Ashes To Ashes

There's something familiar about this place. Something strange and forbidden. Something I don't like. The vision of something I have been at long ago flashes across my memory, but it's not the way I see it now in front of my eyes. What I see is dead. The vines hanging grey  and limp at its sides. Not the castle of love I remember. It is dreary and weak. Haunted. Heartbroken. Yet solid. It is definitely there. I'm not dreaming. This land of peace is broken. Destroyed. Gone. A single candle glows within the gates, my last hope, the last sign of life. As I approach it, it flickers and burns out. My cold stare has killed it. It's just a dream. It's just a dream. It's just a dream. This is not a dream. This is real. I can't avoid it. I walk towards the stone walls with caution. A suit of armor stands where the guard should be. Rusted and black, it stands just like someone were inhabiting it, but it looks as though someone has hollowed it out. No face. Nothing. I stagger inside and look around. The pictures are free of people. Free of animals. Only the empty curtains stand behind where the faces should be. The fireplace has survived the storm of evil, but covered in dust. It looks like no one has lit a fire there for a thousand years. The glass in the windows is cracked and the drops of rain from outside are dripping in. Soaked and encrusted with mud, the red carpet still lies perfectly straight. It hasn’t moved. My eyes wander to the thrones. Where my mother used to sit is now a black, helpless stool  and where my father rested is simply a cracked stone. Their crowns still lie there though. Looking the same. Shiny and golden. Nothing has dared to touch them.