--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The owner as he crosses the board floor…" description: "\"“The owner as he crosses the board floor, moving between shelves, past stacked crates and burlap sacks bulging with sugar and flour. “Jessup? It’s Brad..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/blake-crouch-2197_last-year_the-owner-as-he-crosses-the-board-floor_1157605.png" --- # The owner as he crosses the board floor, moving between… ![“The owner as he crosses the board floor, moving between shelves, past stacked crates and burlap sacks bulging with sugar and flour. “Jessup? It’s Brady! You in back?” The twelve burros crane their scrawny necks in his direction when Brady emerges from the merc. He reaches into his greatcoat, pulls…” quote by Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/blake-crouch-2197_last-year_the-owner-as-he-crosses-the-board-floor_1157605.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/blake-crouch-2197_last-year_the-owner-as-he-crosses-the-board-floor_1157605.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/blake-crouch-2197_last-year_the-owner-as-he-crosses-the-board-floor_1157605.png) > ““The owner as he crosses the board floor, moving between shelves, past stacked crates and burlap sacks bulging with sugar and flour. “Jessup? It’s Brady! You in back?” The twelve burros crane their scrawny necks in his direction when Brady emerges from the merc. He reaches into his greatcoat, pulls out a tin of Star Navy tobacco, and shoves a chaw between lips and gums gone blackish purple in the last year. “What the hell?” he whispers. When he delivered supplies two weeks ago, this little mining town was bustling. Now Abandon looms listless before him in the gloom of late afternoon, streets empty, snow banked high against the unshoveled plank sidewalks, no tracks as far as he can see. The cabins scattered across the lower slopes lie buried to their chimneys, and with not a one of them smoking, the air smells too clean. Brady is a man at home in solitude, often spending days on the trail, alone in wild, quiet places, but this silence is all wrong—a lie. He feels menaced by it, and with each passing moment, more certain that something.”” [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A lone wanderer returns to a once‑busy mining settlement now empty, feeling the oppressive silence as a threat and hinting at unseen danger. **In simple terms:** A man finds a deserted town eerie and unsettling. Key Takeaway Trust instincts, investigate the source of unease. Themes iseliness danger environment psychology Mood uneasy tense foreboding Type narrative descriptive atmospheric When to use this quote - Exploring abandoned places - survival in wilderness - detecting hidden threats Key Concepts Isolation suspense anthropology Questions to Reflect On - What could be causing the town’s emptiness? - How does solitude affect perception? A Different Perspective The silence may be a natural calm, not a danger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“The twelve burros crane their scrawny necks in his direction when Brady emerges from the merc. 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It's like meeting someone from a mining town when you know nothing about mining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-morrissey/it-s-amazing-meeting-someone-who-grew-up-in-la-it-s-like-meeting/) [David Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-morrissey/) > [My father moved out to Park City in in the mid-'70s and lived in a Winnebago behind a hippie joint called Utah Coal &…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-sachs/my-father-moved-out-to-park-city-in-in-the-mid-70s-and-lived-in-a/) [Ira Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-sachs/) > [“Centralia, a mining town in Pennsylvania made uninhabitable by an underground fire that began in 1962 and is still burning today (the road into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-bonnett/centralia-a-mining-town-in-pennsylvania-made-uninhabitable-by-an/) [Alastair Bonnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-bonnett/) > [Imagine you are walking down a leafy path…The sun is receding, and you are walking alone, caressed by the breezy light of the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/imagine-you-are-walking-down-a-leafy-path-the-sun-is-receding-and-you/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I’m coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache Or the headaches I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/the-whole-idea-of-it-makes-me-feel-like-i-m-coming-down-with/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## More by Blake Crouch > [“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you. - Joseph Heller”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/just-because-you-re-paranoid-doesn-t-mean-they-aren-t-after-you/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“Eyes you can fall into and keep falling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/eyes-you-can-fall-into-and-keep-falling/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“It’s also the manifestation of everyone’s existential question: Am I who I was supposed to be? 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Because I am you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/are-you-losing-your-mind-you-tell-me-i-can-t-why-because-i-am-you/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“And a second thank you to my genius editor, Julian Pavia, who pushed me as hard as I’ve ever been pushed and made this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/and-a-second-thank-you-to-my-genius-editor-julian-pavia-who-pushed-me/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“Good.” She smiles. “Then I’ll postpone freaking out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/good-she-smiles-then-i-ll-postpone-freaking-out/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [I love to read the kind of books I write. Genre-breaking. Fresh-concept. World-building. 