The Room (Flash Fiction)
06/11/2015
The floorboards shook. For a moment, the dust and frayed carpeting were suspended in space. Finally, everything settled back down as if nothing had happened.
The curtains were sucked against the window frames, one succumbing and disappearing out into the bright noonday sun. With bursts of dust off the fragile floral material, the air returned to the room.
For a moment there was silence.
Then the ceiling gave way as crates, picture frames and other discarded memories crashed through from the attic. A large sheet of ceiling board landed perfectly flat on the open space of the room; the attached three-legged chair teetered for a moment in the sitting position before toppling, weakly, over.
Again, the activity subsided but the room creaked and groaned in defiance. Shafts of dusty light gave the room an underwater feel, like a submerged ship on the seabed.
Another wave hit.
This time the outer wall fractured into a single slab, leaning over in slow motion and falling, unhindered, through the splintering beds, floor and rooms below. The sound thundered through the foundations as it hit the basement.
One more impact and the room disappeared.
The camera didn’t survive the demolition. But the memory card did.
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