Love Thy Old Barn

The abandoned old barn has been in my family for generations. No one wanted it, not even me. It pre-dated the war times and with age it had gone derelict and run down and hadn’t been used in years. That was all about to change.

My name is Shae and I had to make a choice, remain homeless or move in to this old barn. For me this was a hard decision as my family had told stories of this barn being haunted and for me it was the scariest place on earth. Exactly twelve months ago I lead the best life, I was sixteen and carefree, had heaps of friends and an awesome family. Than life as I knew it fell apart.

My mum who was my rock, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and her health went downhill rapidly, after her passing only 6 months later, my dad became a recluse and refused to eat. He died a few weeks later. I was alone. I was scared. What do I do?

The day after the funeral, I packed my stuff and took off. I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t care. For the next 4 months, I travelled around until my money ran out, worry got the best of me as the dollars dwindled and I was unsure what to do. Walking along the street one night, with only my backpack with me, I noticed a few homeless people sitting under an awning with all of their worldly belongings and thought to myself, this is my life. I slowly walked up to them, and asked if I could join them. None of them even turned to acknowledge me, I slunk away.

Drowning in the uncertainty that was my life, I started to wonder what the future had in store for me. Then the idea hit me like a tonne of bricks. The barn, could I live there. I scrounged in my bag for my old battered address book and flicked to the back where in red scribble was a faded address. My eyes lit up for the first time in ages. Stuffing the book back in my bag, I kept walking down the street looking for a telephone box with a yellow pages. It was at the fifth box, there was a graffiti laden yellow pages but the maps were still intact, so browsing the address and ripping the page out I walked into the darkness with hope in my heart.

I would wait until morning, and hitchhike my way there, I didn’t have money so didn’t really have a choice. I knew this was a risk, but considering my lack of resources and money, this was my only option. Luckily I made it one piece. I had been given a lift by a lovely old man driving a truck, he had asked where I was headed and surprisingly knew where that was and was more than happy to give me a lift.

Pulling up to the dirt road which lead to the barn, he called out, ‘Good luck love, hope you find what you’re looking for’ as he pulled out in a cloud of dust and disappeared.

I shouted back, ‘Thank you’ and made my way up the dirt road. There was nothing to see except for the scorching sun, but there was a myriad of sounds from crickets, to dogs barking in the distance and the occasional car engine. I hoped I would find what I was looking for too.

The walk took forever, more like an hour, but in the endless dirt and dust it felt longer. That’s when I saw it. A dark, ominous building like a haunted house. Did I dare venture in? What did I have to lose? Taking a deep breath I kept walking up to the front door, I pushed it open and the loud screech cut through the silence like a knife. I will have to get some WD40 for that, or it will drive me nuts I thought. Peering around, I ventured in, hesitating slightly as I was completely unsure what I’d find. I didn’t know whether to believe the stories from my childhood, surprisingly it looked normal but very rundown, it just needs some love I thought. Patting the door closed and eager to start a new beginning I whispered to the door ‘I will love you’.