I Haven't Seen It Close
The silver car's dome light is on now. It wasn't before. Someone opened a door and I haven't seen it close.
This one goes to a heavy place. If you’d rather not read it tonight, that’s a fine choice — support resources are here.
there's a car on level three that's been there every night this week. silver, older, parked nose-out in the corner where the camera doesn't quite reach. i know where the cameras reach now. that's a thing i know about my life. i park on two but the elevator's broken so i take the ramp up and past it every night around 2.
tonight there was someone in it. not doing anything, just sitting low in the seat, face turned toward the stairwell. i didn't slow down. i did the thing where you keep your pace exactly normal so whoever it is doesn't know you noticed, keys already threaded through my fingers the way my mom taught me without ever saying why. got to my car. locked it before the seatbelt was on. sat there with the engine running and made myself not look in the mirror, and then looked. the dome light in the silver car was on now. it wasn't before. someone had opened a door. i'm typing this from my own car three spots away, because if i call someone it's real and if i drive off i have to pass the ramp. the light's still on. i haven't seen the door close.
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