The Barn of Life

Forest trees covered a mysterious landscape. Colors of the leaves change with the seasons. The whole landscape went from green to beautiful yellows, then dying in a strong brown until no leaves remained and the trees were bare. Change was always in the air. On a warm summer day one could smell the aroma of flowers blooming in the rays of the sun. During the winter only cold damp snow could be seen in the graveyard of trees. Life cycling physically all around, but the emotion of the land also changed spiritually. Those who watched the seasonal cycles felt the passing of thoughts and emotions through the life and death of eaves in the wind.

On this land stood only a barn. The barn once anew covered in a fresh seafoam green, trimmed a gorgeous pearl white. Over the years, the paint slowly began to fade. Natural wood coloring coming in through the green. Parts of trim falling to the ground, those who owned the land would fix it up yearly to preserve the beauty.

However, the barn lost the love it needed. Years went by and the barn began to decay. Once holding items special to the families who owned it, and now old tools and rust remains. In the beginning many souls went in and out. Now activity inside remained lifeless. Seasons past by adding more and more natural wear and tear. The vivid pastel green is fading away more and more over time. A hole forming in the top from a bad snow storm caving in the old roof, snow puddling and covering the flooring. Warped wood now lined the ground.

Life still claimed the barn from time to time. Birds nesting, hatching and flying away to leave the rest of their avion lives. Rabbits using the old wooden shelter as a home for the winter. Nature began to reclaim the human structure made of all the natural things. The cycle of life taking back what was once its.

One day human life reentered the barn. The barn could feel the warmth of a new life and a new chapter. A little girl ran in with joy. Her new adventure. She had so many plans. Repaint the inside and cover it with stickers and glitter. She wanted to make it into a unicorn paradise. Colors everywhere, the home of her imagination. A child’s mind full of innocents. All that could be thought of filled the barn. The wooden walls filled with happiness. It still sat empty for a few months every once in a while. But she always came back with new adventures.

Years went by and the little girl kept growing. Some nights the barn was full of laughter, other nights full of tears. The barn felt the innocents slowly fade away year by year. When she came inside it was more for work, many nights studying other nights having a little company. No longer a unicorn paradise but still her paradise.

A sanctuary of everlasting childhood. Until one day. The once tiny little girl rushed into the barn door, shut it aggressively and sat in the corner starting to cry. The feelings inside were only loneliness. She sat in her fortitude of solitude. The young girl continued to cry for days and days. She stayed inside for so long her once beautiful white dress, lashed with gold trim began to turn brown from dirt. Rips started to appear as she would pace around getting it caught on pieces of wood sticking out and nails protruding through the walls.

Life had a cycle and she began to experience the entire cycle of just her life. She would look at the small remains of stickers and glitter. Every once in a while she would pick up crumpled up paper that were messed up papers she would write for school. Every year of her life could be found in the barn. This was her safe space.

On a dark cold night, the wind blows along the trees leafless from the winter season. Some gusts strong enough to knock branches into the side of the barn. The night sky cloudless, stars dancing and glowing through the void. In the center of the barn laid the little girl crying for the final time. The last tear rolling down her face as she took her last breath. All the life was fading out of her, her body giving up, with no food or water the end was near. The breeze of life flowing out of her as her essence escaped into the interior of the barn.

The little girl was headed to her parents. They would be waiting for her in the gates of the afterlife. Her life was in that barn and she had no reason to move on. The barn felt her soul try and leave to the next life. It stood long enough in the isolated landscape to have many lives pass through it, but never one so innocent pass away inside it.

She had put so much of herself into the barn, moving on would not be the next step of her life. Even though her body lay lifeless inside her spirit remained unable to move on to the next life. Eventually, her body was removed from the barn. The men who pulled her body out moved slowly. One of the detectives who found and helped remove her body found the erde to stay. Finding such a small cold corpse would make anyone rethink their life. He stood in the doorway staring at the pile of hay that once rested the small body. He stood there longer than he probably should have. He could see all the parts of life in this small wooden fort. Underneath the hay he found a folded up picture of her standing with her mom and dad. All standing together on a warm summer day. The longer he stood in the barn the more he could feel her presence, the words could be heard in the walls. Words of love for her mother and father. She wanted to move on with them and that life was stolen from her in an instant. One bad decision from others could take everything away from such a little girl. He began to cry. The wind hitting the barn and speaking for her. He felt the sorrow she must have felt in her last moments. The passion and creativity that she must have had in her early life.

He sat down at the door refusing to leave. He sat there for hours. Those hours became a couple days. Those days were spent asking her what memories were stored in these four walls. Which events brought the most joy. What moments filled the barn with sadness. Other men came to him over time and gave him food. They would ask why he was still there. He could only explain the feeling that she was still here and he didn’t want to leave her alone. Her last moments she was alone, the least he could do was spend as much time with her as possible.

Laughter, giggles, and chuckles were all heard. Every so often he could still hear the crying. Some tears full of growing pains and frustration, others having more deep meaning. He watched the barn start to stretch and warp more from the rough winds and weather.

After about a month, he felt a deeper connection. This little girl was no longer a thought. She was a part of his soul. He wanted to let her free. It was time to go. He stood up and left the barn.

Green growth began to fill the trees around the empty barn. The spring brought more life. Birds sang through the air. Critters scampering around the fresh grass. More months went by and a wolf mother wandered in to sit in the shade of the holed roof. She stayed in the shelter to have her pups. They grew up and left the mother to go live their own lives. The birth was hard for the wolf. After watching all her offspring leave her human den she stayed. She felt safe. A spirit could be felt by her. She was told how great she did in spreading life into this world. She rested her head on a thick pile of hay and took her last breath. A breath that was shared with a little girl from the past.

The doors of the barn opened sending light rays from the sun onto a wolf body. The man couldn’t help but smile slightly. He knew that the wolf did not die alone. He took out the wolf and dug it into a grave near the barn. After the final shovel of dirt covered the final resting place of such an elegant creature he walked back into the barn. He thanked the little girl for looking after the wolf. He told her he had come back to help her move forward.

Over the next few weeks he started to fix up the barn. He nailed in new pieces of wood making the floor, ceiling, and walls all fresh. He replaced all the trim and repainted it back to a beautiful white. Then he had to fix the pastel green. It took him a couple days to get the right paint color but he was able to paint it back to its original glory. Once the outside was finished he didn’t stop there. On the inside, he began to put up stickers of unicorns and llamas. He painted one of the walls pink and crafted a desk into one of the corners. He still talked to the little girl, hoping for a response but never hearing one. He knew she was listening.

On the beginning of a brisk morning, the sun rises over the horizon shining onto the new restored barn. The man looked proud of his work then left again. This time he was only gone for a few weeks. When he came back he was not alone. In his arms he held a baby. He told her how he named his new daughter after the little girl who died alone in the barn. She never had to be alone again. He sat in the middle of the barn holding his newborn child while she rested in his arms so small and gentle. He looked around the barn, tears rushing down his face, smiling.

“I’m sorry you had to be alone, I want you to know I did all this for you. I will look after her and the barn for you. You did not die alone and she will never be alone as well. Thank you for showing me your life”