Johnstown Castle - part 1

"...even if shan't the soils desolate, thy haven ever be..."

I felt thirsty - so unbelievably and fully like I’d fallen asleep in the desert, save for the fact I felt terrible cold. I tried to open my eyes - it was painful. And once open I had no use of it anyway because the fire I had lit before had died and everything was completely black. How careless of me. Did I really fall asleep? If that’s the case, then… I checked the curtains leading to the balcony. No light came through so I presumed they were still closed. Everything was fine but for the thirst.
I stretched my arm a little. It was as heavy as a brick and as numb as a corpse. I was still holding the glass with my hand clenched around it tightly - how very strange. Then, having been saved by the last drop of soothing wine left in the glass, I tried to stand… I would have been awake for many an hour many times before, but for the bottle to be empty like that… I expected I had waited for her half way into the night. Then the clock sounded – how convenient. Five times? I wanted to open the curtains to see if it was bright outside but I stumbled. I wasn’t sleepy anymore but rather exhausted, so I fell down like a sack of grain - providing no resistance, hoping I wouldn’t get hurt - even though I knew that getting back up again wouldn’t prove as effortless.
I felt the floor beneath me and heard the sound of something breaking. The glass I held in my hand was all gone but for the shards. Oh my, I successfully broke yet another one... Standing up took some time and I cut myself on the shards while doing it, but I managed eventually and groped my way towards the balcony. It was still dark outside and the storm had worsened as was indicated by the swaying trees and the restless pond in the garden. I couldn’t help but think something was awry. I checked the door handle just to confirm I had locked it securely. I really don’t know why, I was sure I had locked it, but I did anyway. I turned the handle and to my big surprise and fright - the door wasn’t locked anymore and it burst open.

To be continued…