The Empty House

              Not too far from here lies the town of Earthly. Nestled among the hills along highway 42, it is the prime stopping point for travelers in the area, whichever direction they are heading. And in the town of Earthly there stands a house. Not just any house, mind you, but an old Victorian mansion, left standing since who knows when. Looking at it now one might find it difficult to see the beauty it once possessed, the elegance long gone from its now decrepit frame. For indeed time has taken its toll on the old house. Cracks run up the walls, the paint has long since faded, the shingles have fallen from the roof, the floors inside have collapsed, and the garden is overrun with weeds. But it was not always this way…

            You see, long ago the man who built it had intended the structure to last for generations. He, after all, being endowed with great riches, desired his home to be a lasting landmark for the community. And so he set to work building a great structure. The foundation was set upon a massive granite slab, sturdy and secure.  The walls were build of the finest timber, the windows of the best glass, and the roof of the most elegant shingles. The marble columns in front added a grandeur to his home that invoked awe in all his neighbors. They all came to him and praised the design of his new house, saying how marvelous it was, and how great a potential it had as both a landmark, and a home. The man smiled and nodded at them all, and he was satisfied.

But as time went on, he became complacent. As the years passed he began neglecting the care of his home, instead allowing minor things here and there to slip by without notice. A crack in the basement wall was no big deal, he said to himself. I’d rather be relaxing by the fire with a good book than bothering with some insignificant repair work. And thus he did. He spent his days enjoying life, and paid less and less attention to that which he had built. One year the spring rains brought much flooding to the town of Earthly, and the house’s foundation began to erode. The cracks in the basement walls spread. But upstairs all was as it seemed it should be. In fact to the average passerby on the street nothing out of the ordinary could be seen of the beautiful home. The man still kept his garden trimmed, the lawn was impeccably mowed, and the flowers were beautiful as ever. But inside, the decay was spreading…

A couple more years went by, and by now the floors had begun to sag. One of the basement walls collapsed in, but the man simply set up a curtain around it, and paid it no mind. Yet behind the decorative tapestry, seeping water continued to ruin the foundation. As summer came the man continued to entertain guests upstairs, hosting parties and social gatherings, and all appeared well in the landmark home. But beneath the feet of dancing guests, beneath the elegantly carpeted floors, seeds of ruin were growing.

That winter, freezing water in the pipes shattered the plumbing. The cracks in the basement walls expanded and the entire structure began to shift and sag. Total collapse was imminent, and the next spring it came. As the ice melted, water gushed into the basement of the Earthly landmark, and the already weakened foundation collapsed. A tremor went through the structure, cracks spreading up the walls like fingers of decay seeking to devour all within. The man, jolted out of his peaceful morning nap, saw the extent of the damage and panicked. He finally realized just how bad things had gotten, and he didn’t know what to do. He stood helpless as all around him his mansion groaned. Then with one final sigh the floors gave way and the whole inside of the house collapsed, leaving only an empty shell…

The destruction of his Earthly home proved devastating for the man, who has since moved on. To where, I do not know. But I do know that for his Earthly neighbors, the house remains a monument to the frailty of passing time. Especially, when what is built is not maintained. When decay sets in, it is the beginning of death. And death… will always claim its prey.