Elliot Grey's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Elliot Grey set the last box down in the middle of the empty floor. The studio felt too big for one person. Boxes leaned against bare brick walls. He told himself he was here to start over. He just didn't know what that meant yet. He plugged in the small television first. The dark screen stared back at him like a flat, open eye. It made the room feel hollower, not fuller. He sat on the floor and watched his own dim reflection sit with him. He opened the last box. Inside, wrapped in newspaper, was a figurine she had bought him once. A faceless samurai under a straw hat, sword raised mid-strike. He held it in both hands. He couldn't remember why he liked it. He couldn't remember if he ever had. A knock came at the door. Soft, patient. He knew who it was. He didn't move. He waited until the footsteps faded down the hall. Elliot looked at the figure in his palm, then at the empty shelves, then at the dark screen. He set the samurai down on the floor, right where he was sitting. Not a home for it. Just a place. Tomorrow, he decided, he would open the door.