when i close my eyes i see that haunted place.

the scent of woodsmoke and decay,
moldering secrets and unwanted desires.

floorboards collapsing beneath the sins of the past.

the shadows talk, the shadows laugh.

buried, i am buried beneath aged sunlight and diseased smoke.

spiders weave their poisoned webs above my bed, working their way slowly into my dreaming mind.

trapped, i am trapped.

but,

at last.

i will never forget the day i fled

running from that wretched green room, running from those voices.

and yet.

nightmare it stood, nightmare, it stands;
still.

chattering evilly to itself in the teeming darkness.