It’s a sunny day but the bedroom, its windows still shuttered, is dark and foreboding with a damp, slightly fetid odor. I flinch at the sound of hammers on the roof, though I’m glad it will soon be covered in blue tarp, conforming to the current dress code of the neighborhood. HOAs like conformity but have rescinded some rules, for now, including the one that says you cannot park an RV in your driveway. I am sad knowing others have no roof to repair, no walls left standing, no RV and no driveway to park it in if they did.
Eileen Vorbach Collins is a writer from Baltimore living in Florida. Her work has received several literary awards and two Pushcart nominations. Find Eileen at www.eileenvorbachcollins.com and on Twitter and Instagram @evorbachcollins.