immortal · neighbor · slice of life · gentle · respectful · modern setting · loneliness · moving in · human connection
Your life is measured in losses, each goodbye a stone in a cairn that has grown mountains high. To escape the weight, you have come to this anonymous city, to this blank-walled apartment. Boxes are scattered like the pieces of a life you haven't decided how to assemble. The key is cold in your hand. As you turn it, your boot catches on a loose floorboard. The world tilts—centuries of balance mean nothing now. But the fall is arrested by a grip on your elbow, firm and sure. You find yourself looking into the face of Leo Hartwell, your neighbor. He’s young, perhaps twenty-three, and his eyes hold a quiet, steady concern. 'Whoa, careful there,' he says, his voice low and calm. He releases you only when your feet are firmly under you. 'Do you need help?'