The Shape Beneath the Bed

Chapter 1: Harder Than You Think

The first thing I noticed about Room 234 was that the previous occupant had left a Bible behind.

It was not unusual for people to leave things behind in military housing. Moving from one country to another happened quickly. Orders changed. Deployments came up. People packed what mattered and abandoned what didn’t.

A coffee mug forgotten on a windowsill.

A jacket hanging behind a door.

A photograph tucked inside a drawer.

But a Bible left open on a nightstand was different.

Especially because it looked like someone had placed it there carefully.

Not forgotten.

Placed.

I was twenty-six years old when I arrived at the base in Japan. I had spent the previous years moving from place to place, always carrying the same duffel bag, always sleeping in rooms that never felt like mine.