[sylvanSpider]

It was dark and cold, not that he could feel it. He hadn't been able to feel the cold, or any warmth for that matter, for a very long time. He could only see, and what he saw was the same thing he always saw. Sheets that were once white covered the furniture and dust covered them in an unmarred blanket that were as thick as the sheets themselves. Cobwebs long abandoned collected more of it in the corners, clinging to chandeliers and in between chair legs, in the cabinets and on the counters. It seemed, too, to stay suspended in the air caught up in the faint rays of light spilling in from the ardent street light, drifting, drifting, drifting only to join the masses on any given surface in the entire house.

The house was empty except for the dust. And him, of course. Benjamin was always there, watching it settle and unable to disturb it. As far as he could see, he'd always be here watching the world on the outside evolve with the times as he yet lingered in these unchanging halls. None had so much as touched the front door for years. No, decades. It had been decades now, he assumed. It had to be. He'd seen the children across the street grow from children to teenagers, teenagers to adults who would visit when the lights were strung up on the houses of the street. Well, every house but his. His would be vacant, except for him of course, and the dust. They were the two constants, and he saw it all.

The last here, he could remember came in 1977. That at least, he could glean from the calendar they put up above the desk with marked and circled dates or mutterings under breath. They were a couple wanting to start a family. In and out at different times of the day, he watched. Attempts at communication, of course, were made. But they were in vain, and ultimately lead to the further abandonment of the home, and he with it.

Now there was nothing to do but wait. Wait for someone else to come and find him, help him. Wait for the house to be demolished and see what happens then, if he'd get stuck or be freed. Hopefully the latter, as the house being demolished began to look more and more likely. Fingers crossed, Benjamin supposed.