6:00 AM
The clock glowed as the muffled radio played throughout the car. Orange street lamps glowed through the windows, darkening the early morning sky. Rain tapped against the window, slowly picking up the pace as the indicator ticked away.
Tick
Tick
Tick
And the window wipers creaked against the fogged window.
the car slowly made its way down the lonely road. The road was empty, normally the road was flooded with cars, making their way to work but the road was empty. The trees caved in on either side of the large road, bending over and encasing the car that drove alone as the road got smaller and smaller the more the trees swayed and bent with the wind.
The church bells rang out in the distance as my hands gripped the steering wheel.
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
With each passing day, it had seemed as though the ringing of the bells got louder and louder.
Turning down a dirt path road, through a tighter strip of road, camouflaged by the tall trees. I let out a sigh as silence falls upon me.
Dead Silence.
No sound of insects, wild animals or even as the rain as it falls amongst the leaves. Just the way I like it as I turned on my headlights and continued to the house.
Decrepit and lonely the house stood on rotten planks of wood. The white paint chipped and peeled at the slightest touch. The porch caved as I placed a foot in Infront of the other. The creaks and groans alerting anything inside the house that I have arrived.
The flimsy door that hung by its hinges cried out as it got pushed to the side. The wind blew through the house, rattling the windows in their frames as papers from the floor were lifted and scattered through the air.
6:59
My watch indicated. Sighing, the bells started back up.
The scent of her still lingers in the old house as it has stained every piece of clothing I wear, I can’t get rid of her smell, I can’t get rid of her.
My feet scraped against the floor as I peer into the kitchen where the table is Setout for two. The house lies in wait to greet us both, waiting for us to finish our last conversation.
I made my way up the sunken staircase and down the hall where her cries of pain still echoe through the air. It used to break every hope I had of her surviving but now the ghostly sound makes my chest feel heavy and hollow at the memory.
The bedroom was how I left it that day she was taken from this house. Neatly made as if no one was here as dust coats every surface of the room and the open window lets in the cold air that sways the curtains gently.
I laid down on the bed, my skin gradually becoming clammier as unease begins to fill my senses. My lungs began to protest for air as a heavyweight placed itself on my chest.
Visiting the house was a mistake, but I couldn’t stop hearing the bells.
They called to me.
They rang when I woke up in the morning in the sun-filled apartment. They rang every time I took my work break in the park. They called to me at night when everything is quiet and no one is around to drown them out.
I had tried my best to move on. Moving on is what she would have wanted for me and yet it is during those times where there is no noise that my mind slowly drifts to her, to this house.
We had a normal life, be it a boring life but it was ours and we loved every moment we spent with each other, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Tears streamed down my face as my whole body began to feel heavy. I stared at the cracked ceiling as her scent filled my nose, overpowering the smell of the old house.
“I miss you” I choked out; the words barely audible.
The house stood still as the room became void of any sound before the distant ringing of the bells from far away grew louder and louder, sending a shiver down my spine.
The bells cried out.
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
“I miss you” was their reply.
And in that house, I stayed, waiting for the bells to ring out one last time. Summoning me to join her.