Lara and The Mansion in the Woods

The Hall of Peculiar Portraits

As we walked towards the kitchen I’m still wondering about what I saw a while ago. Everything is just so… weird. I never experience a hallucination that wild. I don’t want them to know about my past or that I’m still suffering through the trauma. I don’t want them to send me back. Maybe its just because I’m hungry. I want to believe that this is just from the lack of food in my stomach. Our trip to the kitchen felt miles away so to enjoy this “trip” I just diverted my attention towards the old portraits hanging in the wall. I never looked at them up close because most of the time I just walk pass them. There were photos of kids and what surprised me the most is that these pictures were colored. I wonder where they are now. Maybe they are relatives of Mr. and Mrs. fletcher. One looks like a man dressed in an old-fashioned clothing like 1800s old. He looks wealthy, and smart; hair looks prim as well as his clothes. He must be one of the previous owners of this house. I remember Ms. Hudson said this house used to be owned by a wealthy businessman when I accidentally eves dropped in her conversation with the cook.

As we continue to pace through this long hallway, we came across a picture of the wealthy man earlier but what caught my attention is his eyes. It looked to real almost like someone’s eyeballs are extracted from someone and put into the portrait. He’s smile is so big it stretches from ear to ear almost looks like that creepy clown that scared me during mg 12th birthday. We continued to pace slowly, and I saw another portrait of three ladies dressed in simple clothes. The kind of “simple” back in the early 1900s. They are painted in such a way that they seem like they are moving. Their limbs looked very realistic, but unlike the previous one, their eyes were closed as if there’s nothing beneath those eyelids. The last painting caught my attention the most, I stopped walking. His face looked miserable. At first glance, you will know if something’s wrong, he doesn’t have eyes and he’s also missing an arm. The Mr. Alfred soon realized that I wasn’t following him anymore so he paced back.

As we continue to pace through this long hallway, we came across a picture of the wealthy man earlier but what caught my attention is his eyes. It looked to real almost like someone’s eyeballs are extracted from someone and put into the portrait. He’s smile is so big it stretches from ear to ear almost looks like that creepy clown that scared me during mg 12th birthday. We continued to pace slowly, and I saw another portrait of three ladies dressed in simple clothes. The kind of “simple” back in the early 1900s. They are painted in such a way that they seem like they are moving. Their limbs looked very realistic, but unlike the previous one, their eyes were closed as if there’s nothing beneath those eyelids. The last painting caught my attention the most, I stopped walking. His face looked miserable. At first glance, you will know if something’s wrong, he doesn’t have eyes and he’s also missing an arm. Mr. Alfred soon realized that I wasn’t following him anymore so he paced back.

“Young mistress? Is there a problem?” he asked. I still can't understand why they speak like old folks. I find it a little cool and probably I'll adjust to it later on.

“I can’t help but ask. Who’s this in the portrait?”, I said nervously as I fear that the thing that I saw earlier will reappear

“That is the portrait of, Captain Alexander Ellison IV, the previous owner of this mansion”, he said.

“Why is he missing an arm?”, I asked

“he fought in world war 2 and then came back here severely injured”,

“but what about his eyes?”, I added

“as servants, we don’t really know, but based in some speculations, due to too much restlessness and trauma from the nightmares he experienced, he uhm..”

“he what?”, I curiously asked

“he scooped his eyes out just to free himself from all of the horrendous sight only he can see” this brought chills in my spine it suddenly felt cold

“He is painted this way to serve as a tribute to his death”, he added

I was surprised and just thinking of it gave me chills. I don't know how to reply to that. He just responded with a nod

“Well, the eyes are the windows of the soul, and our souls only have a limit to what burden it can bear”, He replied with a bland tone; “shall we then?” he added. “yes lets go” I took one last look and carried on walking.

As we continued walking towards the kitchen I’m still thinking of the things I saw earlier, I hallucinated then later I found out that one of the previous owners died and technically killed himself, “Here we are” Mr. Alfred interrupted me from the thoughts that have been circling in my mind, I’m glad he disturbed me before I fall into a rabbit hole of thoughts again

“Thank you for always assisting me”, I said with a shy tone

“It’s a shame that I’ve been here for a while, but I still need assistance going around this place”, I added

“The pleasure is mine young mistress”, said Mr. Alfred

“I’m always here to serve and help you” he said with a reassuring tone.

From the incident earlier, I can tell that those are pure hallucinations. He seems to be kind and patient with me.

“thank you for your assistance”, I responded

“if you ever needed anything just ring this bell so I’ll know when you need my assistance. I forgot to hand them over to you”, he said while handing me a tiny brass bell then finally left

From the things I saw earlier, I don’t really feel hungry anymore so I decided to skip brunch and go out in the garden for a breath of fresh air.

As I went in the garden, I saw this huge oak tree just like in the orphanage except this looks bigger and older. As I sat, I saw a better view of the house. Its big and you can’t deny that this house belongs to a very wealthy family. It made me think that I might be a misfit here. These are wealthy, classy, charming people and I don’t think I belong here. I have a tragic past which makes me fall to the list of misfits again. Why did they even chose me. What can they see that I don’t? I’m thinking too much again so I decided to changed my view and sit on the other side of the tree to see the wonderful view of the garden. This garden is filled with colorful flowers a small pond and the coolest thing for me here is the maze. I might get lost when I go in there so I decided to reserve the fun for later. As I am enjoying the beautiful view, I saw a man trimming the bushes. I figured that he must be the gardener of this place but I never met him so I decided to approach him.

“Hi there Mr..”, I said as he got a little shocked to see me

“Well, hello there little one”, he called me as if I’m that small.

“You must be the little girl Tiyana is talking about”, the mysterious man added

“Tiyana?”, I asked

“Tiyana Hudson”, he said

“Oh Mrs. Hudson”, I said when I realized that Tiyana is Mrs. Hudson’s first name

“Why yes. So you to have acquainted already? Well in that case I should be introducing myself. The name is Albert Edwinson pleased to see you Little mistress. May I know your name?”, He curiously

“I’m Lara. Lara Page”

“Now we’re fully acquainted, I’d give you this freshly picked apple as an offering. I got this from the other side of this garden”

“why thank you, you’re so kind.” Then taking the apple then having a huge bite

“This is the sweetest apple I’ve ever tasted”, I said joyfully while still chewing the huge bite I took. This is my first meal.

“the other side?”, I asked

“Yes Ms. Page, the owners of this side of this garden are good friends with the master I serve on the other side so they decided to not put a barrier in between for it will ruin this magnificent maze”

“You don’t work for the Fletchers?”, well that explains why he’s not there when they were all introduced to me.

“Yes Mistress. I’m just in charge with the whole garden”

“you know the ways of the maze?” I curiously asked

“I’ve been working here for decades. Indeed, I know every twists and turns of this maze. Though I got lost there a couple of times when I was younger. Would you like a tour?”

“I’d love to, but maybe some other time the sun is going down I should be heading back”,

“Very well Ms. Page. Head back home safely!”

“Goodbye Mr. Albert”

His energy seems so alive and warm. It felt like I’m talking to an energetic old folk. His hair is all white wearing gardening clothes and boots. He’s not tall in fact we’re almost the same height. He seem to have a big tummy and a graying beard. He almost look like Santa except he doesn’t have elves and a reindeer pulling his slay. I’m starting to grow some love to this place. Specially with the people here. I’m starting to find this place my new home.