The Old Blue Chair

The Old Blue Chair

By Paul McCann

Nazareem Deanby was a very wealthy young man who had made his fortune by taking advantage of people down on their luck . He lent money at high interest and bought old house's to renovate and resell for twice as much as he purchased them for and often refused to pay wages to many people who had worked for him .  He was responsible for putting many people in hardship and had no conscience for the things he did , all he was interested in was making money.  

After noticing an auction for a deceased estate, he immediately went to secure that property . As usual he was successful in the auction and the house was sold to Nazareem Deanby who had no desire to live in the house , it was just an investment for him . He went on the prowl to find some small builders who were doing it tough and offered them a huge pay packet for working on the old house but in reality he would never pay them what he offered , Usually after the work would be completed he would orchestrate faults in their work and make complaints then refuse to pay them . He had been doing this for years and still owed many people money for the work they had done for him . Some elected to accept the offer he had made which normally be one quarter to what he had promised them , Nazareem was very shrewd , nothing was ever written down on paper , all his agreements were made by word of mouth .

He managed to find a man who was just starting out as a builder and was able to hire him to work on the deceased property. Before the work commenced Nazareem went through the old place like a vulture picking through things that were lying around ‘

Most of it was worthless junk .Some mouldy old books and photos still sitting on a dirty old bookcase . There were cardboard boxes filled with old clothes , Broken spades and shovels , a rusted wheelbarrow with no wheel , some old wringer buckets with filthy mops . There were tattered old rugs covered in dust and dirt . But in the corner of the shed he saw an interesting old blue wooden chair . He brushed off the cobwebs around it and had a closer look at it , something about the chair intrigued him . It was like a relic from times past He took the old blue chair and put it into his car and left the property .

When he returned home to his big two storey mansion, he wiped the old chair and placed it by the window in his bedroom . It looked like a trophy sitting there inside his bedroom .

This old chair had character and seemed to have a story to tell . It had something about it that drew attention to it .

Later that evening Nazareem was feeling tired and decided to go to bed early  Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he heard a squeaking sound coming from the chair which made him sit up in bed .  Then a voice spoke to him

“The things I have seen and the things I have heard . Arguments and tears over many long years “

Nazareem sat there in shock .

“Who are you “

He asked ,

The chair replied ,

“I am the chair that you chose to bring into your home . I am the voice of many generations who have sat and wept and sighed and cried for justice . I have seen the sorrow of parents and children . I have been there with families and watched murders and bashings . I have seen windows being smashed and rooms being thrashed. I have seen many bad times and many sad things and still the story goes on with you .”

Nazareem was unable to get out of bed and screamed out .

““I must be having a bad dream . This is not happening “

‘The chair replied ,

“There is no escape now for you and it’s your time to see for yourself the things that I have seen and those who sat and rested on me “

One by one someone appeared on the chair to tell a story of suffering and hardship . Theu have all at one time lived or had visited that old house where the chair had come from . Some were old lonely people who had died in the blue chair with sickness and pain . Nazareem heard the screaming and seen them helplessly calling out for help but the only one in the room was  Nazareem .He saw widows crying in grief for their husbands who had gone to fight in wars and never returned . “

Nazareem was screaming out for mercy but the chair continued with its stories of the past and then suddenly into the room walked others , one by one they sat in the chair and told their own story of what Nazareem had dome to them personally .

Each individual sat in the chair and spoke about the unpaid wages and how his cruel ways had brought into their lives stress and conflict which resulted in suicide , sickness and breakups in marriages .

Nazareem begged for mercy but none was given then the chair called him over to sit down and make an apology for everything he had done and try to explain the reason why he had been so greedy and cruel .

He was assisted to the chair by an unseen force that never allowed him to leave  He started to talk . His voice trembled with fear .

“How can I ever repay for all the bad things I have dome . Now I can see for myself what has resulted because of my actions “

After the long dark night someone called to Nazareems home . It was the new builder that had been hired to work on the deceased estate . The front door of the home was left open and after calling for a while with no answer the young builder went inside to see if everything was ok .

After he found Nazareem dead in the chair . The young man called the police who arrived . Afterwards an autopsy was able to show that Nazareem had died of a heart attack . With no family of friends, he was buried in a grave in a cemetery not far from the old house he had just and bought at auction . There was no one at his funeral and the only words spoken for him was the grave digger who said ,

“And in the end, all that you made is worthless , the only thing you have is your soul . The rest is buried here in a deep hole “

Nazareem had no friends or family and as he had never made a will after his death an administrator distributed the estate according to the rules of intestacy . The state received all his wealth .’

The End