“How long can I stay?” Elena asked.
That was a lie, of course. There were always vacancies. home for wayward travellers
Up the creaking stairs, past doors with no numbers, only whispers. Room 7 was small, warm, unbearably kind. The window showed not a view, but a memory: a fork in a forest path, one side overgrown with brambles, the other still wet from recent rain. The Elena in the memory stood at the crossroads for a long, long time. “How long can I stay
The sign swung on a single rusted hinge, creaking a confession in the wind: HOME FOR WAYWARD TRAVELLERS . Beneath it, someone had scratched in charcoal: No vacancies. Ever. Up the creaking stairs, past doors with no
Behind a counter of scarred walnut stood the Keeper. She had no name, or perhaps she’d forgotten it. Her eyes were the color of rain on pavement. She didn't ask Elena why she’d come. She never did.