The Town--Aiden

 

As soon as you walk into the town, you start to sweat. Your leg starts to shake and the

goosebumps on your neck stand up. Your eyes get heavy like you’ve been there for eternity. Your

eyes dart around trying to find the invisible eyes staring at you. To only realize that it’s all in

your head.

Ages ago, it was a civilized and friendly place. Travelers would stop here for a night or

two being showered with hospitality. But now… If you were to stumble by it by accident, you

would quickly leave back into the forest. For the forest was colorful and beautiful in its own

right. The wind elegantly blows through the trees and around midday when the light shines upon

the trees just right, you are transported to [heavenly] land. The smell of sunflowers and nostalgia

blessed you. But, the beautiful forest hid a dark town where a secret beheld. Washed away with

any color or creativity, the town crushes you with despair. The longer you stay here, the more

you envy the comfort of the forest. It felt like this shouldn’t be here, like it fell out of space by

accident. And the universe is in a tug of war trying to take it back. The houses were decayed, and

the walls were cracked like an old man’s face. The town had lost in fight against time. The

houses were covered by moss and plants. One of the houses was entirely colonized by the

environment. Grass and grime overgrew even farther than the roof. The only hint of a house ever

being present was a pretty little door. You could still see the beautiful carvings on it. Its design

set you back in time to when you were a baby. That door was probably handworked by a caring

old woman, who probably took nights to complete. Masterpiece surely, but through the natural

process, nobody will ever find it.

This little village had the opportunity to become grand. To become a kingdom and its

children the kings. This sweet village did not ask to be stripped away of all its commodities. It

was like a tree falling n the forest. A snow leopard. A ghost. With no stories to pass down, how

do we know if it was really there? Or how the most elegant photos in history were never taken.

Or much rather seen. If a tree falls in the forest with no audience, did it really fall? If a man dies

but there was no body, did he really die? If an entire village goes missing, were they really ever

alive?

In the center of the town lay a church with a missing bell tower. It was once praised for

its unique architecture but now, a tall tree was found in the center and the church’s windows were

boarded up extemporaneously. There were about a dozen chairs haphazardly pushed to block

anything from opening the door. The chairs were heavy and would’ve taken at least 4 men to

push one of them. Markings left on the ground hinted at a struggle. The strangest part, the bell

that was supposed to be hanging 30 feet above the church, instead, sat in the living room of a

cabin, on the other side of the town.

A quaint mystery lied in the town, but nobody will ever find it, and so, it never mattered.