The House That Fell In Love

By Daniel Vlasaty

The house does not say anything. It is not capable of speech. The house only watches. Always watching.

The house has grown to love its inhabitants. They are beautiful, the house sees this now. It once thought of them as pests, and infestation. But now it loves them. They are the house’s family.

The house watches the children grow up. The parents are getting older and older, but it’s ok because the house is getting older too. When the older son leaves the house for college, the mother cries. For days. She is sad. The house cries with her. For her pain is the house’s pain.

One night while the family is out to celebrate the daughter’s engagement, the house is broken into by a group of men dressed in all black. Their faces hidden under thick black ski masks. The house tries to scream out, but the house is not capable of speech.

The burglars steal all the valuable items they are able to carry. Anything else, they smash. They punch holes into the house’s interior walls. They piss on its floors. They break most of the windows. And when they are finished, they run away laughing.

Through the silence, the house is terrified. It is sure the burglars will come back. The house stares out into the dark night, wondering where its family is, and when they will be home. 

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 BIO: Daniel Vlasaty lives in Chicago with his wife and some cats. He works at a methadone clinic. He is the author of the novella THE CHURCH OF TV AS GOD.