Echoes....

...from the past beckoned to me as I turned down the dirt road and then onto the gravel drive. I parked the van, stepped out onto the weed choked parking path and pushed aside the rusted gate. The day fairly glowed with light which now lay at my feet in dappled shadows beneath the cross patch of dying tree limbs. I tightly closed my eyes, sighed and took a deep breath. I could smell the rich earth that once fed a generation of families and now simply muddies my canvas sneakers. The dried leaves left to hang in the trees rustled and I felt a warm breeze gently caress my pale, sun starved cheek. I opened my eyes in time to catch a large flock of crows take wing as this intruder neared their makeshift home. Their noisy protestations told me I was most unwelcome! I ventured toward the old beauty with careful, almost reverent steps. Then they came. There, near the warped and peeling front door, I heard them. Children's laughter flew at me in swirling waves, gliding in on the wind only to flow briskly by and then abruptly disappear. They came in mysterious bursts, each round more pronounced than the one previously. They had lived here, for years and years, each passing era brought more of them to this place. It was here they had lived, played and learned some of life's most painful and glorious lessons. This once was home. Now their voices are carried in the warm Spring breeze...echoes of youthful glee and whispered secrets.