I'm participating again in Ivy's Six Sentence Stories. This week's prompt: close.
The old house had only been her home for four years, but life there seemed richer, as if the memories of the house had combined with her own and sunk deep into her soul. Little birds had built nests in the hanging baskets of flowers on the porch--the porch that her husband had built a cute railing for, with heart cut-outs in the beams. The garden had grown lush and green, and the cherry tree yielded hundreds of quarts of blushed-yellow fruit each year. The creek provided a playground for her children, and the friendly grandma across the street always had a ready smile.
And now, after the movers had come and packed everything into a big truck, the rooms were barren. She stepped over the threshold for the last time, and with tears in her eyes, closed the door.
Thanks for homes, and memories.
The old house had only been her home for four years, but life there seemed richer, as if the memories of the house had combined with her own and sunk deep into her soul. Little birds had built nests in the hanging baskets of flowers on the porch--the porch that her husband had built a cute railing for, with heart cut-outs in the beams. The garden had grown lush and green, and the cherry tree yielded hundreds of quarts of blushed-yellow fruit each year. The creek provided a playground for her children, and the friendly grandma across the street always had a ready smile.
And now, after the movers had come and packed everything into a big truck, the rooms were barren. She stepped over the threshold for the last time, and with tears in her eyes, closed the door.
Thanks for homes, and memories.
So sad! Closed doors almost always are.
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to leave, but we left for new opportunities, too.
DeleteBeautifully written Kristi! You really captured the feel ... Nice...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ivy. Once I figured out what to do with the prompt, it fell together pretty quickly.
DeleteBeautifully written Kristi! You really captured the feel ... Nice...
ReplyDeletenice, draws you in… evocative.
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved the line, "...quarts of blushed-yellow fruit what excellent imagery.
Thanks. Even though "Rainier cherries" would have been more specific, I didn't think it gave quite the same feel.
DeleteWell done.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI think we all feel that sense of belonging to places of happy memories and even many years later when I pass an old home of mine that pang of nostalgia is there again.
ReplyDeleteYou tell amazing tales in only 6 sentences. Another good one.
ReplyDeleteMoving is so very hard because you've got so many memories tied up in where you live. I have done it many times, and those emptied rooms are heartbreaking. I like to think of our lives as a book with many chapters, when we end one another opens with new experiences and memories to be made.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sad she had to move. The house was truly her home. We have lived in ours for 27 years. I imagine it will be quite difficult to leave the place we build and where we raised our children.
ReplyDeleteThis is just lovely, Kristi! Such vivid word pictures. I can understand why it would be so difficult to leave there.
ReplyDeleteTaking a family out of a home leaves a barren house. :-( I can still picture you there. :-)
ReplyDelete