Ghost Town

There are 2 blocks around my place that had a notice of en-bloc, people were to move out before a specific date and the government would demolish those old buildings to build new structures.

There was a day when the rain had just stopped falling..

 and I saw that metal gates had been installed into the staircases. What a curious sight. HDB housings being locked up like that. I just had to take a closer look.

 When something says 'No trespassing' you know you shouldn't even think about going in. But I couldn't resist.. I wanted to see how a deserted HDB building would look like since I'm so used to HBD buildings brimming with people and life. 

I walked around a couple of abandoned cupboards and other misc household items that would not be part of the family's new life. Peered into all the staircases only to find them locked up by the makeshift metal gates. Oh but the moment I saw one staircase that had no such gate, I took a deep breath and started walking in. Tip-toeing, more like. Wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention in empty buildings or worse, caught trespassing. 

 Most of the doors had this letter pasted on, a notice of possession issued by the HDB. It was so quiet, you could literally hear my heart beat. And that tingle at the back at my head that tells me when something doesn't feel right was suddenly there. Don't worry, this isn't a ghost story.

When I wasn't looking around warily for strangers, I was enjoying the peace and quiet of the whole place. 

 There was so much history in this place. I remember seeing some people downstairs all the time. Doing tai ji, running around, going home after sch.. And now this building has served its purpose and will be torn down.

 A new building will be up and by then, what kind of people will be living here?

Stories were being whispered into my ear, the wind whistling around the trees outside.

I looked around and smiled. Was I ever here? 

There is something hauntingly drawing about the building and its past, the derelicts of the previous owners scattering the floor. Yet it was never eerie. Never cold.

 A woman's scream from somewhere nearby woke me up from my curiosity and I took that as my cue to leave before anything happened.

Climbing down the dirty winding stairs, 

And walking out of the forsaken place with fresh memories. 

Thank you for going on that little adventure with me. 

Of course, looking back now, I realized how dangerous it could have been if there were unsound people hiding up there (too much horror and psycho movies for me, oops) or zombies lurking in the corner and I was not even prepared with a frying pan!
Still, I'm glad I walked up the building or else my inquiring mind might have regretted never going in to see how an abandoned building looks like. (since you don't see much of that in sg)

My wandering mind has been satisfied.....

For now.