Courtyard

The wooden gate comes to above waist-high on the body of a tall person. There's a new metal latch on top. The wood is splintery and weathered; the bottom of the gate doesn't quite clear the concrete underneath so opening it all the way makes a screech-drag. Inside the gate is an enclosed courtyard. If it were in Spain there would be clay pots of geraniums hanging all around the walls. And a cafe table. There is nothing on any of the three walls and no table. There is a square of uneven grass, large enough for two minivans to park tightly side by side. Spots of mud and clumps of dandelions peek out. Smooth concrete borders two-and-a-half sides of the grass--the straightaway the gate opens upon leading to the front door of the house, the side that creates a right angle to the left of that and the next side of the square if one were to make another left turn and keep walking counter-clockwise.The fourth side has three camellia bushes growing about gate-high, with a shorter wooden wall behind them. That's the only side that's not made up of at least some house. The side the front gate opens upon is concrete ahead and dirt behind. No bushes or plants grow there yet.

There are six doors and three gates. The front gate, the front door, a short black metal door with a latch, a pair of French doors, a door that looks exactly like the front door, a tall wooden gate and another taller than waist-high wooden gate. The metal door opens to the wood bin, the French doors to the living room, the front door's twin opens to the kitchen, the tall gate to a storage space between the carport and the house and the shorter gate into the carport where one minivan is actually parked.

There is a fireplace built into red brick between the front door and the French doors; the black metal door is built into the brick as well. The grate is bent and blackened. The brick was laid to create three step-like shelves that lead to a brick counter where one might place a tray of drinks, a plate of to-be S'mored crackers, chocolate and marshmallows. Or a cardboard box of used diapers lodged behind a half-dead plant.

-The End-

**I'm participating in Fun-a Day--an opportunity to create art every day during the month of January. My goal is to write at least one paragraph each day describing a person, place or thing. If you're interested in participating, let me know and I'll send you the link (because attempts to post it here aren't working!)

If you have suggestions for subjects for the month, I'd love to have them.