By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee/@GeeGranny
Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee/@GeeGranny on Twitter
Unseen ... no one ever knew ... or saw the young girl as she stood for several moments on the side of the street.
She was looking at a house all lit up. It was night time ... all the windows were bare of curtains. She tilted her head on her right shoulder, stared at the couple sitting in the glass room.
The glass room was like a fish bowl ... she could see the fine leather recliner the man sat in. His wife sat in her over-stuffed floral chair. Both were reading ... a fireplace burned brightly.
A big Christmas tree sat in the corner ... colored lights flashing on, off. Oh, what a beautiful sight. She saw movement by the man's feet ... a big, beautiful, white dog rose from where it lay ... stretched, dropped back down on the plush rug.
Pure happiness, love on display for the world to see. Only at this moment ... just the young girl saw. Oh, how she wished she could live like this ... in a big, wonderful house just like this!
She saw the woman look up at her husband, smile. Her mouth moved as she talked to him. She saw the man hand her a big bowl of ... popcorn! They were enjoying the evening sitting by the cheerful fireplace ... eating popcorn.
Big Christmas presents sat around the tree all wrapped in pretty paper, pretty bows. Wow ... to have even one big present like that!
She heard a car coming ... she began walking. She didn't want anyone to know she'd been looking at pure happiness ... love on display for the world to see. She saw ... she wished with her heart.
The girl walked past the house ... she still had a little way to go before getting to her grandma's house. She wished so much she was going to a house like the one she was looking at.
She left the side of the street to walk up the sidewalk to go inside. As she got half-way up the sidewalk she heard cussing, screaming from inside. Her aunt came angrily out the front door ... she turned to slam the door as hard as she could. F..... you!
She stopped to let her aunt come down the steps ... her aunt stopped, looked her in the face and said, "that goes for you, too!" Her aunt stomped off.
She walked up the steps slowly ... this house was a long way from being a wonderful house, home like she just admired. She opened the ragged screen door, stepped inside. She saw a lone roach crawling on the vinyl couch ... she cringed. Welcome to Hell, she thought.
She walked into the center room of the house to speak to her grandma, and grandfather. She could see by their expressions they had been upset. Poor grandma, grandfather ... another hell-raising had just happened before she got there. They lived in the house that sat over the portal of Hell ... this house never knew peace.
She sat down on an old wooden chair with a cane-bottomed seat. Her grandmother, grandfather were always glad to see her come. She stayed for a little while making them cheer up. They laughed, talked ... for a short time happiness lived in that room.
The young girl got up. She needed to get back to her mother's home. She had several blocks to walk ... she wasn't afraid. She was at the age that she knew she could save the world, fight off anyone who messed with her. She didn't know she had a lot to learn in life.
She kissed her grandmother, grandfather goodbye ... walked out the door into the night. Soon, she was passing the wonderful house again. She could see the fish bowl room ... see the perfect scene inside.
The man, and woman were still sitting in their comfortable chairs. The big, white dog still lay on the plush rug near his master's feet. The young girl's eyes filled with sadness ... sadness that made tears.
I bet they've never known unhappiness, how it feels to be poor, how it feels to know Hell. She saw the dog raise his head ... he looked straight at her. It knew she was outside, didn't bark because he didn't sense any danger.
The girl walked on ... years later she looked back at this memory. She never forgot seeing such pure love, happiness on display at the big, wonderful house.
In fact, that same house to this day looks the same ... excepting ... the man and woman sitting in their comfortable chairs ... had grown much older. She had passed by ... slowly on a car ... saw a walker beside the woman's chair. The big, white dog wasn't there anymore. She saw the man as he walked slowly toward his recliner.
Pure love, happiness lived in that house ... always on display in that ... fish bowl room.
Note by this Author:
I look at that house ever so often if I have occasion to go by it. Everything is still the same ... excepting the couple is older now.
They never knew that through all these years ... my memory of them as a young girl ... I was on the outside looking in ... wishing with my Heart to know the happiness they showed the world from their ... fish bowl room.
Photo, true story owned, written by me ... Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee.
That is a lovely story. It is sad that you had to live in such turmoil. Sometimes we have to hold on to good memories we we think of them. Sometimes that is all we have at times. Love, Ms. Nancy
ReplyDeleteI love the way you write - the descriptions pull me right in and I feel like I am right in that room. The emotions of turmoil can be conjured up even when they were so long ago. I'm so sorry for what you lived through. But hopefully writing about it releases some of the pain. Beautiful words.
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