The Reverse House in the Woods

I am in my study at home typing this down because no one will ever believe it. I warn you, if you are standing you better sit down and don’t move. My story begins in a small town outside Andrews, North Carolina on a warm sunny afternoon. I was standing in the kitchen of my home looking out the window.
“I’m tired, bored, and feeling very dumb,” I said.
“Well you’re not dumb, and how can you be tired. You sat in front of that stupid playstation all day,” Tom said. Tom is my younger brother who has a very hard head.
“Be quiet, I was talking to dad.”.
“Too bad,” said Tom.
“Why is it every time you open your mouth you have some smart thing to say? You can be real jerk, Tom.”
Tom replied, you are nothing but a lazy jackass, just sitting around playing on that stupid Playstation.
“Like I said, shut your mouth,” I hollered back.
“Stop, both of you be quiet,” said dad. “Go find something else better to do.” He sent me outside to do some cooling off.
My name is Jimmy, I’m the older brother but you can probably tell that by now. My dad always takes up for Tom, even thought he is only two years younger than me, he never tells him to go out and cool off. As I hurried out the back door slamming it. I ran over to the swing and sat down thinking to myself.
I always wanted to go past the old worn brown fence in the woods behind our house. Legend has it there is a monster of sorts. People say it is a dragon that stands twelve feet tall, with razor sharp teeth that will eat any man woman or child that gets in its way. It has a tail that is six foot long and can crush a human to death. Legend also has it that it lives deep in the woods and allows no one, I mean no one, to enter the woods. I could here my dad opening the back door and shouting “Just don’t go past the fence!” he shouted as he slammed the door.”
I jumped down from the swing and started run to the fence in the back yard. I quickly decided to climb over it and run into the woods way way past the fence. The twigs snapped under my feet and leaves crumbled as I ran and I was afraid he would wonder.
“Darn,” I whispered but luckily dad and Tom didn’t hear the twigs snap beneath my feet as all the windows in the house were open. I ran faster and faster through the woods trying to forget about the argument with my brother. I looked all around and thought how peaceful it was out here in the woods with no one to pick on me. I started to feel a little guilty that I had disobeyed my father. I wish my younger brother wouldn’t pick on me so much I get enough of that from alleged or so call friends at school. You know, they can be so cruel.
I began to get further and further deep in the woods. I don’t see any reason why my dad wouldn’t let us go over the fence and into the woods. It is so beautiful and quiet out here. Ahead of me I could see a small house lay deserted. It was very ugly and not at all appealing to the eye. The paint was peeling off, the shudders were broken, there were shingles missing from the roof, the steps needed paint and some steps were missing.
“Where did the people who lived here go? Why is there no path leading to it? I wonder why there isn’t and flowers or gardens here,” I asked myself and pondered the question, but decided it was of no use, there was nobody to reply.
These thoughts kept running through my head over and over. Suddenly I heard a rock fall and then another one fall.
“What was that,” I said softly but scared to death. Oh no I bet the legend is true and the dragon is coming to get me.”
I started to run fast toward the house I opened the door then I slammed it shut and locked it. When I turned around no movement was inside.
“Awesome, cool,” I whispered.
There were two tables in the room made of beautiful carved wood and marble, along with two gold matching chairs. The cabinets also looked new. They were all sparkling and shiny. Suddenly a door in the corner opened as if it did all by itself. When in the dark, I heard in a deep voice coming from the doorway. “Hello,” a tall heavyset man with a long brown ponytail and an earring in his left ear stepped into sight.
“He, hel, hello,” I started to stutter very frightened.
“My name is Aaron,” said the man.
“My name is Jimmy,” I said still scared out of my mind.
“Sit down,” said Aaron as he indicated by pointing to the gold chair.
I sat down quickly without a second thought. There was a brief moment of silence and I took a deep breath.
“I didn’t mean to break into the house but I called out and there was no answer,” I said nervously. Aaron just sat there staring at me as if he were trying to figure me out. After we stared at one another for a few moments I felt more sure of myself and Aaron.
“Listen, why is this house so beautiful on the inside and ugly on the outside and why are there no paths with stones leading to this ugly house,” I questioned Aaron.
“That’s very simple,” said Aaron. “This is the Reverse House my little friend.”
“What is the Reverse House,” I was scared to ask but I thought about the question so hard that it slipped.
“Let me tell you a short story, if you have time,” said Aaron.
I nodded and he resumed telling me the story.
“There was a young woman who didn’t like ugliness but did not like beauty either and this became such a big problem to her she cried and cried every single day. One day she went deep in the woods to get a bucket of water. As she walked along she muttered to herself about her problem over and over. When a big cloud of smoke just appeared out of nowhere in front of her, when the smoke went away there stood a great wizard Alibaba looking like a huge lizard with blue feathers. The young woman was frightened and started to run she then fell to the ground. Alibaba said, “Do not fear me I am here to help you with your problem.” The young woman jumped to her feet and stood up straight brushing herself off and said in a quiet little voice “How will you do this?” Alibaba explained “I will give you a house deep in the woods. This house will be ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside. It shall remain this way for six months and then reverse and will change every sixth months there after.” “Okay, agreed the young woman.” The young woman got to her new house and loved it. She said, “Now my problem is solved.” The night after she received the Reverse House Alibaba had died and his spirit entered the young woman and she herself turned into the blue feathered lizard. No one knows where she went except there were blue feathers in her Reverse House and drag marks from her tail in the dirt heading south away from the house, as if they were frozen in time. No one wanted to go look for her because they were afraid they would be eaten or killed and left for dead.”
“Wow,” I said in a low whisper. “That’s where the legend comes from that my dad told me about.”
“I’m afraid it’s no legend but the woman is not a dragon, she’s a lizard. .It is fascinating when you think about it,” said Aaron
“I agree with you,” I said.
