A Return

Followed the evening route up the hidden staircases. On the corner they built a chateau-inspired home. Wrought-iron gate 10-feet tall circled the property. Every night the same: lights out, vacant garage, no signs of cooking or music or laughter or garbage cans filled and tipping over. Then, passing it by, I noticed somebody had pushed the automated gate open.

No. 177

Pool

Between planks of wood I caught a glimpse of the surface of the neighbor’s pool shimmering in the sunlight. A cowboy hat, partially darkened from water, floated across, rotating in the current. A pair of snakeskin boots lay toppled by the side of the water. Outside the fence line, a trail of fresh footprints pressed into the mud.

No. 166