it was interesting going on daily walks through that neighborhood, because jim could see when someone moved in, or moved out, he could see the way it slowly changed, day by day.

this time, he noticed a "for lease" sign on one of the houses. some distant part of him had the thought that he could move there, even though obviously, there was no reason to. it was the same sort of silly impulse as finding out a celebrity you like is single, and thinking that you somehow have more of a chance because of it.

the house itself wasn't particularly special or anything, either. it was only the street it was on, the address. empty drive.

there's a house for lease on empty drive.

it was something he had thought casually, but when he actually put the words together, they had a strangely satisfying sound, almost like poetry. there's a house for lease on empty drive.

it repeated as he walked, as he turned the words over in his head. there's a house for lease on empty drive. what would it mean, to lease a house on empty drive? there was something to the idea that you wouldn't even own it. temporarily taking residence on empty drive.

when he finally got closer to the top of that incline at the end of the street, to the sign he liked, he realized how much time he had spent just thinking about the fact that there was a house for lease.

a person was sitting on a chair in their yard as he passed by.

"if you're not busy, can you come over here?" they asked.

normally, he would have been walking on the other sidewalk, to avoid being near them, but he hadn't been thinking about that as he was walking. he was too close to ignore them and pretend he hadn't heard, so he turned to them.

"what is it?" he asked, without approaching.

"you're not busy, are you?" they said it more like it was a statement, with a kind of confidence that bothered him, a little bit.

"well, i mean, i'm not, but..."

"i could tell," they said. "you were walking so slowly."

he supposed he must have been. he hadn't really been thinking about it.

"can you come over here?" they repeated.

he finally relented, stepping along the path through their yard, to their chair. there was an empty chair next to them, but he didn't sit down.

"what is it?"

"is something on your mind?" they said slowly.

something about the question, and the way they asked it, made him feel strange.

without thinking, he answered. "there's a house for lease on empty drive," he said, as if it meant anything, as if it made any sense to tell them.

he was baffled at his own response, but it was too late. he'd already said it.

they didn't seem concerned or confused, and only seemed a little bit surprised. "there is, isn't there?"

the entire interaction was so strange, so bizarre, so meaningless. why was he even talking to them? why was that how they responded to his inane statement?

still, as odd as it was on the surface, a part of him accepted it, somehow. "there is," he just said, in a blank, empty sort of tone.

"and there's a special kind of significance to it, isn't there? something about it that has a hold on your mind. what is that?"

"it's..." it took him a minute to even figure out what to say. "the sound of it, and... the idea of it..."

he had the sense that he was in a trance. he wasn't sure exactly why it was happening, but it didn't particularly feel like it mattered.

"why don't you come have a seat?" they asked, gesturing to the empty chair next to them. "have a seat, in the yard, of a house, on empty drive."

he realized how absurd it was, he realized that it didn't make sense for someone to talk like that, but he still sat down, the words settling into his mind, echoing in his thoughts.

"that's it... there's something satisfying about that rhythm, isn't there?"

"there is," he said.

"and as you repeat that sort of phrase... everything else disappears, doesn't it? until you feel empty... the way you would expect to feel... on empty drive."

he slowly leaned back in the chair.

"there you go... just relaxing... leaning back... just like that, jim..."

a quiet, distant part of him did notice that they knew his name, and yet, as surprising and mysterious as it felt, it didn't disturb his relaxation.

"leaning back... in a chair... near a house... on empty drive."

it really was like poetry.

"letting go... becoming trapped... no escape... on empty drive."

the sudden escalation and intensity still didn't disturb him, the shock only driving the words deeper into his empty mind.