The Old House: Fantasy

"Thirty million dollars if you earn it at the old plantation house down by the bayou." That was the inheritance in her aunt's will. Maura stared at the lawyer, waiting for him to make a joke and say, "No, actually, what she says here is that you can have her collection of Mardi Gras beads. She says that you could probably sell them for a couple hundred dollars, but she hopes that you'll keep them because of the history involved." And Maura would nod and smile and take the beads and keep them, because there's poor and then there's so poor you sell your own history, and she wasn't the latter, not yet. "Thir--thirty million?" she asked, stunned. "That's what its says right here, Miss." "I'm sorry, but my aunt was not a wealthy woman." "Ah, yes, this next line explains that. It is your heritage, though you don't know it yet. It was my heritage but I did not succeed in the last test and so became only a caretaker living on an annuity--and a very poor one at that. I fear that after my dear husband died I ceased to even be that, since the memories associated with our old house were so very painful that I could not bear to live there. I moved away to Arizona and boarded the old place up. I recently asked a young acquaintance to go visit the house before I wrote this will, and I'm afraid I must warn you that time and vandals have not been kind to the old place. Yet you must live there for a period no less than one full year, covering both solstices, before you can inherit, and you must do your best in regards to the old place. Your best has always been better than--"


Inspiration: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ant_43/9308207938/
Story potential: High.
Notes: I like this. I'm thinking there's lots of cleaning up and culture shock moments and history and fun stuff to be done here, plus a whole variety of paranormal *something*--and I think the thirty million is an estimate of earnings doing some job associated with the place over the course of her lifetime, not a lump sum to be handed out. Hotelkeeper to things from other dimensions? Something. Maybe that's too cliche. Some kind of guardian/servant of a higher power? Also cliche. Could be a lot of fun, though.