Wednesday January 20th, 2016

The exercise:

Write about: the dump.

Our fridge had been teetering toward complete failure in recent weeks, with the freezer compartment not working properly since we returned from our Christmas vacation. And it was getting more and more vocal about its issues.

So yesterday Kat and I bit the bullet and went out and bought a new one. It's slightly larger than the old one, which is nice. Also: it doesn't sound like a helicopter just before it crash lands.

I took the old fridge to the dump (thus today's prompt) and the new one already feels like it's been here forever. Probably helps that it's the same colour, and we've got all of the same pictures and things on its front now.

Oh, so Kat is taking Max to music class again. Started up last Wednesday morning. He loved it and didn't want to leave at the end. This morning she was all, Guess where we're going today? Music class! Aren't you excited?

Max: But I want to go to daycare.

Kids, you guys.

Mine:

I sit on the sunken couch in the living room, my only blanket wrapped tight around my shivering body. It's always cold in here. Maybe if the window in the kitchen actually closed properly the baseboards might stand a chance of making a difference.

The neighbours are fighting again. I'm not sure which ones. All of them sound the same when they're yelling like this. Maybe they're all fighting at once. With each other, even.

I'm hungry but I don't want to move. Besides, the stove only works around fifty percent of the time. It would be soul crushing to walk across the frigid floor, dig some canned soup out of the cupboards, find the cleanest pot to warm it up in, and then turn on the element only to have it do nothing.

I don't think I could handle that right now.

Ordering in isn't an option either. The pizza guy refuses to come to my street after the second time he got mugged in the stairwell. And the Chinese place won't even answer my calls. Can't say I blame them, what with the white supremacists on the first floor. Not that I've got any cash to pay for it. Plus I always feel bad when I'm not able to tip them.

I need to get out of this dump. Find somewhere better. Something safer, with working locks on all the doors and maybe some proper security measures in the lobby. A building with reliable heat and electricity and...

Who am I kidding? I don't got the money for that either.