Lived-In Details

Every detail screamed of use. The orderly plates, the forgotten cup — they weren’t relics but clues of someone returning here again and again. Lilly’s nerves prickled with the thought. This hidden home wasn’t forgotten; it was lived in, touched daily, and possibly still claimed. She hugged herself against the quiet. Was she intruding into another person’s secret refuge, or had she stepped into something even stranger, a place never meant for her discovery?
Still warm

As Lilly crept into a narrow hallway, her eyes caught on a coat hanging by the door. It looked newer than everything else in the house, its fabric clean compared to the dust-covered walls. Cautiously, she reached out, brushing her fingers across the sleeve. To her horror, the fabric was warm, as though someone had just slipped out of it minutes earlier. Her throat tightened, heart hammering.