House of Numbers
“Well, champ, you got into UAlbany,” Jill said, lightly punching his arm when Vance relayed the news. “And you saved Hopper House. What a pro!”
Saved it for what? As some nano-tribute to the enslaved bones beneath its exhausted earth? As a bargaining chip in the slosh of academic dealmaking? Saved it so the neglected hulk could collapse from dry rot? The more Vance pondered, the more he realized everyone who had the power to save the House had reasons not to care, while he, who hadn’t an ounce of power and did care, had no reason at all. It made no more sense than the ensnaring brambles of Columbia County’s past.
“We both got in,” Vance said.
“Well that’s the thing though, Mark. I don’t think I’m going with you. I’ll get a job marshalling transportation legislation in Sacramento. Austin. Wherever.”
“I thought we—”
“I’m done with the past. No more ghosts for me, not even when they’re hiding in the Excel sheets.”
Tony Van Witsen is a seven-year resident of Michigan and has been writing fiction for approximately fifteen years, specializing in short stories. In the summer of 2001 he enrolled in the MFA program in fiction at Vermont College and received his degree in January 2004. His published stories and essays have appeared in a range of journals including Spellbinder, Ray’s Road Review, Crosstimbers, Identity Theory and Valparaiso Fiction Review. Tony recommends Becky Tuch's Substack.
