Less than 24 hours after moving into the new apartment, there was scratching coming from the walls.

Jason was not surprised, but he was irritated.

He had been warned about it by the landlord.

Damn squirrels, but don't worry, it is a problem we are taking care of.

The man had said while handing over the keys.

Of course, he only bothered to mention it after the lease was signed.

And it made sense for a building that was wedged between two ancient oak trees

that shed so many acorns that it frequently sounded like hail.

Those damn squirrels sounded like they were barreling

through the plaster and knocking loose every wooden beam that stood in their way. If the whole

building caved in on itself and collapsed, Jason would not have been surprised. He only hoped that

in the event of such a thing happening, he would get his deposit back.

Jason shoved a box aside with his foot and sat down on the floor in front of the glass sliding door that led out onto his patio.

Patio was a generous term for a slab of concrete with someone else's balcony hanging overhead.

More acorns fell even as he watched, and he leaned forward to rest his chin in his hands.

He exhaled sharply and felt exhaustion dragged down his eyelids.

The noise in the walls had been going on for hours with no signs of stopping soon.

It was going to drive him crazy until he unpacked his Bluetooth speaker because the speaker

on his phone was busted. Life just had a way of hammering him from all sides. Jason rubbed

his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

He leaned back and rested his head against the side of a tall box.

He circulated another deep breath as the setting sun streamed through the shivering oak leaves

...