Rotten Barn

A month ago, on one of the cooler days of the summer, I drove out to Bucks County and saw a sign along the road: "barn sale." There was an arrow pointing up a small road, so I made the left.

I slowly drove up the driveway of the farm and could see a man sitting in a chair at the top of a grassy hill which led right up to the barn doors. I parked and slowly approached the barn, enjoying the breezy day, and wondering what it was like inside. I think the last time I was actually in a barn would have been back in grade school on a school trip. It's a pretty ominous thing, all that wood and empty space. And quiet. I wasn't expecting that. The wind was blowing hard and you could hear it muffled against the old wood, but even though sunlight was pouring through the cracks between the planks, the air inside was cool and still. Very peaceful.

I sifted through the old dust-covered jars and tools and magazines and furniture. I looked over a rail and could see that we were pretty high above the barn floor. Old stone walls framed the base of the barn. And you could smell the earthy coolness down there. All I could think of was that I wanted to be that guy, sitting out there, reading a book. And inside my barn would be a Haunted Walk-Through, open all year long. A passage of corpses, rafters of ghosts, an opening through which you could see some slightly disturbing scarecrows off in a field.

Pretty fun thought. Been thinking of it quite a bit.

Image source.