This started out as a brief dream as I was falling asleep
Closing down a building
It’s been regularly closed every day for years, at least on weekdays
The closing is no different this time
Except it won’t be opened again
The locks that are now freshly oiled, will corrode and may not be able to be opened again
The shades over the windows will deteriorate in the sun
The roof, freshly patched, will develop holes
The papers out on the desks, now all current, will gradually become antiques
The people leaving today do not know for sure that this will happen
they hope they will return in a few days
but they do not know
A man touches a doorknob as he leaves
Thinking he will never touch it again
It’s a working doorknob now
But likely the next time someone comes through
it will be too old to use
or the door may have fallen off its hinges
The corridors, up until now filled with busy people, working
Will now be empty
There may be mice and spiders, at least for a while
There is still food in some of the desks
And in the refrigerators on each floor
People don’t have time to get it out
The people hope they will be back in a few days to eat it
But they won’t and the mice will eat what is left
A feral cat lurks in the shadows behind the building
He will get to eat some of the mice
He won’t be there long, though.
He’s been raiding the garbage and there won’t be fresh garbage
The displaced people go back to homes that they can no longer afford to pay rent on
The homes will be abandoned too
As the city turns into a ghost town
There is no future
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