Interview (3) – Doorstep

(New subsection of paragraphs)

Jim stood in front of the door, with his case beside him, feeling uneasy. This house looked completely wrong for what he was looking for. Was he the victim of some strange practical joke? How long should he remain standing here in the rain?

While he waited Jim looked up and down the building. Surely it was empty. It certainly didn’t look occupied.

Starting from the lowest level, he looked into the light-well cum yard which served the basement. Unlike some of the neighbouring houses, there no steps leading down the door into the tiny courtyard. Presumably the access door was in the bridge under his feet. There was a door which might be leading to an old coal cellar under the pavement. The windows into the house were shuttered on the inside. Litter lay about the courtyard. Buddleia had gained a foothold by one of the window sills.

On the ground floor, level with where he was standing, there were two large sash windows, once again with shutters pulled across on the inside. The windows were dirty and the shutters did not look like they had been opened in years. Jim could imagine the broad hallway on the other side of the door, with a door leading to the large room behind the windows, access through to the other rooms towards the rear of the building and a staircase leading upwards.

On the first floor there were three sash windows, two above the windows on the ground floor and one above the front door, this time each sash was glazed Georgian style with nine tall oblong panes. These windows were significantly taller than those on the ground-floor. Once again the windows were shuttered. The room inside must have a very high ceiling. Jim caught himself trying to imagine what it was like now and what it had been like in its heyday.

On the second floor, the story was repeated. Three windows, back to a more usual height, this time with only six panes for each sash, and once again shuttered.

Only on the third floor did the windows look like they did not have shutters on the inside. These were casement windows which would probably have served a nursery or possibly servants’ quarters. The angle meant that Jim could not see clearly, but there did not seem to be any curtains, and he could see no light in the gloom.

Jim began to debate with himself how long he should remain standing at the doorstep. The drizzle was getting heavier and soon he would be getting wet, If this was a wasted journey at least he could go somewhere warm. He reached into his pocket to pull out his mobile phone, when his attention was caught by the sound of someone unfastening a bolt on the inside of the door in front of him. There was someone inside after all!

(Part of the “Tyson” project: 9th January 2017 – 482 words)