It’s been years since I visited the house. No one wanted to take responsibility of it after our parents died. I feel like I was the only one who ever even cared about the house. Everyone just ran away as soon as they could, moved to the city, far away. And I too, left the house I loved so much and only now I came back. Maybe I was scared to see what was waiting for me. Or perhaps I was ashamed of neglecting this place. But I had to come back to see the house, even if it was just one more time.

The house has been abandoned for years so I didn’t expect much. Windows were probably broken; thieves and hooligans had probably taken out everything they could carry. The roof might have collapsed and let water in. Garden would be overgrown jungle with no way to even get through.

When I finally arrived at our yard through a long and winding path lined with tall grass and tree branches that arched over the road, I saw our small house. One window was indeed broken, and the weather had treated the house roughly and the roof was close to collapsing but I didn’t notice any of this. I only saw how the house was covered in roses. The rose garland we had on the living room wall had taken over. It covered all the walls and the roof. It had even started to slither on the ground, reaching its vines towards anything that was nearby. Our little bird pond was overflowing with roses and they had started to spread over the fence too. Big red and pink roses covered everything. Bees, hummingbirds and butterflies flew from flower to flower and the humming and buzzing was almost deafening. The scent of roses was sweet and intoxicating. I started to feel dizzy just from standing there.

It was clear that this house didn’t need me. Mother Nature had claimed it as her own and was now taking care of it. Just as I had moved on in my life, this house had also moved on. It was now a paradise for all these creatures but maybe it could be a secret escape for me too. Perhaps I would come here again and bring more roses to the garden.