E
verything was different. The hardwood was polished, the rugs replaced. The wallpaper was modern and geometric with a metallic sheen, the old one forgotten. The little hallway seemed vast now that it wasn’t crowded with bookcases filled to the brim. The furniture was all gone, the knickknacks too. Those that took their place were fewer, smaller. Or larger, more eye-catching, like the artwork. The bathroom was blue, the computer room just storage.
Yes, everything was different. But this was still the floor where she’d cried herself to sleep in a sleeping bag, because all her friends wanted to grow up and she didn’t.