House of the Heart

This house was her past.  She didn't want to come  back to it but she was determined to set things straight.
She walked up the driveway, keys in her hands, a different woman to the one that had once  lived there.  She held her head high.

The door opened to a strange sort of serenity.  No-one here but her.  She shut the door behind her and stood for a moment facing the dusty hall.  Sunlight streamed in from the small stained glass window at the back of the house.  She loved that window.  So full of colour.  Yellows and poppy reds, lit up the hall.

She leaned back against the front door for a moment.  Propping herself up as she prepared mentally for what she needed to do.  It was probably going to take her all day.

She decided to tackle it room by room.  To her right, led the staircase to the rooms upstairs.  To her left, lay the living room and further on, the kitchen.  The garden lay at the back, but she didn't need to do anything there.

She walked to the kitchen and put down her bag and draped her coat on the chair.  She placed the keys on the table and stood, hands on hips, hesitating.
"Come on Mary, room by room, you can do this," she urged herself as she let out a big sigh.

The stairs creaked as she made her way upstairs.  She wondered why she was trying to be so quiet.  No-one was here.  Was she scared of waking up ghosts?

The first room flooded her with memories.  As if a movie had suddenly switched itself to play in her mind.  Some were good and others painful.  She let them play themselves out until they stopped and then she sat on the bed, immersed in the peace that now filled the room - so different to all those years ago.  And then she spoke out loud, with no-one but the room to hear her, saying all the things she'd wished she'd said, saying all the things that needed to be said, until at last she felt at peace.

The words were between her and the room, for the memories they shared, for their ears only; this room was her past.  She got up and left the room, took one last look and then closed the door behind her, locking it with the key.

Outside the house, the world was now waking up and starting to go about the day.  Children left for school.  Cars left the driveways.  Old people tended their plants.  She could hear the gentle drone of life outside.

Inside, Mary continued to visit every room and perform the same ritual.  Closing each door firmly behind her when peace was made.

She felt emotionally tired after visiting all the rooms on the top floor and went back down to the kitchen.  Pulling out sandwiches she had in her bag, she replenished her energy and laughed to herself.  A laugh she hadn't laughed in years and not about anything in particular, just an outburst of relief.  She felt so much lighter and carefree, she almost wanted to do a little jig, right there in the middle of the kitchen.

She looked round the room and felt love for this old house that had housed so many of her memories.  She did love it but she had to leave it behind today.  She knew that and was glad.  The memories it held had weighed her down for so long and now she was finally getting free.

She smiled as she gazed out over the top of her coffee cup.  It was right, the time was right for her now to leave it all behind.  And make a new start.

She resumed her mission and entered the living room.  She sat on the couch and waited as all the old movies flooded her mind.  So many wonderful memories!  And then the sad ones came, and she sat with them too and let them play out - as the tears poured down her face she let them.  Every kind of emotion she felt, she allowed to wash through her like water through a pipe.  Until the time when the tears stopped flowing and then, just as before, she spoke to the room and said everything she needed to say to make peace with her past.  And then walked out and closed the door behind her.  Until the time when the last door had been closed.

And now it was time for her to leave.  Her heart felt heavy and light at the same time.  She stood in the hall once more and looked for the last time at the stained glass window, burning the image in her mind.
"Good bye dear house," she whispered and turned to open the front door. 

Tears filled her eyes as she caught the last glimpses of sunlight for the day.  She locked the door and walked firmly away, up the driveway to her car.  "Thank you," she whispered to the house and looked straight ahead of her, never looking back.

As her car drove away a cat sauntered across the gravel, stopping briefly to sniff at the pile of chains that lay in the middle of the driveway.  It sat down and watched the lady drive off and then began to clean itself.  All was well.