Sean stepped out onto the front porch. Fall was coming; you could always feel it in the air first. He inhaled deep, filling his lungs with the leaf-crisp air. He loved that smell. Decaying leaves he supposed it was; an earthy smell that he couldn’t get enough of. He hoped it wasn’t laced with mold; he could always smell mold in food products. Jill laughed at that because he would open a package of rotten chicken and think it smelled fine.
But throw a little mold in there and he wouldn’t touch it. So salmonella ok, mold not ok. Of course he knew neither was good but he guessed his paranoia about mold had something to do with having read too much about it and how it can make you sick and if they are grown in the right conditions, can produce mycotoxins that are poisonous, the worst of which is aflatoxins that cause cancer. So yea, call him paranoid but he had done his research and wanted to steer clear of anything that had the slightest chance of having mold on it.
The yard around the property was full of many kinds of deciduous trees which would make for a colorful landscape. Since it was only the beginning of September, they still had a few weeks to wait before the full spectrum appeared. Sean walked to the edge of their property and looked up at the mansion staring down at him. The stone behemoth cast a dark shadow over the modest carriage house, or guest house is what the realtor called it, that he and Jill now lived in. Although it was also the property of the Charmeins, he felt like it was theirs while they were renting. They had just moved in a mere two weeks ago, not enough time to feel really settled or any sense of propriety. He looked up at the manor and felt it staring back in judgment. He refused to let his new landlords intimidate him and slowly, to make his point, turned his back to the dwelling. He walked, head held high, back to the guest house, not once looking over his shoulder. He wouldn’t give it the satisfaction.
- From "Useful Pieces" a new novel by DJ Geribo due out later this year