The Room

One bare light bulb is used to light The Room. Yet it is not enough, for The Room is large and the light is not able to reach the far corners, where darkness hangs heavy. Time is shrouded in apprehensive silence. The Room is not empty, as you assumed it would be. Nor is it neat and tidy as it certainly ought to be. You are disgusted with the mess you see before you. Broken chairs lay every which way, and the rug is matted with dirt and torn in several directions. The air is stagnant, and smells horribly of moth balls. Old, worn down furniture is piled here and there about The Room, making strange shadows on the walls. Dust has covered everything in The Room, acting as a burial ground for the dead flies that lay about. You hear something clicking across the floor and look up, just in time to see a scorpion vanish under a pile of stained clothing. Half eaten food lays rotting on the floor. Mold has made greenish black stains on the ceiling, and now, taking advantage of time, has started to creep down the walls. You wonder what this room was once used for, and why everyone has apparently forgotten it. Never have you seen such negligence in a room, never such filth. You have taken in the nastiness of The Room very quickly, and just as quickly you decide you want out. You reach for the grime covered door knob just as a bat silently swoops over your head. Quickly you open the door, then stand with relief in the hall. The door is shut now... but you still stand, wondering how The Room could belong in the Kings beautiful mansion. Staring at the door has done you good, you now notice that there is a sign on the door. Ah! So The Room does indeed have a name! Though like The Room itself, the sign is dusty and grimy. You use your shirt to clean the sign, and as the letters become visible you give a little gasp. For the sign, quite simply and directly says, "Your Heart."