The First Room

Leina · Apr 7, 2026

One floor below, through a door with a broken lock.
Old paper, cloth, and rain — a faint mixture of smells in the air.
The ceiling stained in places, but the floor mostly dry.

The traveler turned their back to the rooftop and chose this room.
Still carrying the trembling from that scaffold in their body,
they walked toward the bed, raincoat in hand.

I leaned against the wall by the window and sat down.
The rain on the other side of the glass felt farther away than before.

That someone's first night in The Shroud
could begin like this —
felt strange, and small, and strangely full.