SAY IT
Prompt - Say It : Write a poem or story that uses dialogue between two people
-Can I help you?
-Er, no, well, maybe.
-Have you come to see someone?
-Well, no, not really, just the place itself.
-This house?
-Yes. Sort of.
-?
-I used to live here. Long time ago.
-Oh. And you wanted to revisit old haunts?
-Suppose so. Moved away years ago, and this is the first time back in town for a long, long time. I've been looking round seeing what's the same, what's changed, and I wondered what my old home was like. You live here?
-Yeah. Eight, no nine, years now. I love it. How long were you here for?
-About twelve years. We moved here before I went to school, and I left at sixteen. That's... bloody hell, that's twenty nine years ago. Scary.
-Do you want to see inside? See what's changed. I doubt if anything's the same, even the layout in some bits.
-Yeah. Thanks. If it's not too much bother that would be great. You sure it's no trouble?
-No problem. It'll be interesting to see the place though other eyes and memories. Come on in.
-Garden seems different. Less lawn, more flower beds.
-I added that one over there, with the roses. And took out the bushes down the side.
-I'd forgotten about them. Door's a different colour, and we didn't have double glazing back then.
-Windows were in when I got the place, but the door colour is down to me. Come on in.
-Wow. This is a lot brighter than I remember.
-It seemed pretty dark when I came so I opened up the passage through to the kitchen, took the old carpet up and painted everything in shades of white. Made a big difference.
-What colour was the carpet?
-Oh, hard to remember now. A sort of green and brown I think. Bit stained in places.
-No, that wasn't the one I remember. It was striped. Black and maroon. Bit weird.
-Come in and have a seat.
-Can we have a look around first please? I feel like I need to know.
-Know what? If there's anything still the same? I've redecorated everywhere since I've been in.
-Yeah. Something like that.
-OK. Well, front room. I got rid of the sliding doors to open it up to the back, gives a bit more room. Kept the fireplace, but painted it and put lights in the grate. I'll show you.
-That's nice. Used to be a horrible old electric thing in there. More a hazard than a heater. Good you got rid of the doors, less able to hide things.
-Dining table in here. Not that I use it much, but sometimes family come round. Tempted to put french windows in at the back some day, but not sure I'll get round to it now. The back door always seems good enough. You OK?
-Eh? Oh, yeah, yeah. Just... looking. Remembering.
-Did it get used as a dining room in your day?
-Dining room? No. Well, sort of. There was a table. Strong table.
-Come through to the kitchen. That will be totally different to you.
-Yeah. Different. Safer.
-Safer?
-Yeah. You know, less sharp edges, less clutter. Less risk. Still got knives out though.
-?
-Garden looks not too different.
-No, I've not done much there. i should get the patio re-laid some time.
-I don't think so.
-Why not?
-I just wouldn't. You never know what you might find.
-Find? I don't think Fred West was ever here!
-Maybe not. But there were others like him. What's that in the corner there?
-A compost heap. It was already a bit of a mess there so it didn't make things worse.
-A mess? Like a sort of disturbance?
-Just a bare bit of ground that didn't get any sun so it was never going to be very fertile.
-That soil might be richer than you think. You've got a lot of flowers.
-I love spending time in my garden. My main hobby really. You must have played out there, eh?
-Played? Not played exactly, but I did spend a lot of time there. That corner provided a bit of shelter. Sometimes.
-Right. Well, do you want to see upstairs? Follow on.
-Is it still the dark cupboard under the stairs?
-Oh, no, I've put a wee loo in there. Handy. See?
-No thanks, I'll head on.
-Oh, OK. Let's go up. You can see I put in a ladder to pull down to get into the attic, and I've had some flooring put down up there. Mostly just for storage, but there's a bed for the odd time when I've had a lot of people to stay.
-In the attic? To stay? And they were OK?
-Fine. Well, I've only ever had my nephew up there, but he's a bit of a moaner anyway.
-What did he moan about?
-Noises. Strange noises. Said it was creepy. My sister told him to shut up.
-Noises. That figures.
-Why?
-Oh. It was always a bit ... creaky. Not somewhere I enjoyed being.
-You spent time in the attic?
-In a manner of speaking. A place to get away from it all.
-The small bedroom I use as an office. Which was your room?
-I didn't really have a room as such. Things were a bit more... fluid. But I did have time in here. Too much time.
-Back bedroom for guests.
-Clean. Tidy. Looks a happy place. It didn't back then.
-Why not?
-It just didn't.
-And the main bedroom. This one will look very different.
-I wouldn't know.
-Why not? Weren't you allowed in?
-No. Not that I'd have wanted to.
-You don't make it sound like a very happy home.
-No. Not happy. Not much of a home. I hope it's better for you. And there's no ghosts disturbing your life.
-Ghosts? Did somebody die here?
-I couldn't say. Maybe. But it wasn't me. I got out
-Let's go down and get a coffee, eh?
-OK.
-I'll get the drinks if you want to sit in there.
-No, I'm going. Don't touch the patio.
-Hey, aren't you going to stay a bit. Hey... I never got your name. You... You've gone. I wanted to ask what you meant about the patio. I would really like to know.
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