Welcome to this week's Write It Wednesday! My submission is below, and the link-up follows. You have until Saturday 10/27 to submit your entries. I can't wait to read your writings!
~~~~~
The stone house stood firmly in the center of a sprawling lot dotted with flower gardens, trees and pathways. Meticulously formed beds of mulch and perinnials and large, healthy trees stretching tall spoke of a well-loved property. The front porch grinned as the cars pulled up, and droopy window eyes with half-closed blinds gave the impression that the visitors had woken the home from a deep slumber.
“I’m so glad you called about this house, Jenny. I don’t know how you found it so quickly, it was just listed!”
Their realtor, Marie, had taken Jenny and Todd through several houses recently. She was a jovial woman, with a curly mop of brown hair and wide set green eyes. Her round cheeks were always pushed up with a smile and her handshake was firm.
Jenny took in the house as she peered over her sunglasses. The white siding, green shutters. As they walked up the front steps, her hand instinctively grasped the iron handle of the railing. The front door opened into a large two-story foyer. The grey slate echoed their footsteps as the group familiarized themselves with the interior landscape.
Todd moved into the living room, whose focal point was a large brick hearth. They could hear Marie reading facts off of an information sheet in the kitchen.
“...and the oven is only one month old! Stainless steel, to boot!”
He turned to Jenny. “Hon, what do you think so far? It’s nice right?”
Todd’s words barely reached Jenny, who had meandered into the family room.
Sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating an eclectic assortment of of modernly angular furniture sitting astutely upon spotless tan carpeting. Although the furniture was all wrong, it was the same sunlight hitting the same spots as it always had. Jenny looked from corner to corner, taking in every inch of wall. She knew where every family picture had been hung, where the cherry end table had perched next to the worn-in floral couch. The room had been more comfortable, warmer somehow, all those years ago.
Looking back out into the hallway to the staircase, she could almost see her five-year old form bounding down the steps for breakfast, her mother greeting her in the kitchen with a freshly poured bowl of cereal. As decades had gone by, the house on Higgins Lane had become a faded memory. Jenny’s family moved just before her eighth birthday into a home across town. In the new home, Jenny and her sisters had celebrated birthdays, climbed trees, posed for pictures before dances. It was the house they said goodbye to before heading off to college, and where they returned every year for holidays.
But it wasn’t where their lives had begun.
They walked the house that day, opening doors, looking out windows, admiring the updated bathrooms. Jenny found herself playing a slideshow of memories, savoring every one as it passed. She had not grown up in this house, but it was part of her life. Who has lived here? She wondered. Have they loved it? Really cherished it?
Marie locked the door behind them as they exited the home into the front yard. Todd took Jenny’s hand into his, asking her thoughts without a word.
“So? What did you think?” Marie held her clipboard with a pen poised at the ready.
Jenny looked at Todd before answering. “It’s fantastic. We’d love to put in an offer.”
“OH wonderful! We’ll just have to go over...”
Marie’s words faded into the background and Jenny daydreamed of her life picking up full circle from where it started.
“I’m so glad you called about this house, Jenny. I don’t know how you found it so quickly, it was just listed!”
Their realtor, Marie, had taken Jenny and Todd through several houses recently. She was a jovial woman, with a curly mop of brown hair and wide set green eyes. Her round cheeks were always pushed up with a smile and her handshake was firm.
Jenny took in the house as she peered over her sunglasses. The white siding, green shutters. As they walked up the front steps, her hand instinctively grasped the iron handle of the railing. The front door opened into a large two-story foyer. The grey slate echoed their footsteps as the group familiarized themselves with the interior landscape.
Todd moved into the living room, whose focal point was a large brick hearth. They could hear Marie reading facts off of an information sheet in the kitchen.
“...and the oven is only one month old! Stainless steel, to boot!”
He turned to Jenny. “Hon, what do you think so far? It’s nice right?”
Todd’s words barely reached Jenny, who had meandered into the family room.
Sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating an eclectic assortment of of modernly angular furniture sitting astutely upon spotless tan carpeting. Although the furniture was all wrong, it was the same sunlight hitting the same spots as it always had. Jenny looked from corner to corner, taking in every inch of wall. She knew where every family picture had been hung, where the cherry end table had perched next to the worn-in floral couch. The room had been more comfortable, warmer somehow, all those years ago.
Looking back out into the hallway to the staircase, she could almost see her five-year old form bounding down the steps for breakfast, her mother greeting her in the kitchen with a freshly poured bowl of cereal. As decades had gone by, the house on Higgins Lane had become a faded memory. Jenny’s family moved just before her eighth birthday into a home across town. In the new home, Jenny and her sisters had celebrated birthdays, climbed trees, posed for pictures before dances. It was the house they said goodbye to before heading off to college, and where they returned every year for holidays.
But it wasn’t where their lives had begun.
They walked the house that day, opening doors, looking out windows, admiring the updated bathrooms. Jenny found herself playing a slideshow of memories, savoring every one as it passed. She had not grown up in this house, but it was part of her life. Who has lived here? She wondered. Have they loved it? Really cherished it?
Marie locked the door behind them as they exited the home into the front yard. Todd took Jenny’s hand into his, asking her thoughts without a word.
“So? What did you think?” Marie held her clipboard with a pen poised at the ready.
Jenny looked at Todd before answering. “It’s fantastic. We’d love to put in an offer.”
“OH wonderful! We’ll just have to go over...”
Marie’s words faded into the background and Jenny daydreamed of her life picking up full circle from where it started.
~~~~~
If you missed the last 2 weeks you can read the 10/10 Write It Wednesday and 10/17 Write It Wednesday submissions.
Write It Wednesday Link Up
