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A house in Pompeii

Four wild kids play perilously in the high mountains...

They are my beloved nephews, not goat kids, as I tried to make it seem. They are climbing onto the roof of their future home, which is half-finished. My sister and brother-in-law admire the forest scenery around us. They bought a plot of land in the pine forest to build their home in.

I begin to dream of a house in my mind. It would be at home in the Pompeii of the first century. It is two stories tall, with an inner courtyard. Its roof is Mediterranean tile; its walls are thick and white. A geometric railing adorns an exterior colonnade on the second floor. The first floor boasts a portico, and another colonnade in the courtyard.

That night I stay up late drawing plans and making the house look well aesthetically. I fear forgetting the picture in my mind if I neglect to draw it on paper. Who knows if I'll ever see it built, for me, or for someone else.

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email me at aeortiz@iname.com.