Flood

In the empty valley stands a house. It has stood there for a century, but it had drifted away from the ones surrounding it, or perhaps it was the other houses that had drifted.

In the house lives a man who is mute, or maybe just never speaks. He has made many attempts at excising the hills that form a barrier around the area, but they are relentless. He keeps trying because he does not want to find out what would happens if he stopped.

The house has been grown larger but most of its rooms are inaccessible now. Many doors are stuck, but even the open rooms are slowly being swallowed. The man lives in the kitchen now. He had moved his bed into the room. The bed is an old thing, with the mattress sagging even under his low weight.

Sometimes the man makes plans. He finds that they are best used as kindling. He is content when he sticks to his routine.