I Am Home

Home

There was a glorious shade of red and purple with inky blackness seeping across the the midwestern sky the day when I received the letter amongst the piles of bills, repossession notifications, and hopefully one or two job acceptance letters. The dusty yellow envelope opened after my Great Aunt's funeral confused all with the nature of her requests. Her corpse was requested to be placed in a wooden cage and walked into the sea. My uncle was given her money. Her candles went to Father. She left me a chest that she had in her attic. Once we had removed her assets, she requested her house to be burned and if there had been a neighbor within a mile of her cliffside house, the fire department would have refused the request immediately. Because a combination of that, and the chief of the fire department being personal friends with my late Great Aunt, it was allowed.

 

The day after I received my letter, I made the ferry ride to Portsmouth Island and made my way to the attic where I saw my inheritance. A small brown wooden box with a silver trim lining the entryway with a small latch on the front. I undid the latch and a retched stench filled my nostrils. I gagged. Plugging my nose, I pried open the rotting box and saw a mischief of rats barring their teeth at me before scurrying out of the box's many rotted away holes. Leaving  behind piles of feces and a key with a yellow edged note strung into it. After wiping away the mess on the card, I recognized my Great Aunt's hand writing.

 

Dear Susan,

If you are reading this, then I guess my time has come. Please do not fear what lies beyond because WE, the Gewargeses, are servants. This is the key to your old family home in town. I'm asking you to stay. I loved the home and I know you did as well. So when your granny gave it to me, I immediately had this prepared for my passage into the world WE are destined for. I'm sorry I didn't give it to you sooner. If you refuse, then I have already arranged for it to be burned should you not accept, you have one week to move in.

With love,

Aunty Ishtar

 

Sitting in disbelief I read my dead Aunt's letter. My old house was no house, but a mansion. We had sold it to make due with the money problems that came when the house had fallen silent when I noticed the eye covered in flames. It bore into me even in this dank room where the only light source was the dim yellow from the stained glass. This was it. This was my break. A tear of happiness fell down my cheek and I felt my hand cover my own mouth. I was stunned. In the three weeks I spent with Aunty over the course of her life, she realized what I had missed. The tears turned into sadness when I came to the realization that I knew nothing about the woman who lived on a cliff overlooking a deep dark ocean. All I knew of her was what I held in my hand and the signs outside warning teenagers not to jump into the dark water. There were certain rocks there that no one had ever been able to find, but every single person that leaped off that cliff disappeared. I knew it tortured her knowing that the only action she could take was to put up a fence and a fence and a few signs. Surely enough news of what happened spread far and wide; it likely did more harm than good in all honesty. I was reminded of when me of when I was a teenager and well, I can see why that didn't help. She never deserved it, but she was suspected of kidnapping and likely the murder of the eleven kids that jumped off. Charges were dropped because no one had ever been able to find any evidence of a crime even being committed.

 

Arriving at the pale manor, I walked across a beach leading into the Pacific's deep. Nailed to the door was a small package that appeared to be slightly worn down with my name on it in a deep dark blue. I tore it from the door along with small bits of paint from where the package had been bound to the door. Cutting open the box revealed a fresh fish, a book titled The Shadow Over Portsmouth, and a letter signed with my Aunt's handwriting. I heard her dogs' collars rattling behind the door and braced myself, thinking I should read the note before it was covered in dog slobber. The letter simply read in rushed handwriting:

"We left for a reason. feed them if you must. If you do so they will be kind to

you, do not abandon them. now that you have arrived you are requires to

help them. See you soon dear." Signed with that same eye as her previous

message."

I fed the fish to the dogs that night; I assumed that was what she meant in her letter. There was something else I was meant to feed. That led me to see something I wish I had not. That woke me up. At first, I thought it was the ancient building just settling in its place. I was wrong. The dogs. Those fourteen year old Great Danes got up. They threw themselves at the sliding glass door until it shattered. They stood up with glass shards and walked. Slowly, into the murky ocean. They didn't swim. They walked without stopping into the deep and eventually they were completely out of sight. This couldn't be real? I thought to myself; this doesn't HAPPEN in real life. I got up and went back to sleep all the while praying that it was just a dream. I woke up the next day. It was real. The glass shards and dog blood surrounded the exit to my newly acquired mansion. Another bill I would have to take care of. I placed a phone call and was informed that they would be able to come in and take measurements for replacing the door. I sat down feeling the breeze coming from the gaping hole in my house. It is not my house; this is my home. I walked over to it and had a sudden horrible feeling of homesickness. I wanted to go back home. This is not home. But it is! No it's not, home is cold and dark. I NEED TO GO HOME. YOU ARE HOME SUSAN STOP SAYING THAT. That scream was what made me realize that I was up to my neck in Pacific. When I started swimming. Everything hurt;  It hurt all over. Struggling, I knew I had to go home. I wanted to ensure my safety and began pushing the water past me. My eyes burned as I noticed faint moonlight that poured into my surroundings fade. I kept swimming. My lungs were burning when I inhaled my first breath of water. It's refreshing darkness smothered the burning in my lungs. I was finally home.