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Previous - this entry written on December 27, 2004 at 2:17 am - Next They say you can tell a lot about someone by what is in their closet. The House has an overabundance of closets, but there are two worth mentioning. The first closet is just off the entryway, where it would be convenient to store coats and boots and such. Instead of a long pole along the top there are three coatstands in the closet, which is deep enough to qualify as a walk-in. They stand flush against the back wall, and to reach them you would have to walk past the set of shelves on the right and the full-length mirror on the right. The stands are draped with quite an assortment of outerwear, everything from a leather biker's jacket to a velvet-lined fur cloak, a rather tattered green raincoat, a few wool half-cloaks, and even a bright red and yellow handwoven poncho. Only the raincoat and fur cloak seem to be often-used, the others faded just slightly by the dust of weeks spent hanging, unused. The lowest of the shelves holds a few pairs of waterproof boots and a few strange contraptions of leather and rubber and tiny steel spikes designed to slip on over shoes, traction devices for icy days. The top shelf, roughly shoulder-height, contains the flotsam of comings and goings - a keyring, a couple sticks of wrapped gum, a spool of thread, hairties, a few crumpled recipts, pennies and nickles and dimes in a small unglazed clay dish, a broken pin, a roll of lifesavers, four hairpins, and a fuzzy mouse-shaped cattoy. The middle shelves are given over to wicker bins, their contents only visible when the bins are drawn out, sorted through. Most hold a tangle of leather and steel, pieces of gear more likely to be found in some strange dungeon or an 'interesting' bedroom than in a closet. A few hold stacks of books from a library, waiting to be returned - fantasy books for the most part, though a cookbook and several slender books of poetry can be found at the bottom of one stack. One last basket has a lid, shut and fastened with a sturdy lock. A faint rustling, irregular but frequent, can be heard from within it. The second closet of note is off the third-floor hallway, and seems to be little more than storage for sheets and blankets not in use, several thick quilts and sheet sets carefully folded and tucked away until they are needed. If, however, you were to reach behind the stack of pillows on the fourth shelf, you would find a small handle inset into the wall. When lifted, the entire back wall, shelves and all, swings away from the door to reveal a small but complete suite of rooms - bedroom, sitting room, tiny bathroom, and even tinier mini-kitchen with a single electric burner, a microwave, and a mini-fridge. The closet can be locked from within the suite, and a panel can be pulled down in front of the handle, hiding it from exploring fingers. The floor of this second closet is thick-pile carpet, thick enough that it takes a little bit of force to swing the secret door open... and thick enough to obscure any sign of a crack beneath the door, hiding even light that might try to escape and give hint to what hides behind the unassuming linens. Hosted by Diaryland - All Rights Reserved - Image, Layout, and Content copyright Jax Raven - - Do Not Feed The Moose - |
