The entrance hall hasn’t been used since Doug was killed in Vietnam, the boxes that crowd the narrow space crammed with paper and old clothes and God knows what else.
In the kitchen, four refrigerators, two so overstuffed that the doors are bungeed closed, cereal boxes, rotten fruit, stale Walmart muffins in the 30-pack, gallons of milk swollen like basketballs, the expiration dates two years ago.
As you go into the house it only gets worse–narrow passages between heaps of paper, boxes of broken toys, desks bursting with notebooks full of illegible handwriting.
The curtains are always closed.
This story is a fragment inspired by a much larger piece you can read here. There’s also another connected story. Message me if you’re interested.
This paints such a vivid picture. Very sad.
When hit by disasters we tend to change… I love how you just showed what you “saw”… yet it told a story…
Yes, very vivid — the sights and the smells, and the incredibly sad implication of what’s happened to this woman in her depression and grief. And even worse, that it’s gone on for so long, and that nobody seems to be there or be able to help her. Excellent piece.
I agree with previous commenters. You really paint a picture with your description. Nicely done!
Very well depicted… I almost felt I was there. Good job.
Sudden death of a loved one can be so traumatic. You’ve portrayed that so very well.
Sadily you paint a very real scenario, a picture that I have witnessed. Life’s turned upside down. Well written.
Very depressing result of tragedy and vividly told
What a sad story — the hoarding and the sorrowful loneliness it depicts!
Great descriptions, especially “gallons of milk swollen like basketballs”, brilliant imagery, perfectly sums up a very sad situation. Gorgeous stuff.
Great scene, it plays like a head-movie. Very sad situation, not uncommon.
You’ve built the scene so well – I can see it all. What a tragic situation.