The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published an article in today's edition about a house that vanished.Andre Hall, a 40-year-old Pittsburgh resident, recently purchased a home for $31,000. He did a bit of work on the structure, then Hall went away for a week during the year-end holidays. Upon his return, Hall was astonished to discover his new house had disappeared. In its place was a vacant lot. At this point, the story skips to Pittsburgh's Bureau of Building Inspections, responsible for approving demolitions and other property "improvements." So what happened? Well, the bureau's acting chief dryly noted "a couple of things went awry" in l'affaire Hall. One could safely say that a home that vanishes without the knowledge or agreement of its owner is certainly something that "went awry."
The bureau eventually washed its hands of the incident. That has left Hall to legally confront the bureau-hired contractor that allegedly demolished his home as well as the house next to Hall's. The story has the potential to ramble for years toward its destined end.
Meanwhile, one can feast on the speculation this story generates. How did Hall react when he saw that his house had vanished? Did he call the police? Did he believe he was hallucinating? Did he knock on neighbors' doors? Did he laugh? Did he think he was on the wrong street? Did he imagine it was a practical joke? Just what did he think when confronted by this sudden, sharp twist in his life's journey?
The photograph from the Pittsburgh Review-Review shows Mr. Hall standing on his land. "All that's left is this hay," he said.
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