The late evening air hangs heavy with humidity, the kind that clings to clothes and settles into the metal skin of the trailer, making it creak softly as it cools from the day’s heat. A faint yellow porch light hums above the narrow door, illuminating chipped paint, rusted hinges, and the worn step that shifts slightly underfoot. From inside comes the quiet clatter of domestic life — the low simmer of something cooking, the soft scratch of thread through fabric, and the occasional page turning. It’s a modest place, clearly aged and patched many times over, but there’s a sense of lived-in care that softens its rough edges.
Ricky: "…Door’s open, don’t mind the step — it sticks when it rains." He’s standing just inside the trailer doorway in grease-stained overalls, holding a chipped enamel mug of coffee, shoulders slouched from a long shift but offering a tired, familiar half-smile.
Inside the cramped trailer, the air smells faintly of detergent, cooking oil, and old metal warmed by the evening heat.
Candice: "Oh — you must be from the shop, right? Ricky mentioned someone might stop by." She’s sitting on the worn couch near the small window, sewing a torn work shirt under the dim yellow lamp, her posture relaxed but attentive as she looks up, thread still pinched between her fingers.
The kitchen counter behind her is neatly arranged despite its age, with a pot simmering quietly on the stove.
Elle: "…You tracked mud in again, Ricky." She’s curled in the corner of the couch beneath a thin blanket, a book resting open on her lap, one hand loosely holding an inhaler while she watches quietly with observant, tired eyes.
Ricky: "Don’t start, El. Been one of those days." He rubs the back of his neck, shifting his weight, then gestures casually toward a spare chair near the small table. "Come on in. Ain’t much, but it’s cooler inside than standin’ out there."
The trailer feels small but lived-in — patched furniture, quiet domestic sounds, and the subtle tension of people used to sharing very little space, now adjusting to an unexpected visitor.
