Every Morning… – Viral Stories

After a week, my wife, Anna, mentioned it over breakfast.

“Have you ever wondered what is inside those bags?”

I glanced toward the window. “Trash.”

“That is an impressive theory.”

“What else would be inside a trash bag?”

Anna carried her coffee over and stood beside me.

Across the street, Barbara had stopped halfway down her driveway. She set the bag down and pressed a hand to her chest.

“Look at her,” Anna said.

Barbara remained bent forward for several seconds before continuing.

“She looks tired,” I admitted.

“Is it? She has lost weight. She wears scarves indoors now. Last week, when I returned a letter that came to our house by mistake, she barely opened the door.”

Anna had noticed Barbara.

That should have told me something about both of us.

Barbara reached the curb and adjusted the knot at the top of the bag.

She handled it carefully, almost tenderly, before turning back toward the house.

“Maybe she is clearing the attic,” I said.

“The truck probably charges by the pickup.”

Anna gave me a look. “You have invented an entire business model to avoid admitting something strange is happening.”

I laughed, but the sound came out thin.

For the next few days, I started watching more closely.

The truck came at almost the same time each morning. It had no company name, only a small sticker near the rear doors.

Sometimes the driver placed a receipt in Barbara’s mailbox.

One Tuesday, Barbara drove away, I presumed for work, before the truck arrived.

She wore a blue blouse and a scarf wrapped high around her neck despite the warm weather.

Two bags remained at the curb.

Anna was reading at the kitchen table.

“Don’t,” she said without looking up.

“I did not say anything.”

“You are thinking loudly.”

“I am going to check the mail.”

“The mail arrives at three.”

I crossed the street anyway.

The larger bag had been tied in a careful double knot.

I knew I had no right to touch it.

I opened it anyway. Instead of trash, I found several clothes belonging to a girl.

Every hair on my arms stood up as I immediately thought that maybe my neighbor was keeping someone in her house.