Rent Control

The notice of eviction was right where I’d left it, taped to the door.

She had changed the locks, so the master key didn’t work.

I looked at the city constable. “You want me to knock again?”

He shrugged.

I knocked so hard my knuckles rang. “Mrs. Mulwray! The constable is here with me. You need to open this door now. Last warning.”

I pressed my ear to the door. Nothing.

I stepped back. The constable motioned to his men, who picked up the battering ram.

The sudden sound of the bolts being drawn back as she opened the door.

 

Friday Fictioneers

14 comments

Add Yours
  1. rochellewisoff

    Dear J Hardy,

    Like Iain, I wonder if she hasn’t prepared and unwelcome for them. At any rate I see the battering ram going right through the wall behind her. Crisp writing. Good one.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

  2. jellico84

    Oh, so horrid an image. I see the battering ram already in motion, killing the woman. (shakes head to rid the image). Powerful scene you’ve created. Good write! :)

  3. James

    Throwing an old woman out on the streets just so you can rent the place out for an obscene amount of money. Reminds me of the San Francisco Bay Area. Ordinary people like me used to be able to afford to live there.

  4. Lynn Love

    She does not want to move out … She should have called the papers. It would be humiliating for the police to be seen dragging an old lady out into the street. Nicelt told tale Iain

  5. Siobhan McNamara

    I like that you used the landlord’s voice to tell the story. It brings the reader right into scene and then gives a ringside seat to the main action. I suspect the police officers are going to end up looking rather foolish!

  6. Michael Wynn

    This left us wondering what comes next, the battering ram’s in motion, the bolt’s being drawn, something’s going to collide with something that it shouldn’t collide with. The result cold be carnage.

  7. handmadejewelryhaven

    Well at least she was alive.
    Most others this week weren’t. :\
    Thank you for the clifthanger!

    – Lisa

Don't just stand there.