I had a pretty good childhood. My family got on okay, and I lived on an island with fields and beaches and forests... life treated me well. But there was something missing from my youth, something that I've always longed for - I knew, as so many children do, that there are supposed to be secret rooms.
I'm sure you know what I mean. We've all read the books, haven't we? The ones where a tapestry conceals a hallway, or moss hides a door. Narnia's wardrobe, Harry Potter's platform 9¾... fiction is littered with secret doorways to unusual places.
It even happens in real life - there's Anne Frank's bookshelf; Queen Victoria's wardrobe in Osbourne House that leads into other rooms. I remember going into her room on a school trip as a child and being amazed that the Queen of England would employ such subterfuge. If I was queen, I would do the same.
Why have I never had a secret room?!
It's what I longed for when I shared my room with two other sisters, and it's still the most common dream I have. I dream of being somewhere familiar - my home, my church, my school - and finding unexpected passages, or a gap in a fence, or a big wall hanging beyond which lies a secret space that nobody knows about but me. I can't count the number of times I've had this dream. It used to be flying, but now I dream - sometimes as often as five times a week - of these secret places.
Perhaps that explains my love of exploring.
It certainly explains my love of Ben "Yatzhee" Croshaw's games; I've only played one so far, but secret rooms feature heavily. OH MY GOSH SEAMLESS LINK! Maybe some of you have seen his amazing game reviews (I don't care about gaming, but watch his reviews obsessively), but I want to recommend his own games. They're honest-to-goodness, point-and-click, pixel-art masterpieces. You can find them linked at the top of his site. (Where it says The Best Stuff.) The links will go, as ever, on the left.
Also, just for fun, I made a picture of myself in the style of Jeph Jacques (artist and author of the epic Questionable Content). What do you think?
Bear
Friday 20 March 2009
Secret places
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Gosh - the secret room dream. I've had them off and on for years. I always they that meant there were parts of myself I hadn't inhabited in a long while, or room for expansion of my soul. (I think your self-sketch is droll and spunky.)
ReplyDeleteI have always dreamed of a secret room as well. There was a space under my desk in my room when I was little that would have been the perfect space for an entrance to one... but alas, no matter how I tapped it or clicked it or looked for some sort of seam, I never managed to get the door open!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I adore Questionable Content. =)
I often dream that I am looking through houses, they are almost always by the water and I usually discover secret rooms full of amazing stuff that the people that are selling, (or maybe they have already abandoned the house) and they don't want their stuff any longer. It is fun to go through the treasures in my dreams. I love secret rooms and share your fascination. I finally have a room of my own and it is full of my treasures. I do my writing there.
ReplyDeleteWow, how this post brings back memories. I remember always wanting a secret garden. My sister and I always used to wish for something magical to reveal itself to us. Kids have crazy imaginations :)
ReplyDeleteI know EXACTLY what you mean about the need to find secret passages, hidden rooms and long-forgotten basements as a child. Hell, I still do it!
ReplyDeleteI am STILL convinced that my childhood home had a basement we didn't know about. If I ever went back there, I would stomp around in the living room, listening for unusual echoes exactly as I did until we moved away when I was 10 years old.
I blame Enid Blyton and the Famous Five... and Narnia, and many many other books which fueled my imagination.
Thanks for reminding me about that! x
I always wanted a secret garden too - one I could go play in with no shoes on!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that Ben "Yatzhee" Croshaw did games as well - I always watch his reviews!
Rhianne, I didn't either, I only just found his site!
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic that so many of you wanted adventures as much as I did. Still do, actually.
I entered this abandoned house when I was a child and to my surprise, found that there were many things left behind. Tables, chairs, cereal boxes, utensils. The house had water damage from a leaky roof so I knew the stuff had been there for years. I always wondered why they were in such a hurry as to leave so many things behind. That was my secret room until my mother found out I was frequenting an abandoned building.
ReplyDeleteCool drawing of yourself.
Maybe you had a secret room and just never found it. I mean, it'd hardly be a secret room if they signposted it, would it?
ReplyDeleteI agree with DanX. I feel I did have a secret room although I shared a room with two sisters for most of my life. It was not like the fariy tale secret room in real life but it was my own private get away from the real world.
ReplyDeleteHey Anna, I'm sure there *are* secret rooms! Or at least, I have found odd places now and again that are *like* secret rooms to me... Maybe you just need to see them in the right way. I've even found some in quite public places. I'll have to tell you sometime. In the meantime - happy hunting!
ReplyDeleteYeah, a room that is off the beaten path is a nice place to get away from it all. A escape hatch if you will.
ReplyDeletekeep glowing anna... ur dreams will surely come true!!!
ReplyDeletewow! i've always dreamed of finding a secret room too, like many people by the looks. I share a room with my sister still and the whole experience is kind of getting old :-P
ReplyDeleteMy blogs are my secret rooms, they are "my" world.
ReplyDeleteAV
I have had that dream too. I've always been fascinated with secret passages.
ReplyDeleteI was like that as a kid too!!! I always wanted to find a place with faeries and magic(Like in the Labryinth!). So in a small effort to have a secret place. I have a false bottom drawer in my dresser. :)
ReplyDeletea secret room to where? keep looking and ye shall find, till then, jc
ReplyDeleteI would love to find a secret room!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your search!
I may have to create one...I had a secret orchard once...then, came progress :-( Love your self-portrait! You are multi-talented!
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely enjoying your blog! I always dreamed of secret rooms and I still look for them to this day. One day I will have my own secret room...and my own bathroom with a giant tub but that's a conversation for another day. Again - love the blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks Haley. Mmm a giant tub sounds perfect... I love the ones that are sunken into the ground. Luxury!
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ReplyDeleteThank you so much for putting the link up, I love that Questionable Content website ^^
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the Secret Garden. Not only (spoilers coming up...) was the garden itself hidden behind thick ivy, but there was that brat hidden behind the tapestry. Not a very exciting find, true, but still hidden!
ReplyDeleteI still look for the little green door, even though I am too old to go in it. - Judi.
hai
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