Inside Those Walls

What goes on inside those walls?

What happens beyond that gate?

What are they hiding and who

are they trying to keep out?

I have a few ideas, but I also

have my doubts. I can’t even

count the amount of times

I looked through the bars

of that gate.  I’ve never

seen anyone leave or enter.

A long driveway leads

to the mansion overgrown

with weeds. Rusted luxury cars

are parked around a bronze statue

of a mustached man with a sword

in his hand. The locals around here

steer clear. I have heard several

rumors about this place.

Someone once told me that

a group of boys thought the mansion

was abandoned. They hopped the walls,

twisted the door knob, and walked

in, but that’s not where the story

ends. They entered as boys

and left as men. When they returned

to their homes, their parents asked

them what happened, but they

couldn’t speak. It looked like

they saw a ghost. Maybe they did?

They were never the same.

Every Halloween the same story

gets told. Is it a cautionary tale

that will never get old? I wish

I could say that I’m not sold.

I truly don’t know what to

believe, but once I see beyond

those walls and the mansion

in all its glory, I know I want

to be a part of its story.

There’s something about this

place that pulls me in.

One night, I drove up the hill

and just stared. For the first time,

I saw the front door open. A beam

of light lit up the dark night.

I waited a few minutes, and no

one walked out. This time, I built

up enough courage and hopped

the gate. I tiptoed to the porch.

I walked toward the light

and through the door. In a flash,

I hear the door shut behind me.

The light grew brighter. Before

I knew it, I woke up in my bed,

but every day after that night,

I kept hearing this voice

in my head telling me to walk

back through that door and into

the light. So, that’s what I did

every night for the rest of my life.