Welcome to the Houston Street Lodging House, set in Southern Manhattan near Greenwich Villiage. You walk through the dingy, but steady, doors into a rather small lobby.
The room is empty save for a counter with a ledger on top of it, the pen resting upon several names upon the wrinkled paper. Ringing the small bell beside it, you wait patiently for a moment or two before a middle aged woman makes her way to greet you.
"Hello there, child. Im Mrs. Fiona Glen. You can call me either Mrs. Fiona or Mrs. Glen, but anything else will get you hit across the head," she says in a thick Irish accent, smiling brightly at you.
Upon finishing the sign-in sheet, or the best you can with your limited education, she takes you and introduces you to several of the lodgers in the living room, two of which make their way forward, presenting themselves as Stretch and Beauti.
"Its small, but its something," Stretch says of the shoddy but stable surrounds. "Here, let me show you were you'll be staying."
The three of you walk through the small hallways, Beauti and Stretch taking turns to point out the kitchen, closets, sickroom, and downstairs restroom.
"And these are the bunkrooms," Beauti says, opening the door the the female bunkroom and then walking down the hall to show you the male counterpart.
"Any questions?" Stretch asks, but before you can answer they run off to go God knows where, only to shout "Welcome home" in unison before they are completely out of sight.
