The Abandoned House

Will was lost in thought again. His friends Steve and Danny were laughing and goofing around but he was silent. He couldn’t get his mind of the dream he had last night. It felt so real. It was just like his world but he had owned a motorcycle instead of a car and seemingly had different friends. Could it have really only been a dream? 

After a while, Danny stopped to stare at their friend. “Dude, you alright?” he asked.

“Hmm,” he replied.

“Eh, you know Will. He is always daydreaming about something,” said Steve.

“What is it this time?” asked Danny.

“Just this dream I had…it felt so…I don’t know…real…” 

Danny let out a sigh and leaned back on the couch, “Really, man? You are the only person I know who daydreams about his own dreams! Can’t we ever just hang out?”

“I am sorry. It’s just that sometimes I wonder what dreams are, you know? Like is that all they are? Or are they messages or portals somewhere else?”

“Dreams are just dreams, man,” replied Steve.

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

Will sighed. He knew his friends would never truly understand. It was probably best to drop it for now. They went over to Steve's house to start working on their history project. It was about this abandoned house in their neighborhood. After a few hours of working on it the boys fell asleep. 

When will woke up he was standing outside the abandoned house. The house was big and white. It looked better than he remembered and the fence around the porch had been repaired. It looked like someone had left a microwave, a sewing machine, and a teddy bear on the porch. He walked by and picked up the teddy bear. It was a very nice and soft bear and probably shouldn’t be left to the weather. He carried it inside with him.

When he entered he was standing inside a decent sized living room area. There was an old TV sitting on a shelf. Across from it was a beautiful red couch with a coffee table in front of it covered in magazines. There was a lamp on the side table. He walked over and turned it on. He left the teddy bear on the table.

He heard someone's voice upstairs. That’s weird, he thought. After all, the house had been abandoned for a long time. “Hello? Anyone there?” he called out.

Silence.

He started walking towards the stairs, passing a doorway to the kitchen where it looked like someone was about to prepare a meal. As he reached the bottom stair he called out again, “Hello?”

“Hello, young man!” called out a female voice.

He took a step back. He hadn’t been expecting an answer. Who could possibly be there? “Who are you?” he asked.

“Why, I am Margaret, the lady of the house. Who are you?”

“My name is William. Did you say the lady of the house? I thought this place was abandoned…”

“Oh, heavens, no! We weren’t expecting company but you are welcome to join us, dearie. Please, come up. We are in the study!”

“We?” he asked, nervously.

“Yes, me and my husband. Won’t you join us?”

“Um…sure…”

He began up the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest. Who were these people? Could they possibly live here? Maybe they are just psychos? A thousand different awful scenarios played through his head as he ascended the stairs. When he got to the top he looked down the hallway. 

To his left there were 4 doors and to the right there were only 2. He heard noise coming from the room at the end of the hall on the right so he headed in that direction. He swallowed hard before opening the door.

A bright light blinded him and when his eyes adjusted he could see an elderly couple sitting at a desk together enjoying a meal. Margaret motioned for William to sit. He did.

“William is such a lovely name, dear,” she said.

“Thank you,” he replied.

Garrett gave her a look and she got up, “Oh, goodness me! Let me get you something to eat!”

She left the room. When she did Garrett began talking to him about his life and what brought him to their house. When she returned with the plate she sat it in front of him. They talked and ate. 

When they were done Garrett looked at him, “You seem like a nice young man. Margaret here tells me you thought our house was abandoned. Why would you think a thing like that?”

“Well, you see, we are doing a report about the town’s history and our assignment was to do a report on this house. No one has seen anyone come around in or out of this house since I was a kid. You guys did a great job restoring this place.”

Margaret and Garrett looked at each other. The kid must be joking. Margaret went over to a drawer, “We have always been here, William.”

She opened a drawer and took out some old photos from when they moved in and their little family and handed it to him. He saw the teddy bear he had found It was being held by a small boy. 

Just then Will heard Danny calling his name. What was he doing here? Suddenly he was back in the room with his friends and they were shaking him.

“Will, get up! We are going to be late for school!” 

Will rubbed his eyes. Had it all been a dream? Danny picked up the photos on Will’s lap, “What are these?”

 Will looked at them confused, “Those are the photos that the couple from the house gave me.”

“Will no one lives in the house anymore. You must have printed these.”

“Do they look printed?”

Danny and Steve looked at each other. Steve shook his head, “How about after school we meet at the house and we will see if anyone’s there.”

They both nodded.

After school they went to the house. The walls looked older now and the porch fence was all beat up. The stuff on the porch was missing. They walked inside and the house was completely empty of all furnishings. Will went upstairs and checked all the rooms for the couple but they were no where to be found. He held the pictures in his hands. Could that have all just been a dream? Then where did the pictures come from? Did I slip into another world?

“See? Told you no one was here, my friend. Sometimes I worry about you,” said Danny as he patted him on the shoulder.

“Let’s go, dreamer,” said Steve. 

They walked ahead of him laughing at him and his crazy dreams but for the first time in his life Will had never been more sure that has dreams were taking him to alternate realities…worlds just like this but somehow different. And he couldn’t wait to find out more about these other places.