October 23rd, 2023
Percy
Percy's body was resting as still as a corpse, only moving ever so slightly to breathe occasionally. His weighted blanket was wrapped around him in such a way, he thought he might just never get up again, and bright beams of sunlight caressed his body and heated him to the perfect temperature. Usually Percy would be up by sunrise, but today was different. Today was his only day off for the whole week. While Percy was half asleep and half lost in thought, rays of late-morning sun shot through the blinds. They taunted him, they danced around his eyelids and shone as bright as fireworks on the 4th of July. He tried to ignore the light and fall back asleep, but they heaved at his eyelids trying to wake him up. This was, of course, to no avail.
Just when all hope of Percy waking up seemed lost, there was a faint jingling of keys outside the apartment door.
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Daniel
Daniel briefly scanned the number of the apartment door. 207. He carefully set down a brown paper bag, and reached into his coat pocket, scanning the entire space for his keys. It only took a moment for him to realize some of the keychain was stuck in a small rip, and removing it would be difficult. After fighting with the pocket for just a moment, he triumphantly pulled out a large set of keys. The dim illumination from the cheap ceiling chandelier provided just enough light for Daniel to find the correct key. The bright rose-gold key stuck out from all the faded bronze keys, but in low light it was easy to grab the wrong key. After unlocking the door, Dan moved the brown bag into the small apartment with his foot, and locked the door behind him. He hadn't thought it would be that easily to get in, he thought for sure the chain on the door would be done up; It didn't look secure though, it was only screwed on by one stripped and rusted screw, which wasn't enough to keep it from shifting and revealing the old paint job underneath. There was a small crack in the paint, separating the door frame and the wall. Right next to the door was a small kitchen. The cheap plywood counters were poorly painted over, leaving the texture still visible. There was only about 2 feet of counter space, so it didn't matter anyways. Daniel brought the bag onto the tacky counter and pulled out a cast iron skillet, then left it to rest on the stovetop, next to a used mousetrap. He inspected the cupboards and drawers, and found nothing but 2 forks, a chipped plate, and a half used packet of spaghetti. He also noticed the oven was not functional, and in its place was a small toaster oven. The state of this place is, poor, to say the least.
But Daniel was content with his extremely humble abode, and planned on renovating next summer.
After pondering for a while about the state of this apartment, he started to make his way over to the bedroom. Upon opening the door, Daniel noticed a small envelope rested gently on the pillow next to Percy. there was a small red wax stamp concealing the contents of the envelope. After further inspection, Dan noticed the stamp had the shape of an eagle in the middle. The letter inside was practically inviting him to open it, and curiosity got the better of him. Dan gently ripped the wax seal off, trying not to damage the envelope. After successfully retrieving the letter, he noticed it was addressed to him.
