The Man in the House

There once was a man who lived in a house.

Houses in so many ways are like the people who live in them.

A house gets much of its character from the furniture that people put in them and the decorations on the walls. Not to mention the carpets... and then there are all the smells.

The man in this story had beautiful white furniture on the ground floor. The windows were big and the walls white, so everything seemed full of light. On the first floor there were three bedrooms, but two of them were empty. In the third he had his bed, a chair and then nothing else. The basement was also mostly empty, except for a few boxes of things inherited from his family. However, that was soon to change.

One day the man in the house had a splendid feast and he invited many interesting guests. Every guest brought something special: some came with flowers, other brought food, some brought decorations... but one man brought a little furry animal. The furry animal entertained all the guests. It danced on the tables and hummed a peculiar tune. All the guests laughed and clapped their hands and laughed some more. The furry creature drank the wine and ate the flowers and everyone was delighted.

When the guests went home, then man in the house did not know what to do with the furry creature, so he put it in the basement, as it was empty anyway. The furry creature seemed content in the basement. It ate the spiders and the mice. When the man in the house came home in the evening, he would invite the furry creature up into the living room and they would play. The creature did not like the light of the sun, so it preferred to stay in the basement during the day, and only come out to play after dark. Then the man in the house bought thick curtains for the windows, and painted the walls of the basement grey. That way the furry creature seemed to like it better, and this way they could play even during the day.

Day by day the man became closer and closer friends with the furry creature. Day by day the creature grew bigger and bigger. Eventually it needed bigger things to eat. Mice and spiders were not good any more, so the man in the house starting feeding it rabbits. On one occasion it ate the neighbour cat. And yet, the man in the house was just so happy to have a companion who was there for him always.The neighbour came to complain, “Have you seen my cat? What is that awful smell? Don’t you think that you should open a window?” The man in he house had not see the neighbour's cat, and he certainly was not going to open a window, as the light and the fresh air would just startle his wonderful furry creature.

The next day the man in the house moved his bed down in the living room. That way he could spend even more time with his furry creature. After he had carried his bed down, and he was going to close the door to the stairwell leading up to the first floor, he paused for a moment, and then he left it slightly open. He looked again at the furry creature. Maybe it was not healthy to spend so much time with that furry creature. Only, if felt so good.

His living room had once been full of light, and now it was dark. Yet, that was how he liked it now. He wondered, whether something that felt so good, might not be good at all. Could it be, that something that felt very good, was bad?

The man in the house then wanted to move his bed all the way down the basement. Then he could spend all his time with the furry creature. He would not see light again, but maybe it was better that way. The light just hurt his eyes anyway. He much preferred to stay in the shadow.

He looked again at the light coming down the stairwell and out through the half open door. A sliver of light which fell across the floor. In that little bit of light so many things could be seen. In that sliver of light, there was much dirt to behold. Socks and shoes, lots of dust, a half eaten rabbit and many flies. If he closed the door, the light would go away and the mess would disappear in the darkness.

His furry creature was growling from the basement. It wanted him to join it, to close out the light and be satisfied with delight. However, the man feared to give up the light and live forever in darkness. He picked up the rabbit corpse and threw it in the empty rubbish bin. The creature howled from the basement, as if it could hear what he was doing. The man then heard the furry footsteps coming up the stairs. He felt a shiver. He was afraid of the creature within his house. He closed the door to the basement, and then heard the creature howling on the other side of the door. He was instantly filled with sadness and longing and started to cry. He knew that he had to lock off the basement but it made him so sad and anxious. How was his life to have any fun or any joy? He so longed to join the creature. Instead, he opened a curtain. More light came in. He started to pick up the things on the floor and put them in their place. Then he opened another curtain, and cleaned all of the ground floor.