“Well you better get home before it gets too dark out and someone starts looking for you,” Aaron encouraged.
“You’re right,” I agreed.
“See ya,” I called as I ran a little way into the woods. I ducked behind a tree to make sure no one was watching me then I crept back behind the house and found some drag marks still in the dirt, frozen like concrete like Aaron said.
“Awesome,” I whispered. Quietly I ran along the drag marks in the dirt. They seemed to go on and on for miles. The drag marks stopped and I found some blue feathers.
“That’s strange,” I thought.
Suddenly I saw a wide path in the trees I followed the path and found myself standing in front of a wide opening of a cave. I thought to myself, should I dare go in or just turn around and go home? “Nah” I said. So I crept inside the cave quickly before I changed my mind. It was dark, damp, musty, and very cold. I heard in the distance dripping of water as if someone was lapping up water like a dog.
“Who’s there? who are you,” said a voice in the dark.
I couldn’t make out for sure where the voice was coming from in the mountain. For a split second I felt like screaming and yelling, but then I was afraid that whatever it was it would attack me.
“Don’t be afraid, speak up,” it said. I stammered over to get a little closer than stopped dead in my tracks.
“C’mon,” it said.
I started to stutter “I’m Jimmmy Who are you,” I finally said. I started to rub my eyes in disbelief but a blue feathered lizard came out of the dark.
“I’m Paula, do you know who I am and have you heard my story,”?
“Oh, you are the young woman Aaron told me about,” I said.
“So you know Aaron?” the lizard said as it slowly, crawled toward me with a look on its face as if it was going to suck me in. The closer it came to me the more I thought I should run from it.
“Would you like me to take you to Aaron,” I asked.
“No, I don’t think I want him to see me in my condition,” she said as she started to cry. “I’m ugly and I’ve been hiding for many years, he might not want me anymore. He will probably laugh and make fun of me,” she cried.
“Please don’t cry, Aaron wont laugh at you, other people might because they are cruel, I know, but Aaron seems to be a very nice person” I tried to console her and make her feel better about herself. I realized as I watched her cry that she was like her Reverse House, ugly on the outside but very beautiful on the inside.
Paula asked “Why are people cruel to you?”
“They just are, if they could look inside of me they would see me differently like when I saw you. I know Aaron would feel the same way.”
“Are you sure?” she said? She looked at me with sadness in her eyes.
“I’m positive,” I said. I asked her to follow me out of this cave. After a little more coaxing her she finally agreed and we made our way back to the Reverse House. When we arrived about half a mile from the Reverse House we both paused for a few moments looking at each other. Paula looked like she wanted to turn and run back to the cave. But I assured her that everything was going to work out. Just then we both saw the front door swing open. Paula then again said she wasn’t sure she could go through with this. Paula started to run away but then stopped and turned around to look back at the house. There she saw Aaron standing on the top steps of the Reverse House.
Aaron ran down the steps and onto the path in front of the house to greet us. We could see he was in disbelief.
“Paula, after all these years I can finally see you again,” Aaron cried.
“You are not going to laugh and make fun of me,” asked Paula.
“Of course not, you are a beautiful woman no matter how many feathers or how long your tail is you will always be a beautiful woman to me,” said Aaron. All of a sudden Aaron started dancing around in circles and shouting words like Wathcyman Wathcyman Wathcyman! Hitmanleaveame and raising his hands to the heavens repeating the words all over again. The ground started to rumble, shake and clouds of smoke started to swirl and in front of my very eyes he transformed Paula from a blue feathered lizard into the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
Paula looked down and could not believe when she saw she had two legs two arms and long beautiful blonde hair and no feathers.
“Thank you for bringing me back to Aaron,” Paula said to me.
“I know you two needed to be back with one another after I heard Aaron talk about you. I’m glad I followed your drag marks in the dirt and we left that dark, damp cold cave. “It’s getting late and I know I need to get back home. I’m sure my younger brother Tom will be looking for me. I don’t want him to know I crossed over the fence and went into the woods. I will be in more trouble with my dad and that would make Tom happy.”
“Goodbye our little friend they said in unison as they walked into the house.” As I turned to say goodbye a cool breeze came over me and I felt the ground shake I started to wave and the house just vanished right before my eyes. As I walked slowly back to the house I was thinking over everything that had happened to me that day. I suddenly realized that Aaron was also a wizard and must have been traveling all over the world looking for the Reverse House and Paula. I’m happy they could finally be together again. I just wish that he wouldn’t have made them and the house disappear.
I began to walk a little faster which then became a slow run. I could see the old brown fence up ahead. Thinking to myself I hoped no one will be outside when I get to the fence because I don’t want to be in any kind of trouble especially after the day I’ve had today. I jumped over the old brown fence and looked over my shoulder one more time thinking was relieved to be home. I ran into my house and shouted for my dad he didn’t answer. So I started to make my way up the stairs when who do I see standing at the top? It was my little brother Tom. Tom asked, “Where have you been all day?” I could not bring myself to talk about my confusing amazing day.
“All I said is you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,”! Just go to bed you little lizard boy.”
Tom shouted from his room , “I bet you crossed over the old brown fence. I’m gonna tell dad, when he gets home from work.”
“Just go to sleep I didn’t do any such thing. Like I said, you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
Before I closed my eyes to sleep. I thought I’m the only person who knows the Legend isn’t true. I wonder should I keep this to myself or should I tell my father and brother. Naaaaah! Maybe I will write a short story about what happened and tell the Legend isn’t true and they will put it in the newspaper. I started yawning and rubbing my eyes by now I was totally exhausted from my afternoon. I rolled over and turned out the light.
In a low voice I told Aaron and Paula goodnight wherever you are.