Vivian
Squatter’s rights. I had dreamed of them since I was a kid.
Staring at the document pasted on the dilapidated door of my New York flat, my eyes welled with tears. The heading of the notice mocked me with big, inky-black letters: “Notice to Vacate”. The death knell to everything I’d been working towards my entire adult life.
“You've got to be fucking kidding me,” I miserably half-laughed, half-croaked, to myself.
I was a meager four months away from legally claiming the property through Adverse Possession.Four. Fucking. Months.I could practically taste the sweet relief of stability. Officially having a home to call my own…
Now, that hope was gone.
I ripped the paper from the chipped blue paint and stomped into the space that I considered as good as mine. What’d once been an open-concept workspace for start-ups had become my sanctuary. Not my first choice in comfort, neighborhood,oraesthetics, but that didn’t really matter to me. I'd lived without stable housing since running away at twelve.This place beat sleeping in parks and on the couches of sketchy ass people, afraid to close my eyes at night.
The room was cold—aged concrete, rusty metal, and yellowing glass—but I’d found ways to warm it up. Working fast food didn’t exactly provide a decorating budget, but years of propagating an army of plants added much-needed life and vibrancy to the space. I made things“homey” with the limited resources I had.
My face twisted into a grimace when I looked at the wall I’d marked with chalk tallies over the years—counting down until I could file the paperwork to claim this place as mine. Every squatter's dream. I’d done everything right in building my legal case for ownership, and now none of it mattered.
In just a few weeks, what little security I’d built would be gone. I didn’t have a backup plan.
“Mreeeeeoowwww.”
My damp eyes blinked down to my cat, Nurghle, who rubbed on my swollen ankles affectionately while noisily complaining about my absence. Anotherlovelyfourteen-hour shift on my feet. Everything hurt.
“Sorry, buddy,” I sniffled, scooping him into my arms and carrying him to our mattress on the floor.
I fell onto the bed and buried my face into the soft fur of his stomach, allowing it to soak up my tears. His purring couldn’t magically fix all the pain, fear, and rage… but damn if it didn’t make a shitty day feel alittleless shitty.
Up until I saw that notice on my door, I thought the worst of my day would be passing out at the register at work. Closely followed by repeatedly fleeing to the bathroom to heave up myguts. Coworkers complained, but I couldn’t afford to call out sick anymore.
This had been happening for months: fevers, vomiting, fainting, weakness, and body aches. The symptoms were getting worse, and nothing I did helped. At this point, I was just hoping to not beliterallydying. Health insurance was a luxury I couldn’t afford, so there was no way to be sure.
The world was spinning. My vision started to fill with black blotches. These episodessucked, but at least I was home for this one. I hugged Nurghle a little tighter and closed my eyes.
Feeling overwhelmed about that letter wasn’t helping, but how could I not be? I just wanted to be healthy, safe, and have a place to call my own. Was that so much to ask for?!Apparent-fucking-ly.
“Mreeeooooowwwwww!”
“What, buddy?”
I peeked an eye open in response to the sound of distress. His black fur was so bright it was practically chocolate brown, as if directly under a lamp.
I looked down.
What the fuck?! I’m the lamp?!
My head jerked back as I realized I wasglowing. Electricity was pulsing through my veins. Hairs rose along my arms. Nurghle’s fur stood on end, too. He tried to wiggle away, but in my panic I clung tighter.
“What’s happening?!” My voice was shrill as I frantically scooted across my mattress, trying to run away from… what, myself?
Being struck by lightning didn’t make myextensivelist of unfortunate life experiences, but I had to imagine what happened next was par for the course. A blinding white-yellow light. All my muscles contracting at once. Sparks igniting in every cell of my body.
I was being torn to pieces. Smoke drifting through the air. Wisps of cloud ripping apart until nothing was left. The tip of a joint set ablaze, inhaled, and extinguished. The pain of crumbling to ash only to be lit once more by some bitch with a crappy butane lighter. Again. And again.
Then it was over. And everything felt… fine?
I opened my eyes.
Gold. Everywhere. Precious gems. Warm light. I stood in an open pavilion with white marble columns, a shallow crystal-clear pool, and fountain spouts trickling streams of water down gilded walls. The rich environment was accented by beautiful foliage twisting around the opulent features. The pool was occupied by a handful of men and women, naked, indulging in drinks, sex, and platters of odd fruit.
