jermalism: Abandonment Issues: Port Hopeless House

Trust your instincts, follow your gut.

After a long day of exploring that included the Angel with a Crown of Thorns House, and the Marilyn Bebee & Michael Howreluk House, just to name a few, we came across the Port Hopeless House.

From the road, we were already questioning the structural integrity of the house, as its roof appeared sunken in and warped. It looked as if the house could collapse in on itself like a house of cards at any moment. A closer look was mandatory, of course, curiosity continues to push the explorer forward.

The back of the house was wide open and the interior walls were leaning in opposing directions. A strange feeling of trepidation came over me as I took a few tentative steps inside. This trepidation was almost instantly justified, as only a few more steps forward revealed the collapsing living room and kitchen floor that had already begun swallowing the house whole. Steps were retraced back outside, but Ninja's voice urging me not to re-enter was already fading behind me as I slowly made my way back inside and peeked into the bathroom, which was suffering the same fate. Heart rate increased, and with palms sweating profusely, adrenaline rushed through me like heroin injected directly into the bloodstream.

A smart explorer minimizes risk and maintains control. I stepped back outside and regained my bearings. A few moments later, the should I or shouldn't I's took over, as I stood at the bottom of the staircase leading to the second floor. The staircase was leaning heavily to the right, waiting for its moment to collapse into the rest of the house and be swallowed up. The risk v reward factor comes into play. But curiosity killed the cat, it didn't pet it. I put some weight on the first stair, and then the second, and third, and fourth. The creeks of rusty nails loosening in the rotting wood grew louder with each step and I could feel the staircase slightly shifting under my weight.

Trust your instincts, follow your gut.

I gently stepped backwards down the stairs, shifting all of my weight to the left, and exited the house. Better safe than sorry, and dead.

On the outside looking in