Upcoming Hiatus · 8:03pm March 26th
I was informed today that I am being removed from my home.
My family has been renting this hovel for more than fifteen years. We've been model tenants, according to both the owner and the maintenance crew. Usually, if there's a problem, we would fix it ourselves, patching up holes in the wall, replacing large appliances, installing gutters... We were even nice enough to help them out from time to time, when we could.
We were informed this morning that we have to vacate by May 31st.
It wasn't for anything we did or didn't do, first of all. We paid our rent, we followed the instructions on the lease agreement, and we removed all of the tree branches that fell on the roof from next door. We worked hard to make the place livable.
It's being rezoned.
I had heard about the rezoning, and I'd seen it happening not too far away. Just on the other side of the tree line was an industrial park, just a slab of land next to some warehouses. They seemed to be putting in some single-family housing over there. I thought that might be the extent of it, but no. Rather than developing any of the empty lots, they're tearing out the low-income spot over here to put in some medium-income single-family homes.
Before you ask, no, our lease isn't up. But if we try to fight it, it's just going to create some bad blood between us and the owners, and even if we won, we'd only be able to stay until the end of our lease, which would only give us another couple of weeks, most of which would be spent in court, so we're just going to be worse off for it.
Of course, I'm pissed. I may not be the biggest fan of this place. The ground is uneven, there's no shed, it's too hot, the insulation isn't very good... But it's been my home for more than half of my life. I've lived here longer than any other place. I have wept and bled for this building. I can see the bridge where I almost committed suicide from my office. I'm just down the street from the best pizza place in the city. I've walked these streets who knows how many times.
Now, on to what this means for you. I'm far too valuable in the process of moving to be able to sit and write. I have the capacity to carry heavy things. I decide directions and dictate paths. I have the foresight to know what needs to go where, when, and I can move it there.
I will keep writing for as long as I can. I can edit in the evenings and publish from my phone, but that's only going to net me a few extra days. But I will soon be operating on emergency mode; slow to respond, unable to show up for days at a time, fairly irritable... If I know myself, this is going to bother me for awhile.
And unlike my last hiatus, I don't have a long-form story to give you to chew on. One day, fairly soon, I'm just going to disappear, and I will try to be back as quick as I can.
My sincerest of apologies in advance,
--Kiernan
Real life comes first. Take care of your business and don't worry too much about us. Your fans may like your stories but you have to be in a good frame of mind to put out good work. FimFiction isn't going anywhere. We'll be here when you get back.