The House on Washington Heights¶

2025-02-09

Whenever I finished my dinner at Mojo, I would walk to the bus station and, while I text “aaata 184” to 41411, stare into the depth of Washington Heights. There'd be a house with pointy roofs, decorated with a stream of warm, amber light bulbs, like a beacon in a distance, a distance I couldn't gauge.

For some reason, in the cold, dark night, the house and the lights felt oddly welcoming. They took my hand and brought me to a medieval Danish village where the prince and princess lived happily ever after, a flickering fireplace where there was hearty soup for everyone, a past I'll never relive, and a place I was never born in. A backdrop for all that was good, an age before tragedy was invented. A continent where snow was sweet, an island where birds were free.

My mind wandered down the road and into the house. They were having a banquet and beckoned me to join, as if I was there before and always had been. I'll forge a birth certificate with this house's address on it, just to feel what it's like. I'll wake up to five siblings, just to feel what it's like. I'll go to church and pray, just to feel what it's like. Under the pointy roof with a stream of light bulbs.

Anyway, today I found on Google Maps that the house is actually called “Ronald McDonald House” and all my imagination is now gone.

Author's note¶

The "Ronald McDonald House" in question is 1600 Washington Hts, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA, located at 42.2803°N, 83.7273°W. It is a charity house affiliated with McDonald's. At night, it looks like this:

▲ Credit: Mikki Sharp on Google Maps