Abandoned House

The bottles are gone from beneath the fallen shelf. Dust coats the remaining shards of glass.

Dry grass grows through the front steps of the house. Inside, the sitting room has settled at an angle, its floor sloping toward a collapsed fireplace. You keep close to the wall as you cross. A low cabinet stands beneath a shuttered window.

The cabinet doors have come off their hinges. Broken glasses cover the bottom shelf, their stems poking through dust. Behind them, a shelf has fallen diagonally across the back. You lift one end and hold it against your shoulder.

A few squat bottles lie underneath. Amber liquid moves slowly as you stand them upright. Their labels have peeled into unreadable curls, but the necks are still wrapped and sealed. An old alcohol smell hangs in the wood around them.

You lift the bottles out one at a time and set the shelf down. Held against a gap in the shutter, the liquid turns copper in the light. You cushion the bottles in your pack and follow the wall back to the door.

You stay by the open doorway. A loose shutter knocks against the side of the house.