Everyday I leave my apartment I walk down the hallyway to the elevator and when I come home I return down that same hallway.
Over the past few weeks I had been noticing an awful smell as I would pass the garbage chute. I mean a really foul disgusting smell.
Then I also started seeing newspapers piling up outside one apartment next to the garbage chute. "person must be on vacation" I would think to myself. "silly not to cancel the newspaper during your time away, robbers will know you're not home" I cautioned. "Garbage chute smells terrible" I would then think.
One day as I walked either to or from the elevator, I can not recall, the thought crossed my mind "hey maybe the smell is coming from that apartment, the person must have gone on vacation and had the fridge break or left chicken in the garbage or something"
The smell got so bad I would joke that someone must be rotting in there.
Saturday as I approached my building I heard a firetruck come blazing onto my street "don't come here" I sighed to myself, exhausted from work. Of course the fire truck stopped right outside my building as I arrived. I let the firemen in the building as I see an ambulance come ripping down the street. Being the good Samaritan I decided to wait to let them in the door as the super for the building seemed to be M.I.A. So after letting in the EMS people they enter the elevator with the stretcher and as it closes i hear them say "612".
"612? That's on my floor! hope there isn't a fire"
As I get off on the 6th floor I finally realize what is going on. The super and the fire department are breaking down the door to find the dead person who had been decaying in 612 for weeks(possibly months).
It's kind of strange looking back how painfully obvious it was. I just always assumed it was the garbage chute or rotting food as I walked by and by the time I would be on the ground floor every morning I would completely forget about the smell as I picked a song on my mp3 player.
Anyway.....
It's been a strange weekend.
R.I.P Lady in 612
P.S. I have no idea how she died.
