They lived inside a haunted house

They lived inside a haunted house

You couldn’t tell from the outside

It was beautiful and grand

The garden well kept

The kind of place shown in magazines

Or used for commercials

Everything was perfect

All the neighbours envied it

There was no sign at all

Of the rotten things inside

The walls were well insulated

All the sounds muffled

You couldn’t hear

The cries echoing through the night

The sound of slamming doors

The raised and shouted voices

The thumps as things were thrown

And glass shattered

Nobody paid it any attention

Nobody knew it was a haunted house

The broken glasses were cleared

By the time morning came

Quickly replaced, soon forgotten

All the surfaces wiped

Everything spick and span

Bruises hidden by layers of powder

Smiles plastered on

He’d go off to work

She’d stay home

An ordinary day

In an ordinary neighbourhood

No one knew the difference

One day the police finally came

In a blaze of sirens

And a haze of red and blue lights

The neighbours looked on

Whispering to each other

As he was pushed into the car

Shouting profanities

And promising revenge

She wept on the porch

They escorted him away

The house was no longer haunted

Only she was