The Manor

Something strange and unbelievable happened with me last weekend. It was a bright sunny day. I and my best friend Garry were practicing badminton in a meadow beside a grove. We hiked to that place and set up a tent there to spend the wonderful day out in the open. It was a little breezy and enjoyable. All of a sudden, it started drizzling and before we knew, it turned into a violent storm. Our tent got torn apart and we started running hastily towards the nearest highway road. Both of us were tired and drenched but then we saw a large manor.

The manor was quite retro and looked abandoned. It was Victorian in style and its porch was surrounded by tall grass, plants and weeds. As we ascended towards it, we got to know about its scale- it was humongous, but also looked a little spooky. THUNDER! We got startled. I knocked on the door hoping somebody lived there.

“The place is pretty run-down, I don’t think anybody lives here”, said Garry. At the exact moment, out came an old man probably in his 60’s. He wore a white suit with a blue dotted tie.

“Welcome kids. You must be looking for a shelter in this violent storm. Come in!” Before we could reply he brought us in and we were too baffled to say anything.

The interior was lavish. Stairs went along the side of the hall to the first floor. Velvet red carpet was laid on the ground. There was grand crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. A hand painted portrait of the same man was right in front of the room. There were many couches all stitched with purple silk. The cupboards were made of Spruce wood with brass lining the edges. It was strange how contrasting were the interiors and exteriors. The man sat on the couch and said, “I will rest here. You can sleep wherever you like.” Garry averted his eyes from the silencing decor and thanked him. Both of us were feeling a little strange. The man had already slept and was snoring. I said to Garry, “Let’s pick a couch and wait for the storm to stop.” As I sat on the couch my eyes got heavy and in an instant I fell asleep.

THUMP!

Both of us woke up from a crashing sound. It was the next day but it was weirder than last night. Last night everything was royal looking but now it looked in ruins, like it went through an apocalypse overnight. Both of us exchanged looks. The thump was the falling of the portrait. Then our eyes fell on the old man who was a mere skeleton in the same clothes he wore last night.

We panicked and ran out of the house. While running I looked back one last time and saw the old man smiling through the attic window. My heart raced faster than me. We kept on running till we reached the highway. We never told anyone what we experienced as we are still unsure of what happened with us that day.