Fourth Floor of Nowhere

Fourth Floor of nowhere- had a back room where I spent some secret time, in younger days; a huge- yet empty space above the stair that led me to a new-dimension phase. Though built late eighteen-eighties, it was home in nineteen forty-nine, when I turned ten. The first three floors were free for me to roam- yet, Fourth- proclaimed off-limits to me then. But, late each night, I heard them from my room- the sounds of women talking- whispering, while scurrying of children's feet would loom above my plaster ceiling, capering. One day, come early dawn- I turned the knob as all my family still soundly slept. The room was bare- but how my heart did throb as gentle, ghostly figures, past me, swept. Years later- due to eminent domain to build a bridge- they tore our home apart. When I pass by, I hear them weep in pain; Fourth Floor of nowhere- now dwells in my heart. September 10, 2020 ~4th Place~ Contest: The Fourth Floor Of Nowhere Sponsor: Craig Cornish Judged: 09/21/2020 Note: The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge was completed in November 1963, after New York State claimed our home via eminent domain. Since I live very close by, I constantly have to pass the site where my childhood home stood.