Carma’s Corner: If the walls could talk…

The house was old; the windows were shattered; the paint had blistered and peeled; the front steps crumbled. There it sat—alone amidst a few living birch trees. It was dilapidated, decrepit, ramshackle… clearly an eyesore to any passerby. A few weeks ago, I happened to be the passerby of this lonely house; my initial thought was “the wrecking ball needs to pay a visit.” But as I peered through the hollow window, I saw a wall… and immediately my creative juices started churning.

My mind started saying, “What if those walls could talk? What bedtime stories would I hear? What arguments would be retold? What parties would be relived?” I didn’t know; I didn’t know if the house was one filled with happiness and joy or one filled with strife and turmoil. It didn’t much matter now; I didn’t ponder long and went along my way, but I kept thinking of the house… the stories that could be told, if only the walls could talk.

My desire for a story from a house came a little too boldly this past month. It’s a story that still leaves me shivering a few days after its telling, and I don’t even know the ending yet. But I’ll share…It started with a remodeling project—finishing a room. Late one evening, it was determined that a wall needed to be removed, so out came the work gloves and tools. About halfway through the demolition, a question was raised, “what is this?” while nine cassette tapes were extracted from the wall. The tapes were tightly bound with rubber bands and labeled 1-9 and 666, the mark of the beast. The tapes were quickly tossed aside until the first tape finds its way to the cassette player a few days later. And thus a story of a life not known unfolds… In one tape, it’s all there, every ounce of detail identifying the recorded individual. And then came the purpose for the tapes… concisely said, “so one day the truth will be made known.” The story is halted for now, and only a narration of a life lived is being heard.

The “truth” still remains undisclosed… and which tape will illuminate the darkness awaits to be played… outside of the wall. It is not known that if the one who placed the tapes in the wall may still be living; it is not known when the tapes may have been placed in the wall; it’s not known whether the “one” will return to rightfully claim the hidden truth, but it is known who the tapes are intended for.

Returning back to the old house, I wonder whether the question is “what would the walls say” or more so “what do the walls hold?” The walls can only conceal for a short time, but eventually one day a hole in the wall will be made… and the truth will be revealed. If the walls could talk, what secrets are waiting to be disclosed?