A Life Before AI As technology and artificial intelligence reshape everyday life, Sarah and Hazel wonder whether humanity is gaining convenience at the cost of meaningful relationships, patience, and well-being. Through conversations across generations, they explore the beauty of life before AI and the challenges of living in an increasingly screen-dependent world. A World Before Artificial Intelligence A generation may one day look back and wonder, What was life like before artificial intelligence? Sarah and Hazel often thought about this question. As technology and innovation continued to transform the world, they wondered how people had lived before AI became part of everyday life. They wanted to explore the past and understand how ordinary people communicated, worked, entertained themselves, and built relationships without relying on modern digital devices. In the past, people often interacted face-to-face, exchanged handwritten letters, and used landline or cordless pho...
Isabelle and the Bouquets
A mysterious bouquet leads Isabelle back to someone from her past, but what begins as a beautiful reunion soon turns into a chilling night inside a mansion filled with cold whispers, dim lights, and secrets hidden behind balcony doors. A story of love, fear, mystery, and fate.
Isabelle followed the same routine every morning. She arrived at work early, organized papers neatly across her desk, and prepared herself for another ordinary day at the office. But on one quiet Monday morning, something unusual waited for her.
Sitting carefully on her desk was a beautiful bouquet of flowers wrapped in white ribbon. Beside it rested a small greeting card.
Curious, Isabelle slowly opened the card.
“Thank you… until we meet again.”
She looked around the office in confusion. None of her coworkers seemed to notice anything unusual. Isabelle asked several employees if they knew who had sent the flowers, but everyone simply shrugged or smiled.
The mystery stayed on her mind the entire day.
The next morning, another surprise appeared. This time, Isabelle found red roses placed inside her mailbox at home. A second greeting card rested beside them.
“Isabelle, thank you… I finally found you.”
A nervous feeling rushed through her chest.
“Who could this be?” she whispered to herself. “Someone who knows me?”
That evening after work, Isabelle walked toward her car and suddenly stopped in shock. Another flower basket waited beside the vehicle. Attached to it was a note containing a phone number and a location.
Without hesitation, she immediately called the number.
“Who are you?” Isabelle asked anxiously. “What do you want?”
For a brief moment, silence filled the line before a calm voice answered softly.
“I’m your friend,” the voice said. “I’ve been searching for you for a very long time. I never found anyone who could hold my heart the way you did. Please… meet me.”
Suddenly, memories returned to her mind like forgotten pages reopening after years.
“Ervin…” she whispered carefully. “Is that you?”
“Yes,” he replied warmly. “It’s me, Isabelle.”
At that moment, her fear slowly disappeared and transformed into sweet memories from the past.
Days later, Ervin and Isabelle reunited officially after years apart. Their conversations became endless, their laughter returned naturally, and the connection they once shared seemed stronger than before.
One evening, Ervin surprised Isabelle with life-changing news.
“I bought us a place,” he said with a smile.
“A place?” Isabelle laughed softly. “What kind of place?”
Ervin drove her beyond the busy city streets toward a quiet hill overlooking the glowing skyline. There stood a magnificent mansion surrounded by tall gates and elegant lanterns. Large balcony windows reflected the city lights beautifully against the night sky.
“It’s beautiful,” Isabelle whispered in amazement.
For the first month, life inside the mansion felt peaceful. They spent evenings together enjoying the cold night air while watching city lights from the balcony room. Yet something about that room always felt unusual.
The air there remained colder than anywhere else in the house. The lights flickered randomly, and strange scratching sounds echoed through the walls during the night.
At first, Ervin dismissed it casually.
“It’s probably just an old house settling,” he would say.
But Isabelle wasn’t convinced. Every time she entered the balcony room, a strange chill crawled down her spine.
One stormy evening, the mansion became unusually silent. Rain tapped against the windows while thunder rumbled in the distance. Isabelle sat alone in the balcony room reading quietly while Ervin finished work downstairs.
Several lanterns glowed dimly near the curtains as cold wind drifted through the partly opened balcony doors.
Suddenly—
Crash!
Their black cat raced wildly across the room, knocking one of the lanterns onto the floor. The lantern rolled directly toward the curtains, and within seconds, a small flame climbed upward.
“Ervin!” Isabelle shouted in panic.
Without hesitation, she grabbed a glass of cold water nearby and threw it onto the fire, extinguishing the flames before they could spread further. Smoke filled part of the room as the damaged curtain darkened with burn marks.
Before Isabelle could relax, the balcony windows suddenly burst open wider as a freezing wind rushed violently inside.
Bang!
The door slammed shut behind her.
The lights dimmed instantly.
Isabelle rushed toward the door and twisted the handle repeatedly, but it would not open.
“Ervin!” she cried again.
No answer came.
The room felt colder than ever. The lanterns swayed slowly while shadows stretched across the walls. Then Isabelle heard it again — the strange scratching sound.
Slow. Heavy. Almost like footsteps dragging across the ceiling above her.
Fear filled her chest as she backed toward an old recliner chair in the corner of the room. Outside, the city lights still looked beautiful beneath the stormy sky, but inside the mansion, something felt terribly wrong.
Meanwhile, outside the mansion, Ervin struggled desperately inside his car. During the storm, one of the gates had collapsed behind the vehicle, trapping him inside. The doors refused to open no matter how hard he pushed.
Rain poured heavily against the windshield while freezing winds shook the car violently.
“Isabelle!” Ervin shouted repeatedly.
Hours passed with no escape. Finally, just before dawn, he grabbed an emergency tool beneath the seat and smashed the car window with all his strength.
Crash!
Broken glass scattered everywhere, slicing deeply into his arm and hands. Blood dripped down his sleeve as he climbed painfully out of the shattered window.
Ignoring the injuries, Ervin rushed toward the mansion.
When he entered the house, silence greeted him.
“Isabelle!” he cried desperately.
No response came.
He searched every room — the dining hall, library, kitchen, staircase, and dark hallways lit only by flickering lights. Blood drops marked the marble floor behind him, yet he ignored the pain completely.
Outside the balcony room, Ervin suddenly stopped. A freezing chill traveled beneath the doorway. For reasons he could not explain, fear prevented him from opening the door.
Inside, Isabelle realized no one was coming. Gathering courage, she pulled down one of the thick curtains and tied it tightly around the balcony railing. With trembling hands, she slowly climbed downward using the curtain for support.
The wind pushed strongly against her as the fabric stretched dangerously beneath her weight. But finally, her feet touched the ground safely.
Exhausted and frightened, Isabelle searched the dark mansion grounds for Ervin. Then she noticed his car nearby with shattered glass covering the seat.
Confused and worried, she climbed inside the vehicle and waited quietly for him to return.
As dawn slowly broke across the sky, both Isabelle and Ervin remained separated within the massive mansion grounds — searching endlessly for each other without realizing how close they truly were.
Isabelle, would you stay inside the mysterious mansion with Ervin… or leave before the darkness reveals its secrets?
Comments
Post a Comment