There’s only one additional picture of the inside of the apartment. It’s the kitchen/living/dining room, and it leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a wood burning stove in frame, but other than that, all I can see is a door that probably leads to the bedroom. The flooring is ancient and in desperate need of help. The walls are not much better, with insulation poking out from behind ripped up drywall.
Still, I’m not deterred.
I scroll through the listing, ignoring the text in favor of finding the price tag.
“Sixty-two thousand dollars!”
Oscar meows in distress.
“Sorry, baby, I’m just surprised,” I say, coaxing him back into eating.
“This can’t be right,” I mumble as I scroll back up.
The listing is not super detailed but emphasizes that the place needs work. Well, no shit, but what else? Does it have water damage? Did someone die there? Is it haunted?
Ah, here it is.
“Previous owner passed away, had no children or next of kin. Lot has been in the care of—care of. Right.” I blow a raspberry and Oscar chitters. “C. Monty, auction winner, for thirty-nine years.”
I nibble my thumbnail as the scents of turmeric and curry permeate the air behind me. I scroll back to the photos, swapping between them as my brain screams irrational things at me.
The microwave beeps loudly and I put my phone down. I plop the meal on the counter and grab a spoon to dig in.
“Thirty-nine years is a long time to be abandoned. It would be a mess,” I say to Oscar.
He doesn’t look up from his food.
I peel back the clingfilm and the aroma hits me even harder. My stomach rumbles loudly but I know I have to wait, or I’ll burn the shit out of my mouth.
“Wisconsin is such a hick place to live, right? I mean it’s farmland…”
I grab my phone and look up Dashbern.
“Huh, it’s super far north, and next to the great lake. It’s really foresty. That’s kinda nice.”
I scroll through a few Boogle photos. A picture of thick, blue-hued snow covering pine trees with a frozen sheet of ice leading deeper into the frigid lake stops my heart.
“Oh, it’s enchanting.” I crouch beside Oscar to show him the photo.
He glances at the screen while chowing down and makes a non-committal “mrawmrawm,” while munching.
“I think it’s enchanting.”
Sixty-two thousand dollars…
I swap over to my banking app, and the facial recognition login scans me through the dim glow of my phone screen. My twoaccounts pop up; checking with a grand total of $3,396.97, which perfectly covers my bills and my tight budget for the month, and savings, $28,047.32.
“Could I get a loan?”
I scroll down to “Open an Account” and select “Loans.” I select “Business Loan” and there’s abuttloadof information that comes up that I need to enter, so I go back and select “Personal Loan” instead.
“If I use fifteen thousand as a down payment, and finance sixty thousand so I’ll have some money to work with for repairs…forty-eight months at seven percent will cut my monthly housing costs by a third.
“But then I have to be a successful business for all forty-eight of those months, or I will go bankrupt quickly.”
I sigh and turn back to my premade meal.
“Am I really considering this?”
