Chapter 21 - The Staircase
Grace was thirteen when the Bennett house came up for sale again.
The owners who bought after Margaret lost it were moving.
A listing appeared online.
I saw accidentally.
The staircase.
Same railing.
New paint.
Different rug.
My hands went cold.
Noah closed laptop.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Want never see?”
“Yes.”
Then next day I reopened.
Dr. Morris said:
“You don’t need to return.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to?”
“I don’t know.”
Eventually, I did.
Not to reclaim.
Open house.
Public.
No Bennett family.
No drama.
Noah came.
Grace asked to come.
I said no initially.
Then she said:
“It happened to me too.”
True.
She had been inside me.
But memory was mine, not hers.
We discussed therapist.
Grace decided not to go.
“I don’t need stairs.”
Wise.
I went with Noah.
The house smelled like lemon cleaner.
New family photos on walls.
A realtor handed brochure.
I walked toward staircase.
Heart pounding.
Yellow sleeper.
Margaret’s hands.
Ethan’s nod.
Floor.
I placed one hand on railing.
Walked up.
One step.
Another.
At top, I turned.
Nothing happened.
No symbolic victory.
My legs shook.
I cried.
Noah waited.
I walked down slowly.
Then left.
I never returned.
The house sold.
May you like
To strangers.
Good.
