The Witch's House

I will take you back to one of the only recurring dreams I've ever had, and only when I was little. I haven't had the dream since, that I can recall, though I frequently think about it for whatever reason. It's also one of the very few dreams that I have that involve a real place (well, partially).

We have about 3-4 acres of property behind my house, and most of it is a huge valley, so there's my house, then a big hill in the back that leads down into the valley, and there's a little pond down there too. Well, right at the base of the hill is some trees, and we have a big fire pit down there too, and it's surrounded by the sparse trees and off to one side is some woods (very small). In my dream I'm in my back yard, at the top of the hill, peering down at the fire-pit area. That is when I realize that there is a small house in the trees near it. I don't mean a tree-house, I mean a small log cabin in the trees, somehow nestled in there. It's obviously not there in real life, but in the dream nothing is out of place except this random wooden house. A rope ladder hangs down from the bottom, leading into a trap-door on the bottom.

In the dream (for whatever insane reason), I make the ascent into the house.

I honestly remember very little about what was actually in the house, except that it was eerily quiet and shrouded in darkness, with very few light fixtures anywhere to be found. These few lights adorned the walls, and the rest of the house was so dark that I could see basically nothing else, except a miniature "mine-cart" track that traveled the length of the wall, but was cast in darkness further ahead and behind. Being little, and in a dream, with nothing else to do... I climbed into the single mine-cart. It lurched into motion.

It made no sense, because from the outside the house appeared to be very small, but inside, this track just kept going and going and going. This is where I remember seeing/experiencing very terrifying things, though I can't recall a single one of them. I vaguely remember that there were a lot of flashing lights and I suppose it reminds me a little of the original Willy Wonka movie when they're on that boat going through the tunnel and it very briefly gets a bit scary and dark with lots of flashing lights and frightening pictures on the wall. I can't remember what happened, but I know I remember that I discovered a witch lived there, and it wasn't a fun experience.

I had this dream a few times, but never had it again. H o w e v e r .....

Every time I've dreamed of my back yard since, it has been there. I have never entered it again, nor have the inclination to. In fact, I very rarely even dream of my back yard at all, since most of my dreams involve people and places I've never seen.

Recently, I have been thinking about this dream more and more, nearly goading myself to dream about the house again. Two nights ago I dreamed of riding a horse down into the valley, when my dream-self suddenly remembered the Witch's house. I turned to my right to look upon the spot it has been known to reside...... but it was gone.