The Family in the Red House, by Pat St. Pierre

Photography by Pat. St. Pierre (USA). Contemporary.

           The Family in the Red House

           While walking through woods
            Near a rambling river
            I came upon a paint peeled red house
            barn like in appearance,
        `   broken window panes,
            tall grasses covering old cement steps
            unattended for years.
            Who inhabited this red house
            and where are they now?
            I entered cautiously through the front door,
            looked around the open space.
            Dishes with cobwebs adorned
            the wooden kitchen table.
            Shriveled food occupied the old refrigerator.
            The scene appeared as though 
            a family simply disappeared.
            Bedroom quilts covered most beds,
            one bed remained unmade.
            As I walked around
            floorboards creaked like soft screams.
            I slipped on a small throw rug;
            moving the rug with my feet,
            I discovered a trap door located in the floor.
            Slowly, I lifted the rusty hinge.
            There in the hollow space
            were skeleton bodies.
            The family stayed behind in the paint peeled red house.

             Pat St. Pierre


Pat St. Pierre is a freelance writer for adults and children in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Her third poetry book, Full Circle, was published by Kelsay Books. Some of her work can be viewed at: Black Poppy Road, A Long Story Short, Fiction 365, 50 words, Friday Flash Fiction, Kids Imagination Train, The Kids Ark, Silver Boomer Books, The Camel Saloon, etc. She is also a freelance photographer whose photos have been on the covers and included in such places: Gravel, Sediments, Our Day’s Encounter, Peacock Journal, Pacific Poetry, etc. www.pstpierre.wordpress.com.