As I was working on today's 31 Days of Halloween, I thought, "You know? I should tell 'em about that house." The photo I used is an old one of mine, but I still think about its subject sometimes. I have a lot of memories about the ol' box.

That house stood next to my grandparents' home in Duncan, Oklahoma. My grandmother told me an old woman used to live there, but she had died - probably of old age. At some point after her death, the house had suffered a fire, and it stood there in its charred, ramshackle state for years and years. I used to stare at it for the longest time, wondering what was in there, what had been in there before. It was so awfully dark in there despite the holes in the roof. Stray dogs lurked like sinister guardians. Fragments of old curtains waved limply at me from glassless windows. Some of the old woman's furniture was still in there, I could see. I remember the burnt rocking chair most of all. (more...)