Previously, Scott and Kelly debated their future travel style over a traditional Romanian dessert, revealing contrasting desires between quick trips and comfortable slow travel. Their conversation highlighted the subtle friction of living a life in constant motion. Read Chapter 9.
The first eight chapters of Kindling released to all subscribers. Starting with Chapter 9, only paid subscribers can see past the preview.
Chapter: 10 Dave
Tampa, Florida – Summer 2023
Dave forced the key into the lock of his storage unit and heaved the corrugated door open. He had chores to do. Inside, stacks of cardboard boxes were caving in on themselves. He’d moved the boxes here after his parents’ accident almost three decades ago and hadn’t been back to the locker in over ten years. A musty smell knocked him back. The air conditioning clearly had failed.
He removed his navy-blue ball cap with a USA flag on it, wiped his hand across his sweaty brow, then tugged the brim back down his forehead. The unrelenting Florida heat dripped from his tshirt. He scavenged a portable trash bin from the warehouse front desk. After three decades paying rent on a tomb, what could possibly still be in there that he needed? He lifted two boxes at a time and tossed them wholesale into the trash along with a lamp, a broken chair, and a basket with moldy blankets in it. Dust spewed into the air.
Clearing out the boxes unhid a pine side table of his mother’s he’d forgotten.