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To be expected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/what-a-miracle-it-is-to-have-people-to-come-home-to-every-day-to-be/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in, or walling out.’ Robert Frost wrote that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/before-i-built-a-wall-i-d-ask-to-know-what-i-was-walling-in-or/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“Most astrophysicists believe that the force holding stars and galaxies together—the thing that makes our whole universe work—comes from a theoretical substance we can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/most-astrophysicists-believe-that-the-force-holding-stars-and/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) [Explore all 177 Blake Crouch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) ## More Last year quotes > [I'd be very controversial if I said why, and I don't do controversial anymore. That's too passé. So last year. Being controversial is boring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/i-d-be-very-controversial-if-i-said-why-and-i-don-t-do-controversial/) M.I.A > [There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-martinez/there-were-times-last-year-when-people-looked-at-the-scoreboard-and/) Buck Martinez > [I never really look at it past one year. I look at last year and my whole goal is to be a better player…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-williams/i-never-really-look-at-it-past-one-year-i-look-at-last-year-and-my/) [Trent Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-williams/) > [Memories seem to surface in no particular order, with no time attached. Yesterday can seem as distant as last year. My life now consists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-olsson/memories-seem-to-surface-in-no-particular-order-with-no-time-attached/) [Linda Olsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-olsson/) > [So, in the last year, the whole cast sued for release from our contracts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-rettig/so-in-the-last-year-the-whole-cast-sued-for-release-from-our-contracts/) [Tommy Rettig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-rettig/) > [ \[Fighting for equality for women\] that's what my mission has been for the last years. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-broadwell/fighting-for-equality-for-women-that-s-what-my-mission-has-been-for/) [Paula Broadwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-broadwell/) > [We have reached the point where we can lose a game or two and not drop out of sight in the rankings. I've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lavell-edwards/we-have-reached-the-point-where-we-can-lose-a-game-or-two-and-not/) [LaVell Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lavell-edwards/) > [Well, as you know, General Motors does not make hybrids. Ford only made 4,000 hybrids last year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-markey/well-as-you-know-general-motors-does-not-make-hybrids-ford-only-made/) [Ed Markey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-markey/) > [“The arbutus is now open everywhere in the woods and groves. How pleasant it is to meet the same flowers year after year! If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-fenimore-cooper/the-arbutus-is-now-open-everywhere-in-the-woods-and-groves-how/) Susan Fenimore Cooper > [Astrology is knocking at the gates of our universities: A Tübingen professor has switched over to astrology and a course on astrology was given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/astrology-is-knocking-at-the-gates-of-our-universities-a-t-bingen/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The terrorists who committed the 2003 Istanbul attacks were locals, that is, Turks. And when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in the Netherlands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-schily/the-terrorists-who-committed-the-2003-istanbul-attacks-were-locals/) [Otto Schily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-schily/) > [“Leonardo believed his research had the potential to convert millions to a more spiritual life. 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Weren't you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/from-86-until-the-summer-of-last-year-wherever-i-went-people-would/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [With the absence of a flu vaccination last year, I did not take a flu shot; but there is still some immunity that carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-the-absence-of-a-flu-vaccination-last-year-i-did-not-take-a-flu/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 1,393 Last year quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The owner as he crosses the board floor, moving between shelves, past stacked crates and burlap sacks bulging with sugar and flour. “Jessup? It’s Brady! You in back?” The twelve burros crane their scrawny necks in his direction when Brady emerges from the merc. He reaches into his greatcoat, pulls out a tin of Star Navy tobacco, and shoves a chaw between lips and gums gone blackish purple in the last year. “What the hell?” he whispers. When he delivered supplies two weeks ago, this little mining town was bustling. Now Abandon looms listless before him in the gloom of late afternoon, streets empty, snow banked high against the unshoveled plank sidewalks, no tracks as far as he can see. The cabins scattered across the lower slopes lie buried to their chimneys, and with not a one of them smoking, the air smells too clean. Brady is a man at home in solitude, often spending days on the trail, alone in wild, quiet places, but this silence is all wrong—a lie. 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