A LESSON
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People are not what they seem to be. Like four days ago, a woman came up to me and she started telling me all about Jesos. That’s right, Jesos. She was going on and on about how he was the Real son of God, and how Jesus was an impostor who’d only become popular because he handed out candy everywhere. It was about there that I stopped listening.
I tried walking away from her, but she started to walk with me. I got very annoyed after a while, so I started to shout at her. It looked like she was going to shout back, but then she fell to her knees and started gasping for air. I didn’t know what to do, so I kept on walking. I reached this weird house; it was as pink as it was big. It wasn’t very big. In fact, you could describe it as small. So, obviously, it wasn’t very pink either. It was painted blue.
So I stepped into this house, and found it was bigger on the inside. Or at least it looked like it was. It might just have been the difference in colour; the outside was pretty dark blue while the inside was a light yellow. I hear that can give off a sense of spaciousness.
Anyway, I was in this big hall, or a hall that seemed big, and I was looking at the paintings on the wall. There were people in the paintings, but they weren’t normal people. They seemed disproportionate, as if certain aspects of their faces were exaggerated or out of focus. They didn’t make sense, that’s for sure.
I then realised I’d walked into a house without being invited in, so I started calling out to see if anyone was home. I heard a faint voice from the room at the end of the hall. I could just make out what it said: it said it was there, but it wasn’t home.
I’d gotten curious at this point, so I hastily walked to the last room. I opened the door and looked into the room.
There was an old woman there, but she, like the paintings, was oddly disproportionate. I can’t really describe it, but it filled my heart with a terror I’d never known before. Still, I walked towards her.
She raised her hand, which I took as a sign to stop. I did and she smiled at me. It was a toothless grin of some sort, and the terror must have shown on my face, because she started laughing and told me to sit in the chair next to her. Her voice… It was the strangest thing I’d ever witnessed. She was this really old, weird looking woman, but her voice was that of someone in their twenties.
I sat down, completely terrified but also curious about the entire ordeal, and she stared at me. She looked me straight in my eyes, as though she’d never seen another person all her life. After about thirty seconds of very uncomfortably looking away, I decided to stare back. I saw then that she had the eyes of a young woman.
Her entire face was that of an old hag, but her eyes showed beauty and youth. Then she bowed closer to me and whispered: "You are me".
I was completely dumbstruck, of course, and I got up to leave, but she grabbed my wrist tight. Well, she was an old woman so she was easy to shake off, but it was clear she didn’t want me to go. When I did walk away from her, she just sank back into her chair and stared out the window. It was a sad sight, but I was so scared I could think of nothing else but to get away from her.
I walked back to the front door, only to find out it wasn’t there anymore. I wheeled round, completely taken over by blind panic, and opened every room in the hall. I found old people in rocking chairs in every room, all accompanied by one empty chair.
The last room I opened was the one where I’d found the old woman, but the room was now empty. I looked around, trying to see if she’d hidden somewhere. I couldn’t find her, but I noticed a post-it on the back of the door.
It just said ‘My fate is now yours’ on it. I took the post-it off the door, which then vanished into the wall.
The window at the other end of the room caught my eye. I ran towards it, but I found it increasingly hard to move. I looked at the note again, and I was shocked to see my own hand had aged immensely. I found it was impossible for me to walk any further than the rocking chair, so I sat down. I thought after a quick rest, I’d be able to walk to the window and hopefully climb out. I mean, what else could I do? I’d suddenly become an old man!
I don’t know how much time I spent in that chair. I just sat there, thinking about the old woman.
Who was she? Where was she? Did she do this to me? These thoughts were what kept me from complete self-pity.
After what might have been weeks as well as years, I heard a voice. It said "Hello? Is anyone here?"
I shouted at the top of my voice, which wasn’t much at the time, that I was there. A couple of minutes later, a young man walked in. He looked rather apprehensive, but not as scared as I think I looked my first day in the house. I smiled at him, which did make him look terrified. I couldn’t resist laughing; it really was a funny sight. He had no idea what he was in for.
I beckoned him to come and sit next to me, which he did. I looked at him, and I wanted to tell him about the house. I wanted to tell him he should leave before the door vanished. I wanted to tell him all sorts of things, but I couldn’t.
The only words I was able to say, were "you are me". I found my voice was weak, but it was still my voice. This gave me renewed hope, and I couldn’t suppress a little smile. This terrified the young lad so much, he ran out of my room.
As soon as he’d gone from sight, I felt my body rejuvenate. I could walk again, and I sprinted towards the window.
I stumbled over a small table I’d never seen before. There were two post-its on it. One was blank, one carried instructions. It said I could write one sentence, and one sentence only, to give him something to hold on to. I scribbled down a little message, stuck the post-it to the door and crept out the window.
I cannot describe how it felt to breathe fresh air again. To be myself again. I looked around, expecting to see the blue house which had cost me so much time and heartache, but it wasn’t there anymore. When I turned around again to go home, I stood face to face with the Jesos-woman I’d met what felt like years ago.
"You left me," she said, "to die. An old woman, and you left her. There was no-one else in the street, and you left me."
I felt horrible. I had left her, and by all logic, she would have died. I now knew how it felt to be old and alone, and I could not believe what I had done.
Then she smiled at me.
"You have been punished. I, like Jesos, test people. I believe you have met some others who left me. You have learned much during your stay at my house. Good, good. I must warn you. If you forget what you have learned and go back to ignoring those weaker than you, I shall have no choice but to make a painting out of you. The paintings are eternal, deathless, hopeless. Do not forget."
Then she turned and walked away. I watched her until she was out of sight, and I knew I’d never forget what she had taught me.