Untitled - Campbell University

The Castle McIntosh
Sara-Beth Testerman
The ability of pain is something that has caused great anguish for centuries, and has
been the root of all heartache and reasoning behind an individual’s suffering. What
makes any individual feel the way that they do What exactly makes one’s heart
ache A person, a place, longing for something or someone of the past, triggers these
memories. The heart misses, or at times longs to forget, and the ability to convey
this emotion comes out as the singular most beautiful expression of truth. The
yearning of the past, of the need for things to change, reveals itself as an exquisite
form of water, that travels from the eyes and comes out of the heart, and reveals the
problems of the soul to the world.
The castle in the woods heaved and wanted to crumble under the weight of the
night sky. Since the passing of my mother and father, the Castle McIntosh never
was the equivalent of the years seen by its predecessor. The outer boundaries had
managed to be trodden down from weather, and the inner walls found no shelter
from the decaying mold and remnants of chipping stone. The only forms of life
left in the castle, it seemed, were myself, my sister, and the other servants, of a staff
which collectively appeared to be dwindling out. Agnes forces me to feel like a
better man for taking care of the house, but in reality I have decided that the dank
appearance of the cobwebbed furniture and the scarce semblance of light, except for
natural light, has made it rather difficult to live in for my betrothed. The corridor
assigned to her is dark, and windows are not found, although she will move upstairs
very shortly. One must learn to live in darkness, if the mind is going to be able to
perceive all the darkness holds. When one is incapable of seeing, of being able to
determine what is or isn’t, the possibilities are endless as compared to when we see
the constraints of the world in light.
The wedding will take place on the eve of the new year, of what is soon to be a full
moon. The decorations are mediocre at best, but the torn tapestries and hallways
lit with fire lanterns will most certainly increase the livelihood for the guests. She
agreed to marry me under the pretenses that I incorporate the clan colors from both
houses into the wedding, and in the event, the meshing together of the family crests
would unite us completely. Although this arrangement took place in quite haste,
the event should be pulled together well into a form fitting, masquerade ball for the
masses. My exasperation with the event is made clear regularly on evenings I visit
her downstairs, and her tears concern my indecisiveness with the large amount of
people, food, and event altogether. My efforts are spent upon making her jubilance
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