Chapter 4
Time quickly became a meaningless concept to Charlie and Ellis. The only non-electric clock they owned had stopped working, and only God and the devil could say how many hours, days, or weeks passed while they slept. Half the time, they didn’t even know what season it was, for there were the occasional storms at the end of summer, as well as the many that winter and autumn brought.
Over time, the house began to fall apart. On the outside walls, the paint had begun to peel and flake. Some of the floorboards on the porch had warped and a few curved up from the floor as though greeting the sun. The garden had become a wild tangle of grass, shrubs, weeds, and litter. And every now and again, a homeless person would take shelter in a corner on the porch, leaving it reeking of urine.
