Faded

A young woman stands in front of a window. She has long since given up on trying to leave the mansion, and looking outside through the windows, everything seems muted, as if a silvery haze has descended upon the entire world. She tries to remember what it was like, back when she was younger, and faintly remembers she liked picking flowers and making them into crowns or bouquets. Wildflowers in all shapes, colors and sizes were blooming in the overgrown garden behind the mansion, softly swaying in the summer breeze.

But all that was a long time ago. The Flowers she had picked had long since withered, their soft petals becoming hard and brittle. Even though they should have turned to dust, they remain in their pitiful, decayed state, ever on the brink of vanishing into nothingness. Not unlike her, the ghost muses. She tried before, to move on, but her regrets kept her tethered to the mansion. Most of her memories had faded away over time, so any hope she held of passing on by resolving her unfinished business have disappeared.

She spends her days watching the outside through one of the many arched windows of the overgrown mansion. Most days she finds herself watching the birds outside, envying their freedom. Often she reads one of the many letters she has found in hiding places all over the mansion. So even though her memories are only faint glimpses into a past she can barely remember, she knows from the letters that there had been a man she loved. A soldier, young and handsome and way too eager to fight in war. She reads the letters over and over and feels if she reads them often enough, she can almost see him standing right in front of her, even though she can never make out his face. She wonders if he died in the war. She wonders if he has moved on or if he is like her, tied to a forgotten place by faded memories.

The constant ticking of the ornate grandfather clock that resounds from the entrance hall has become her only companion in the otherwise silent mansion. A reminder that time has not really stopped, even though she remains the same.

Profile, Overlay and Story by Raggdoll