The Storage Room

The Forgotten Room Challenge: Write a fiction story that centers on a room that hasn’t been entered in years.

This prompt is about the spaces we avoid and the stories they hold. A room that has not been entered in years is more than just four walls. It can be a vault for memories, a keeper of secrets, or a place where time feels strangely preserved.

What happens when someone finally steps inside? Does it unlock the past, change the present, or blur the line between the two?

Sarah awoke with the idea of checking out the storage room that Henry had left her in his will. She has thought about it and thought about it, wondering why he would have left her such a thing as a storage locker. The locker was paid for yearly, and the payment will be due shortly.

It is definitely time to take a look. Henry was a different kind of neighbor, and why he thought of Sarah in his will makes absolutely no sense to her. They never really got along. He was always snooping around her yard.

He didn't care how his property looked, but it took the rest of the neighborhood down. After all, who would buy a house on this block with Henry and his mess living there? She thought that perhaps the next owner would be better. Then she chuckled as she thought it couldn't be worse.

Sarah decides that she is going to take her daughter with her and go to see what is in the storage locker. Just then, there is a knock on the door. Sarah looks out and sees it is the police. They ask her to identify herself, and they respond by arresting her on the spot.

The officer says, "We are arresting you with the suspected murder of someone yet to be identified."

"What is the charge?" Sarah asks, before she is quickly moved from the house to the police car. I want to call my daughter and tell her what is happening. "You can make a phone call when we get to the station," the officer says. "You will be told more about the charge when we get to the jail."

Fear was rising as she rode in the back of the police car, trying to recall anything that could be the reason for her arrest. Did they say suspected murder? "Whose murder? What is this all about? I have never killed anyone! I wouldn't! I couldn't!" Sarah exclaimed with panic in her voice.

Upon arriving at the police station, a detective appears and says to the officer to release Sarah from the cuffs they have placed on her. Next, he looks to Sarah to say, "I'm so sorry, we have made a terrible mistake. We have had calls from your neighbor recently about your suspicious behavior."

He then went on to tell Sarah that her neighbor accused her of murdering another neighbor down the street, who was said to be visiting family in another country.

The detective continued to explain, "We found the body in the storage locker that you own. At least we thought you owned the locker until just very recently. After talking with the storage owner and his staff, they have only seen an older man going in and out of the locker."

"Then, when we were given a copy of his will, it was clear that he wanted it to look like you were the owner. The storage has been in your name for a year or more now. It appeared that you paid for the storage in cash. We now believe that your neighbor was attempting to accuse you of murder when really it was him."

"We have investigated your neighbor down the street and have found him reported missing by family and friends. This is truly not about you, and we apologize for jumping to that conclusion. The storage locker is evidence, and you will not be allowed in until after the case is settled."

"Without him giving you the locker in the will, this may have turned into just another Forgotten Room. Again, we apologize, and a deputy will be taking you home."

On her ride home, she wonders how her neighbor could have done this to her and how he could have killed someone. He was mad when she accused him of taking little things from her property, like the baskets and the old canvas she hoped to paint over.

Then she remembers what he said one time, "I will get even with you for this!" Well, he certainly did.