Unearned Majority

Like ripples in a pond, the cup shivered with every step around the small kitchen table. The flies inferred a stagnate nature, but what had happened? Flash of light erupted the landscape, and the tiles smiled back with their malaise. Footsteps bore large arches as the dust and duff that had settled on the floor crunched under each careful step. The backdoor was left open, and nature had let itself in. The room wasn’t that put together, but everything seemed to be where it had been carefully and illogically placed, except for the television, which used to hang with despair in the corner of the room somehow found its way to the center of the carpeted bathroom- this place was truly hateful. Dark spots speckled under the toilet, which only made the room reek stale.

Outside, the scene was set in what seemed like a failure. The table had two candles, two plates, and one empty glass of wine. The suspected second glass was broken on the side of the house. Worry and wonder lead the investigator into the garage where there seemed to be nothing but an orderly everyday mess. Except for a single cigarette butt that sat within the threshold of the garage. Along the walkway to the garage from the backyard laid a myriad of cigarette butts- from Marlboro to Pall Malls, which made this one single cigarette seem queer. Camel Wides Unfiltered, who would be so careless?

This particular residence had kept a seemingly small company for the last fifteen years, so what had happened to require such an investigation? There wasn’t a death, but a total vacancy- flee even.

The grass was overgrowing, which didn’t signify much. The upkeep had been lacking for some time now. The lawnmower’s gas tank had gasoline in it at one time, but now the gas had turned to a gel- the investigator would miss this detail. It would be a long journey to find out exactly what had happened to the house with a cracking foundation, but who would put in the time? The cause of these events would matter to none, where facts are moot.

What mattered was that people lived here at some point and at some point decided to abandon the area, but for what reason? The universe was not ready for us to go venturing out into the unknown, and with every attempt at a cleansing, people seemed to persevere, well until now, but foul play didn’t seem to be at the center of it. The energy wasn’t malice, nor was it maudlin. The energy was dead. The care that took place near the fortieth year of the house’s existence was for naught. Patchwork littered the arena. Somebody cared at some point, but it might as well be too late because the work didn’t fix anything within the infrastructure. Granted, nothing collapsed, and nobody was hurt- it was just ugly. A blight on humanity’s ability to care, which was meant to be swept under the rug.

Lethargy unearned the majority.