Henry Stickmin: The Extended Collection

The "House" Tour

October 12th, 2018
San Francisco, California, United States of America

- - -

A lot can happen in a day. After completing the mission, Charles flew Ellie and I over to San Francisco, which is where Ellie lived. As I (reluctantly) promised her, I would let her show me around her house.

As we paced down what felt like her street, Ellie couldn't contain herself.

"I'm so excited to show you round!" she said.

"Yeah..."

"What's the matter?"

"Oh- uh- n-nothing! I'm just... tired." I replied, obviously fake yawning.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Anyway... uh... we're here."

She unlocked the door and let me inside. It was a small house but it already felt pretty cozy. It was warm, however it was quite grey and tattered at the same time.

"What do you think so far?"

"I've only just stepped in." I said, chuckling to myself.

"I guess I'll show you upstairs first." she answered, slowly trotting up the flimsy wooden staircase.

"So this is my bedroom. As you can probably tell I don't sleep here often."

I certainly could tell. The bed was merely a mattress, a beaten up one at that, and it was also only a single one. A bedside table was nowhere to be found and instead of having a wardrobe she had piles of clothes scattered around the sides of the room. The lightbulb also looked like it could explode at any moment.

"If you don't sleep here often, then... where do you sleep?" I asked.

"Usually on my couch. It's way more comfy."

"But... I don't understand? If you're a thief then how are you so poor?"

"I'm not poor, asshole. I just stockpile my money and never spend it."

"That's just... why? Why not use it to like, improve this place or move somewhere nicer or some other third thing?" I appeared genuinely concerned.

"I don't care about whether I like in a shack or a mansion. Shelter's shelter." Ellie seemed dismissive of my advice.

"You could always crash at my place. Now that I think about it, maybe I've been a bit ungrateful about it lately..." I said what I said, hoping to not strike a nerve of hers.

"I would. But Arizona is like 5 states away."

"Oh, you remembered! But... Arizona borders California."

"Does it? Oh. Geography was never one of my strong points."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I can tell."

Ellie stared at me. "Uh... how are we gonna go about getting to your house then?"

I rolled my eyes. "In a car obviously?"

"I don't have a car."

"Oh. Uh... I see. Well then."