A Tall and Small Collection | S2

Recognized

The drive was uneventful at best. The traffic gave her time to think and reminisce. Was she really about to do this? Go back to the apartment? What if they weren't there anymore? What if they'd moved and this was all for nothing? All of these things made a nervous knot in Ashlynn's middle, resting just above her diaphragm.

At any rate, she was committed now as she took that same left turn followed by that immediate right down the street. Emmett hadn't said anything about what the place looked like now, and she could see why the places were being demolished. Many of the roofs looked weathered and worn. The siding was peeling from the building if not chipped. The windows in many of the apartment units seemed to be in good condition, but a few showed signs of the outer seal breaking, letting out essential heat or air. The road needed to be paved, but that always seemed to be an issue.

All of the houses looked livable, but they were in need of serious repair; and repair wasn't cheap. There were a few cars nearby as well as a few self-move truck companies lined up at the doors of some of the houses. Evidently, Grandma Susie wasn't the only one they were waiting on to leave the property. Then again, Emmett said she would be the last person to leave, not that she was the only one in the area.

Ashlynn's eyes glazed over for a moment as she rounded the corner and saw before her, as it always was, her old apartment; and, thankfully, there was a lockbox on the front. It took some convincing, but Ashlynn managed to wheedle the key code from Emmett, making up excuses of wanting to see the old place and that there were some things she tucked away and wanted to see if they were still there.

Technically, it wasn't lying, but she wasn't being completely honest either; and she didn't need to be. She had a promise to keep after all. Stepping out of her car for the first time, she stretched and stared at the apartment unit, thousands of memories rushing over her.

She walked up to the door and punched in the code for the key in the lockbox, fingers hesitantly grasping the key between them. A quick turn and a push and the door swung open. The smell was musty and untouched, but it was still exactly the same as she remembered it. She stepped into the apartment and stared at the empty walls and slightly dusty floors. No furniture. No glasses. No pictures. No sign of anyone living there.

The sight was a melancholy one at best. As Ashlynn stepped into the apartment, she could hear the laughter and see the smiles in the kitchen. She glanced at the corner and, just for a moment, she saw that stupid old mousetrap and the Borrower's leg trapped under it. The place echoed and clicked with each step, the dust beneath her shoes stirring up memory after memory.

She just poked her head into the kitchen when something caught her eye, making her heart sink and her chest ache. There was a mouse trap on the counter. It was untouched, but seeing it stirred an anger in her she hadn't felt in years. It was the same anger of having to deal with something someone left behind carelessly. Part of her wanted to snap the trap out of spite but elected to do it once she left. There were other rooms she wanted to see; and snapping the trap seemed like a good final goodbye to the place. A salute to everything that happened there – everything that started there.

Ashlynn stepped around the corner to her room, staring at the cracking paint and scratched against the floors. She walked back out into the hall and opened the closet door. There was some dust on the shelves, but nothing else out of the ordinary.

Ashlynn wandered through the spare room in the back and the bathroom, noting nothing out of the ordinary. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or heartbroken to see no signs of the Borrowers. Given the circumstances, she should have known they'd be long gone. They took moving seriously and didn't do it without extreme consideration, but that small part of her heart wanted them to be there.