“Hello”
“Who said that?”
“The master of the house”
“But this is my house”
“No, it’s my house, you are trespassing”
“But I bought this house”
“The house was stolen from me, you bought stolen property”
“What happens now?”
“You Die!”
Seven and two thirds months later. The house is still for sale after the horrific murder of it’s previous purchaser. The realtor has branded it unsellable, the house’s history is too big a deterrent for any would be owner. It’s a shame as the house really is magnificent. An old Georgian estate set in forty acres of what were once pristine gardens complete with fountains and a guest house down by the lake. The estate always seemed so peaceful until ninety years ago. What happened that summer has been lost to the sands of time. All that is known is that a tragedy occurred, the family that was living in the house mysteriously disappeared. No trace was ever found, the only thing out of place in the house was that the taps had been left on. Since then anyone who has taken up occupancy in the house has met a horrific death. Even those seeking shelter from a storm for a single night have never been heard from again.
The grounds of the estate have mirrored the house’s unfriendliness. A dark cloud has descended across the entire estate. The lake that was once like a mirror for the sky is now dank and a place of respite for evil things that despise the light of day. The woods have become havens for creatures whose only instinct is too kill. The realtor mourns the loss of the house to something that no one can quite understand. Obviously as a mature sensible adult he is too old to believe in such things as ghosts or spirits but what other explanation can there be?
The wind rustles outside and the door creaks open. A man steps in, he appears to be a middle aged man with not long and not short hair everything about him seems so hard to describe. He’s more than average but less than either of the extremes. It’s hard to describe him as when you try to concentrate on him your mind seems to wander. It’s strange I’ve never seen anyone like him. I realise he is talking to me and try to resume my calm customer manner. He’s asking about buying an estate, he’s describing the estate to me but I can’t quite place where he’s talking about. Then after he mentions the guest house by the lake the realisation dawns on me like the morning fog burning away that he is talking about the haunted mansion. He was describing what it must have looked like before the tragedy occurred.
He seems to know that it was once like before the tragedy occurred. How can that be? It’s been nearly a century since it happened and he looks just short of middle aged. It’s impossible to think that someone at his age could remember the estate in it’s prime. Against my better judgement I agree to show him the house later that day. I would lie and say that this is just another showing but I am forced to admit that I’m scared about this showing. I’m terrified at the thought of opening the house and going inside the house and showing someone around the house. But the manner that the man has is so self assured that I couldn’t help but agree to show him the house.
There hasn’t been anyone in the house in thirty years. It must be an absolute wreck and complete wreck inside but the man insists on seeing it. Waiting for the man at the gates to the house, it’s strange I see him coming but he’s not driving he’s just walking. It’s strange as the estate is not quite remote but there is no public transport that goes near the estate. The wind stirs the trees that line the street, yet his coat is untouched. This is one of the strangest characters that I’ve ever met.
Just as we approach the manor the sky clouds over. A voice booms across the sky, “Who enters my property?”. The man looks thoughtfully around before he replies……
Monthly Archives: February 2009
The Haunted Mansion
The Future
Given my extremely close proximity to finishing my undergrad and actually being a qualified adult 
. I unfortunately have had to begin giving some thought to the future. The idea of having to actually assume some adult responsibility is frankly quite terrifying. This may have something to do with the economic change that has occurred while I have been a student. When I started my degree in 2005 things were extremely rosy and optimistic, we were told that we’d walk into jobs once we were qualified, that the world economy was absolutely desperate for technical graduates (B.Sc and B.Eng). But then well the world kinda went down the toilet and turns out the world is in a very serious financial crisis. With most companies announcing cut backs and the banking system in serious trouble, the perfect bubble seems to have burst.
This leads to my thinking to the future. There are three main options to all graduates travel, further study and getting a job. All have positive and negatives and the degree of those are going to vary from person to person. I’m going to give a short summary of what I consider to be the more important points of these three options.
- Travel- Arguably one of the most popular for students, the big pluses of this are that you get to well travel and see the world. To experience different cultures and see some of the most spectacular sights in the world. The downside of this is that it can be expensive and dangerous depending on the political stability of the region you are traveling to.
- Further Study- In the current economic circumstances this is my most probable choice. It has the advantages of allowing you to stay in the student lifestyle for a little bit longer. But also when you finally do finish and the world economy is back in a better place you will be in a much better position in the job hunt. The downside is that you have another year of exams and assignment stress. Which after three to four years most people have had enough of.
- Job Hunting- I can’t honestly say that even if the economic boom was still going that this would have been my first choice. I would most likely have still gone with further study. The perks of job hunting are that you get your evening and weekends back and you are no longer a poor student. The weekly pay cheque and complete lack of assignments and exams are very big pros for this option. The downside is that you lose a lot of the freedom you have in college for random road trips and the like. That while fun are really frowned upon in the workplace (Unless your boss is uber cool and wants to come with you
)
Those are the three main options that I can think of for graduates. One of the main things that I suppose I am afraid of happening is that I end up with a desk job. I don’t know why but lately the thought of having a desk job chills me to the bone. It’s like a desk represents a cage or prison cell. I don’t know what brought this on but in the last couple of months the thought of a desk job is like a bell tolling. I think it may be because a desk represents order and to an extent a form of tradition. Whether it’s youthful naivety or a pre mid life crisis the thought of coming in everyday to sit at a desk for the day just doesn’t appeal to me. I’m sure there’s a lot of people with the same thought as me and most likely a lot of the older generation shaking their heads in dismay.
The older generation would most likely say that I am just being childish and what else would I like to do? The answer I have it that I don’t know. At the moment it’s a case of I know what I don’t want.
Anyway I think that’s enough random rambling for one night. I’ll post something up later in the moth about post grad choices, the kayaking intervarsities and I’m currently writing another short story featuring the man in black.
