"You`re certain? I have to tell you, this house has a reputation, and a lady of your years should be looking at retirement. This is& quite the restoration project&."

　　 It`s always been peculiar to me the assumptions people- perhaps especially the people only a decade or two away from being considered "old" themselves- make about aging. I think most people see life as one great push to then someday "retire", take it easy, live the good life. But after a life of toiling away and scraping by, how many are honestly satisfied to slowly slip into obscurity. For those of us lucky enough to retain our health and relative strength, these golden years are an opportunity for one last shot at something more: a last legacy.

　　 "It is a house with incredible potential. The Raesport city council approved its historical status before the mine accident of 1993. Completed in 1877, the Soward`s mansion is one hundred and forty-six years old and a once exquisite example of Victorian architecture. Twenty-six rooms, nearly nine thousand square feet, three stories, original wood floors, wall paneling, crown molding and trim details, twelve-foot ceilings, nine fireplaces-"

　　 "Remind me what the asking price is?"

　　 "Fifty thousand. It`s a lot of house for the money, but it will probably need to be completely gutted. It was outfitted with electricity and plumbing in the 1940s, but both need to be updated to bring it to code. It doesn`t have an HVAC system at all, and-"

　　 "I`ll take it."

　　 "Are you wanting to submit your bid at the asking price, Mrs. Evered, or-?"

　　 "Yes. Contact me when it is done, please." My car is parked just along the sidewalk. It`s annoying that I had to come down here at all, but Gerald wouldn`t accept my interest until he`d shown me "what I was getting myself into". It`s fine, I suppose. Gerald Harding is a perfectly nice human being- his father and I went to high school together back in the day, class of 1972- and he`s a competent enough real estate agent, but he could use an attitude adjustment. All the hemming and hawing and sighing and "are you sure"s. But he`s the agent the city assigned to oversee the sale of the Soward`s mansion, so he`s the man I am required to work with.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

　　 It`s ironic, not to change the subject or anything, but the city wanted to simply demolish Soward`s mansion. Shot themselves in the foot by declaring it an historic home in the eighties. Then the mine collapsed, the economy in Raesport tanked, and the mansion was put on the market by the Swansons (the mine owners who bought the home in the 1950s) and then abandoned when they couldn`t sell it since the town was failing. Fast forward a few decades and the mansion has now been taken over by squatting waifs and vagabonds. It`s a shame really. This used to be such a beautiful neighborhood. Now drug paraphernalia and prostitution rules these streets. And the city`d have to get special dispensation in order to raze it- the house, I mean- but everyone knows that the house is at the center of the problem. Enter plan B: sell the decrepit old lady to another decrepit old lady with the money and sentimentality to try and restore the house (and hopefully the neighborhood) to its former glory. Just in time for Raesport to be absorbed into the nearest big city. That would be Hestinia, and I hate the traffic there. This old girl`s been living in a small town her whole life, survived the collapse of the economy here, and now, my town is being surveyed for a freeway, a Target, a Costco, and half a dozen fast-food chains! Not to mention the Walmart that rooted itself to the town entrance six years ago and single handedly killed most of the small businesses in the area.

　　 But I digress.

　　 Like Gerald already said, Soward`s mansion was built in the 1870s by the founder of Raesport, Reginald and Alice Soward. Why they named the town Raesport instead of Sowardsport, I couldn`t tell you, but if the town`s historical gossip is to be believed, it might have something to do with Mr. Soward`s mistress. Supposedly, Reginald took an interest in miss Sarah R. Atwood, Mrs. Soward`s personal maid. Of course, Sarah Atwood`s actual middle name has been lost to time, and it certainly couldn`t be that Mr. Soward named the town after his wife: R. Alice Soward- another name that we don`t know beyond the first letter. Oh. And Mrs. Soward`s maiden name was Eastman. You can choose which version of the story you like the best.

　　 Oh. By the way, my name is Charlotte, Lottie if you`re feeling informal, Mrs. Evered on the other end of the spectrum. It`s nice to meet you.