Everything is New

I could make out in the distance a small yellow light and so I headed that way not sure what I would find. 

I was about eleven years old back in 1979. Our family lived in an older depression-era home in the middle of the block. It was a strange house that creaked and groaned often in the night. I remember one night when the house was creaking and groaning more than usual. I had a hard time falling asleep due to the groaning and creaking of the wood plank floors in my bedroom. I eventually fell asleep but woke up to the sound of an owl outside my open bedroom window. The room was pretty cold as there was a steady late fall breeze and my curtains were billowing about the walls and window sill. I could not see the owl but he must have been in the mulberry tree in the darkened corner of the back yard. I got out of my bed and crossed the cool wood plank floors to the window and went to pull it closed but I paused when I saw lights in the darkness of the tree branches. Little tiny glittering lights that would be easy to miss if I had not been peering into the darkness trying to find the source of the owl hooting. 

I decided to investigate. I put on a pair of old battered sneakers and crawled out the window and into the back yard. There was already a heavy dew and before I got to the base of the mulberry tree and I could feel the water seeping into parts of my sneakers. The mulberry tree was in a dark corner of the yard which seemed darker than usual. I stood in the darkness looking up into the branches of the tree trying to see the owl but he had stopped hooting. The clouds were low and I noticed that there was a fog rolling in. Most of the little lights had disappeared but one blue light came down from the branches. It was no bigger than a fire fly but it was clearly not an insect of any kind. It looked like a little blue star and moved smoothly around the back side of the tree and into the darkness. I walked around to the back side of the tree where I should have run into the wood fence that surrounded the back yard but there was no fence. I could just make out the little light moving away from me into a deep and dark forest. 

I followed it. 

Part of me wondered how this was possible in the middle of a neighborhood full of houses. Part of me wondered why I was not frightened. I felt a little nervous but also very light headed. I set out in pursuit of the little blue light and I walked for some time through the thick woods now filling with low hanging fog. I was becoming tired and my head was beginning to swim. The light had vanished and I was alone in the fog and the forest of old and barren trees. I could make out in the distance a small yellow light and so I headed that way not sure what I would find. 

“Help, I need help. Is anyone home?”

A small stone hut emerged from the fog. It was old and there were animal skulls on the stone walls by the wooden door. Something about the hut seemed wrong. Something about everything seemed wrong and I started to panic. I was sure there was something with me in the fog now and it was not something I wanted to see. I could hear it moving, circling me just beyond view. I now understood that I had been in a daze for quite a while. I had no idea where I was or how I got there and I was starting to panic. The fog was getting much thicker and the air had turned quite cold. I quickly made my way to the door of the hut. A little round window in the old wooden door emanated a warm golden light. I knocked on the door and called out. 

“Help, I need help. Is anyone home?”

The door opened and an impossibly old man with the longest beard I had ever seen stood there smiling. He put his hand gently on my arm and motioned for me to come inside. I instantly calmed down and walked into the warm little cabin lit by a fireplace. The old man did not speak but just smiled as he shuffled over to a little table and offered me some bread. The bread was warm and a slight steam was coming off of it. I had never in my life smelled bread so fresh. I sat down across from the man who offered me a small metal mug that was steaming. He smiled and motioned for me to drink and I did. It was the most wonderful tasting tea I had ever been given. There was a hint of mulberry and a sweetness like honey. I became very light headed and somewhat giddy. The old man laughed. As he did his impossibly long beard brushed along the old wooden planks of the floor. 

His laugh was deep, ancient and musical. He rose up with the help of an ancient and twisted walking stick. He made his way to the fireplace and added another log. I was becoming so sleepy now that I laid my head down on the table and watched him. After placing the log on the fire I noticed that his shadow moved across the wall. I was so sleepy that I could hardly keep my eyes opened. I barely took notice that the shadow of the old man was moving but the old man was now seated in a rocking chair by the fire. The shadow was dancing and I somehow knew it was laughing though there was no sound. I watched as it made its way along the walls to the door, opened it, and left the hut. The old man laughed again a deep and musical laugh. I tried to wake myself lifting my head a few inches off the table and I could see, through the window of the door my own face. Someone who looked just like me was looking back at me from the porch. He smiled and laughed a deep melodic laugh as he turned and walked into the forest. 

The sun was streaming through the windows the next morning as I woke up back in my own bed. I got up and got dressed but I seemed to have lost my sneakers.  Against my closet door was an old twisted walking stick. I picked it up and tapped it twice on the floor and my old sneakers appeared. 

“Oh how I love a second chance”

Then I laughed a deep and melodic laugh and walked out of my house. 

I thought to myself “Everything is new today. Everything is new.” 

Hope you enjoy the little tale by yours truly. The photography is also mine as well as the little hut which I build from foam, cardboard and some balsa wood. I added in an enchanted forest from an old loquat tree we cut down in our yard. I do enjoy making these little dioramas but hope to get back to my new painting in the next week or so.

Let me know if you enjoyed the story, the photos or anything else.