Oh sleep, such a beautiful thing. Last night I became reacquainted with the inside of my eyelids. They are really quite nice and I really wish I knew them better. So well rested in the middle of the week, I actually feel ready to face the morning. So let’s start off with the morning prompt and then tackle that todo list. Ready? Excellent.
Again, I feel like I was just getting into the story when the timer dinged. I did a bit of floundering before that, but that isn’t a bad thing. I just kind of wanted five more minutes this morning.
Wednesday, October 27th: Everything was covered in dust.
Everything was covered in dust. It was clear at first glance that no one had been here in a long time. The house had a waiting feel to it, rather than an abandoned one. He took a deep breath and though the difference might be in the scent. Bran had been in many an abandoned building before this and they almost all had the same scent to them; mold creeping damp and the possible addition of rodent.
This had none of those. It was dusty, but it was a clean dry dust. There was no scent of mildew or damp anywhere. It felt more like someone tidied up, went on vacation and then as a prank someone coated what remained with dust.
He could almost hear someone’s giggle at the thought of playing such a prank on such a dedicated housekeeper.
He shook the thought away and continued his tour of the house. Behind him he could hear the realtor taking a few careful steps behind him. The distance was calculated. Bran smiled to himself and wondered if the realtors practiced the distance.
‘Close enough to answer questions, far enough so that they don’t appear to be hovering.’
He knew that it was part of the sale strategy, but it didn’t really matter. Bran decided to purchase the property before they even arrived for the tour. The tour was to aid him in lowering the price to something more reasonable. He wanted the house and the property, but he didn’t want to pay the overly inflated price they thought it could command. Given that he was the only interested party to view the property since it went on the market, he didn’t think lowering the price would be too difficult. He just needed to remember not to look too eager.
Bran strolled from room to room on the ground level floor, taking in the sight. His feet left small imprints in the dust showing his path. He moved around forgotten pieces of furniture to tap on walls and peer into closets and cabinets. He paused to take in a view from one of the windows, then seeing the realtor move in to comment about the views, he turned, dismissing the sight.
It was better than he imagined it would be. He thought the house would be in worse condition, or the property hopeless. While it would take a lot of work, it was perfectly situated to complete his plans. He finished the tour and they would up back in the kitchen. The refrigerator and stove were removed and their empty spaces were glaring gaps like missing teeth.
‘I would have replaced them anyway.’ He thought.
“I should point out to you Sir,” the realtor began. “Development on this site is extremely limited.”
Bran listened as the realtor listed off the details about laws restricting commercial development. He knew all of the details, had researched them well before looking at the property. Still it was nice to hear his research confirmed. ‘And I can’t really blame him for my reputation.’
Bran worked on many a highly publicized commercial development plan in the past. In fact in the last few years it had been his main business focus. But a month ago things changed. His world was turned upside down and he was still trying to adjust. This property would be part of the adjustment, or so he hoped.
Ten til Midnight 