And Then Autumn Arrived
The feeling of newness to the condo was hard to be avoided. Surely, the construction of the place was over forty years ago, but the interior had been scrubbed and more-than-spit-washed. Darryl realized he had struck a pose in the middle of the living room with a dish rag in his hand and his bald head gleaming with sweat.
The last box had been destroyed by his hands, just fifteen minutes ago. Life affords everyone second and third chances. This condo was to become his second. He had no idea what had happened to him back in Washington. Perhaps it was being locked up all winter when the snows came; the summers that had an eerie stillness to them before rain. Whatever the case may be, he cleaned everything, moved what few items he had to Florida and found this fantastic deal on this condo.
This very clean and very new inside condo.
He walked out to the alley way, folding the box with such precision, that one might have thought he took some kind of Japanese art class to have mastered it. He tucked the cardboard between the garbage cans where seven other last boxes where now housed.
He was done with the boxes. Now he could enjoy his life.
He moved back into the living room and removed the glass top of his coffee table, careful not to add finger prints. To make sure, he held it to the evening's light through the far window to make sure it was still clean. He placed it on a clean blanket to the right of him. His keys scissored the lock and he looked in.
The research had worked. Inside the cedar and pine trunk of his construction, the insulating layer of plastic and foam had not deteriorated one bit. He placed a palm on them they were not even warm. The Renuzits, all cinnamon flavored, banked the interior and made the fetid aroma greatly reduce--and the mummification had begun on the young victim's body.
He sighed and looked at the calendar he had placed on the back door. Today was officially the first day of Autumn. Halloween would be soon.
"Poor bloke. Over state lines, and still no one has asked me about you," Darryl hit the side as if the body understood the joke.
He was going to love the fall in Florida.
