Christmas At the West House.

A friend in... deed.

leave a trail of thoughts :)

It had been less than two hours since Eddie had just seen the one girl he ever truly loved kiss another guy at his own birthday party. 

He is now in his 2017 Toyota Camry, driving around his hometown with no specific destination in mind. His brain is going a thousand miles a minute as he tries to comprehend how he had not possibly seen it coming.

He grabs the bottle of whiskey in his cup holder and takes a long swig, almost losing control of his car.  He catches the wheel before it swerves off road. A Jeep approaching from behind passes to his right and honks angrily.

As if on cue, Eddie's phone starts ringing loudly. It's Iris. She had been calling him nonstop ever since he left the party.

The call seems to encourage him to down a lot more of the whiskey until there's nothing left in the bottle. Eddie rolls the passenger window down and throws the bottle out. He keeps driving for few more minutes, smashing down on the accelerator.

 Then all of a sudden, he makes a sharp U turn.

Moments later, he arrives at the driveway of a modest white picket fence house. He parks his car at the curb and just stays in his car. Staring blankly into the darkness. As if tired of waiting, he jumps out and slams his door. He proceeds to furiously kicking the door over and over again. Cursing under his breath. 

"Need some help teaching that door a lesson?" A familiar female voice asks from a distance. Eddie stops and looks up. Eden smiles at him from the front porch. She is wearing a matching pajama set.

Eddie slowly makes his way to her front porch. He starts to climb the steps but stumbles and falls. Eden rushes to support him before he can hit the ground. "Okay, someones had a little too much."

Eddie sits on the steps and looks up to Eden. Seeing the pain in his eyes, she doesn't hesitate to join him.

They sit in silence. Eden unsure of what to say to clear the air. She begins wondering why Eddie had just unexpectedly shown up at her childhood home. His parents house was literally just a few blocks down.

Eddie looks around at the neighboring houses. His gaze stops on one, an old wanna be Victorian home that looks like it's been deserted for at least 20 years. It's broken windows have no coverings and moss has found its way into the crevices of every brick.

"Is that the...?" Eddie tries to remember as Eden finishes his train of thought. "Lizard House? Yup."

Eddie turns to her. "Wow, I would've thought someone would have bought the place and fixed it up by now. How long has it been like this? 10? 15 years?"

Eden laughs. "Hell if I know. As long as I can remember, it's just always been there. Same shallow roofs. Doorless rooms that make it feel like an architects failed attempt at recreating the maze from the "Shining".

The two laugh as childhood memories of their neighborhood come flooding in. "But you gotta admit, it made for an epic game of hide and seek." Eddie says.

Eden nods in agreement but rebuttals. "Yeah, but you cannot forget the fact that it had a huge lizard infestation problem. A zoologist would have a field day discovering the different kinds of creepy reptilian species in that house. There's a reason why most of the girls in the neighborhood hated hanging out in there."

"Right. Oh, and do you remember that Halloween party Jon, me and a couple of other guys threw in... was it 10th? No, 11th grade." Eddie's face lights up. Eden shifts awkwardly in her seat but he doesn't notice.