The Road

Reading the Road really brings up some vivid images in my head, but the most recent pages of reading involved the man and the boy finding the house, and we already discussed today in class of what happens there. Reading this part immediately brought into my head the old abandoned house that used to be in the corner of my neighborhood. A couple of summers ago, I went with a friend to check out the old, weird looking house, because another friend lived next door and said that the old woman who used to live in there was very weird and left the house abandoned. So, feeling adventurous, we crept through the alley and into the foot-high weeds and grass of a backyard. We first went into the garage, which was just empty. Then we looked through the windows of the house and something about it was just creepy. I don’t know if it was the torn up carpet or the old wood balcony overlooking the backyard, but something about it just demanded that it needed to be explored. We tried the side door, but it was locked. We were just about to leave, when I tried opening the window on the side. The people that had locked this house up had forgotten this. We stumbled inside and the feeling immediately went from hot and dry to sticky and damp. There was a weird moldy smell everywhere, but it looked like a normal house. After exploring the cool upstairs, there was only one place we missed. The door in the corner, leading to the basement. I never went down there until I cane back with a group of 5 or 6, several months later. We were just having fun, pretending to scare each other, but then we decided to go downstairs. We tried opening the door, but it was a little jammed in. This is where the book starts reminding me of my time there. I shoved the door open and immediately came a whoosh of damp, cool, soggy air and the sight of an old, black set of stairs. We obviously didn’t see the naked half eaten humans, but we crept downstairs, scared, and looked around. Everything was dark and creepy, and the walls covered in sheets of metal, with what looked like knife marks in them. We huddled together, looking around with our imaginations racing. Someone then bolted upstairs, and without thinking everyone else did. Now, when I read that part of The Road, I can sort of see myself, scared, push open that door to the basement. Obviously this is not at all as extreme as the book, but I believe I have a good connection to think about when I am thinking about that part in the book.

P.S. That house was eventually torn down into a really nice big house, and the events that happened there are now just memories.