Skeleton from the Closet: An Excerpt

The following is a short excerpt from my novel Skeleton from the Closet.

I ascend the stairs and throw open the door to the south bedroom, where Uncle Hal slept. Since I moved in, the room has been practically untouched. Its only contents that remained in my memory were the big TV, an Atari game console, and the centered bunk bed where junk was always piled on the top bunk.

I wrinkle my nose at the room’s musty odor and cross the floorboards to one of two windows. With both hands, I struggle to shove the window open; it slowly budges with a faint groan. I sneeze at the dust I’ve dislodged. I do the same with the other window, parallel to the bed. I stand at one of the windows and breathe in honeysuckle. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a white closet door on my right. I hadn’t realized this room had two closets. I glance across the room at the other original, paneled closet door.

I remove everything from the entertainment center, break it down, and carry the pieces out to the wheeled dumpster. Daydreaming about how the room will someday look, I take armloads of electronic gadgets to the garage, a small structure facing the back alley. I sweep the floor around the furniture and under the bed. Surveying the room with a smile, I observe that it’s drab, but I see most of the scratched hardwood floor, and the room is spacious when…