The Old House (6)

The Old House (6)

" Thanks, thanks, " said all the furniture, although it sounded a little more like: " Crack ... Crack "

There were so many chairs, tables, and cabinets in the room that they stood in each other's way, for they all wanted to see the little boy at once.

In the center of one of the walls hung a picture of a beautiful young girl.

She was laughing and dressed in clothes from a bygone time.

She did not say " thank you " or " crack " as the furniture had , but she looked down so kindly at the little boy that he could not help asking, " Where did you get her ? "

" From the pawnbroker's , " replied the old gentleman.
" His shop is filled with pictures that no one cares about any more. The people they portray have been dead so long that no one remember them.

But though she has been dead and gone for fifty years , I knew her once. "

Under the portrait hung a bouquet of faded flowers, carefully preserved behind glass.
They looked old enough to have been picked half a century ago.

(6/20)