The Widow's House

The Widow’s House

 

Houses die too. They don’t have to decay and

crumble to die; they can die the same way that

people die, a little bit at a time. People don’t

have to be dead to be dead. They can eat, and

talk, and swear (dead people swear a lot), and still

be dead. Dead houses swear too. They swear

because they are angry at the whole world. Like the

widow’s house that swore at me one day. Not

once, but many times. The widow’s house did not like

me. It did not want me to bring it back to

life. It wanted to be left alone to die a miserable

death, like a dog. Dead people die like dogs.

The widow’s house wanted to be left alone to die a

lonely, miserable death; but the widow had some

company coming and wanted me to paint her house, and

her house got nasty and swore at me. The house

wanted me to swear back, but I knew better. I just

made the house look nice, and now the widow’s

house is really angry with me