates this environment.
Decades removed - yet recent -
the oppressive air sits heavily.

I struggle away from his gaze
and make my way to the stairs.
Still resplendent in mahogany and marble,
the staircase vaults mightily upward.

The second floor has fared less well
than has the ground. Rain and wind
have found their way into the rooms
through open and smashed windows.

I stop, suddenly in shock
at an unexpected apparition.
The dressing mirror stands
intact and casts back my reflection.

Captivated, I stare at myself.
Suddenly the image in the mirror
ripples as if immersed in water
and from the glass emerges a child.

The girl seems to be 8 or 9 years old,
dressed in a white cotton frock,
her hair in curly ringlets frames
her cherubic features like a cameo.

Her hand extended, she beckons.
"Come." is all she says
and begins to turn back to the glass.
Do I dare follow through the portal?

(end of part one)

2/25/2002
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heinzs
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Post by heinzs » Tue Feb 17, 2004 3:55 pm

I stopped working on this epic a year ago and just rediscovered the manuscript. Anyone interested in an association? Ideas?

H.
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bags123
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Post by bags123 » Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:06 am

Interesting,....kind of like a combination of Lewis Carol and Stephen King so far. :cheers:
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thief of dreams
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Post by thief of dreams » Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:58 am

hmmm.. not sure you can continue this tale pops.. not without seriously striking into a ray bradbury mixed with poe tale of the impossible.. then again it is a story and i guess you wouldnt have to follow her but sheesh... maybe she has a much older gorgeous sister that you could fall in love with and find rotting in your arms as you awake to the sound of sheets sliding from the bed, a crow cawing outside the window and a moon that silhouettes a female shadow that pours back into the mirror as you come fully awake and raise from sleep...
"Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler."
Friedrich Nietzsche

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heinzs
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Post by heinzs » Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:07 pm

Thanks Gerry.

So what you're saying, Terry, is that I should leave off with the question at the end of the piece as it is? Hmmm......... dunno.....

Thanks... I think?

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jeannerené
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Post by jeannerené » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:49 pm

Heinzs.......

love this kind of story......if I had the time I'd love to share in this adventure.......but lately time has been rare....I do think you should continue......

jeanne
... and his words purge up and outward,
expelled and onward through desert dust swallowed,
sands he says that gorge on simple sensibilities.
And, now he spits fragments, grit, extended vowels and elongated syllables
over cracked lips. Their sounds fall
piling round his boots…
~ jeannerené

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~breathe~


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heinzs
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Post by heinzs » Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:19 pm

Thanks jeanne. Even suggestions are welcome.

H.
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thief of dreams
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Post by thief of dreams » Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:23 pm

well of course ya know id have to spin it into something twisted.. hehe... but to me it sure seems to close up and end nicely... just not sure where ya would go with it from here.. but im interested in seeing where ya take it now.. hehe...
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"Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler."
Friedrich Nietzsche

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jeannerené
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Post by jeannerené » Sat Feb 21, 2004 11:04 pm

Heinzs

Question:

Did you have an actual Greystone Manor in mind?

Here's some thoughts.....to keep or toss

1. Somewhere work in that as a young boy he remembers his mother nerviously making visits to this house....he could not go in.. had to wait outside....was later forbidden to talk about the visits, but has heard many rumors...mother now dead...

2. He knows somehow he is connected to house . . . had to return...

3. Young girl in the mirror is actaully is aunt (mother's sister) as a child or prehaps his mother as a child ....but he does not recognise this until later........or prehaps even further back ....such as grandmother....

4. maybe the fireplace/mantel could hold some unearthly secret...avenue to underworld????

5. the mirror upstairs is a portal that leads to an era of the house's history when it was occupied....prehpas a time when the Lord of manor was kinder....what caused him to be evil is discovered in the mirror..

6. Narrator is necessary to the house....his presence is needed to fullfil to destiny ot the house or his ancestrial (sp? line......

....anyway..those are just a couple of thoughts I had while reading...... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

jeanne
... and his words purge up and outward,
expelled and onward through desert dust swallowed,
sands he says that gorge on simple sensibilities.
And, now he spits fragments, grit, extended vowels and elongated syllables
over cracked lips. Their sounds fall
piling round his boots…
~ jeannerené

Image

~breathe~


flickr -jeannerene photostream

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heinzs
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Post by heinzs » Sun Feb 22, 2004 12:53 am

Cool!! Been reading lots of gothic novels???

:mrgreen:
:heinzs:
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Debbie
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Heinz.

Post by Debbie » Sun Nov 20, 2005 6:15 pm

Now there has to me more to this than what I've read Heinz..to good not to be...well done my friend all I can say it had me in suspense I like the way you layed it all out it made it so much easier to read and not overwhelming..
I truly loved the imagery in here, I followed you every step of the way through that place. :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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heinzs
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Re: House (part 1)

Post by heinzs » Mon Apr 23, 2012 5:16 pm

hmm... well I'm still open to a collaborator on this piece... lol.

:mrgreen:
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