Short Story By Phoebe Christos

Phoebe Christos
F Block English
Mr. Dilworth
9/8/2014

I Will Never Know

         Everybody says that it is haunted. The house across the street from me was once a beautiful home. Not anymore. You can hardly tell that the house was once all white. Over the years it has become hidden behind dirt and now it is a dull shade of grey. The trees seem to envelope the house. They grow in every which way. The pine needles cover what was once a beautiful driveway, paved with blacktop and detailed with stone. The fountain in the front yard has run dry. Nobody has seen a light or television on inside the big white house. The neighbors complain about it. They complain about him too. They do not even know him. He is the most odd thing about the house; the old man who lives inside of it. Most of the children are not allowed to go near his house. Parents are afraid that he will hurt them. He is always there. He goes outside a lot and sits on the creaky front porch steps that are falling apart as he smokes a cigar. Today he is out front. He is sitting on his front steps as he stares at the ground. He wears a navy blue and grey flannel button-down, khaki shorts and no shoes. His hair is wiry, scarce and dirty. I kind of feel sorry for him. I have never seen anybody come visit him. He must be so lonely. Everybody talks about him. Yet, nobody ever talks to him. Sometimes he waves at passerby and instead of smiling back, they give him a look of disapproval, shake their heads and walk away.  People stare at him through their car window as they drive by, whispering in hushed voices about how strange he is. He is the only quirk in our extremely boring town. Children run in the opposite direction of the house. They dare one another to go knock on the front door. No child has ever been brave enough to even walk ten feet down his driveway. He is a mystery to everybody in our small town. I wonder if he was ever married. Maybe he has a son or daughter. I wonder if he has any friends. Everybody wants to know his story, however nobody is willing to talk to him. Neither am I. I guess I will never know.