Municipal assignment
The Place Department
A key. A file number. An apartment that was supposed to be empty. The lights were already on.
The apartment is a file the department has not closed.
The night
From the counter to the unit
01 — The counter
Sign the file
The clerk stamps the assignment and slides a key across the wood. The drawer sticks on the way shut.
02 — The apartment
Unit 4
The floor plan matches. The rooms do not. Someone has already been living by the inventory.
03 — After hours
The walk back
The department closes at five. The building does not. Your file is still on the desk.
The building
Who keeps the file
Assigned
The Resident
Your name is on the file in a hand you do not remember practicing.
The counter
The Clerk
Stamps the unit vacant. Does not explain why the lamp was warm.
Next door
The Neighbor
Has lived here longer than the building has had this address.
The keys
The Superintendent
The ring is heavier than the doors in the hallway.