Marlet #1

At the entrance of the Marlet school there sat a single wooden door atop a flight of three stone steps, all of it surrounded by a bungle of flowery, thorn filled bushes one had to make sure not to touch or else risk being poisoned by. The steps of the entrance gave off the impression that instead of having been carved they had been bunch of rocks which had for some reason been pushed together to make stairs and had since simply stayed put, with lack of anything better to do. The door was ancient looking, with a smooth texture and faded coloring and the distinct smell of firewood, as though someone had once thought to try using it as lumber but the door had refused to burn. On the door there was no handle but instead a small window with bronze bars and a glass panel on the other side of it to keep the warmth from inside from escaping. Underneath the window there was a single golden knocker clenched in the teeth of a lion’s head, his eyes accusatory and unmoving, as if daring whoever found himself standing in front of him to knock. On the right hand side of the door there was a small, silver tray with the appearance of a miniature birdbath. But at the bottom of its bowl instead of water, there sat flower petals and stranger still, ashes. What was even stranger is that when one entered the space the noises heard from every other area of the school; the sounds of birds, chirping of crickets; they would disappear and whoever stood there would find themselves in total, unwavering silence. The only noise being that of the knocker falling on the door and of the person’s own breath leaving his lungs only to breath in that same faint hint of firewood, and ash, and smoke.