The Ghost of Home

Home is where the heart is

Though your interaction was short, Howdy was such a charismatic caterpillar! While Wally points out various items that he can use for baking, Howdy was there to take and present them to him, all the while talking to you about your hobbies and the likes! When Wally was done, you bid the tall caterpillar a big goodbye as Wally gives him his wise words of the day as his payment.

Life is short, he says, and leaves it at that. You laugh at the lack of a punchline.

"Whoo! I didn't know I needed this much!" Wally says, balancing all his purchases.

"Is this your first time baking?" You watch him adjust one of the paperbags. The baking pans almost topple over. "You even bought baking materials– here, let me carry the apples for you."

"Now, now," Wally tuts giving space between the two of you so that you can't reach him, "I appreciate the help but that wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me!"

It takes a while for you two to arrive at Wally's house. Especially when his eyes are blocked from the road, leaving you to guide him to a place you've never even been to. All road leads to Home, he proudly declares. You have no idea if he meant it literally but from the number of times you randomly guessed which road leads to where it did eventually lead you to Home. His Home.

"See?" Wally beams, "Hello Home, I'm back!" The house answers back with a sound and the door slowly opens with a creak. You pause, ears ringing, suddenly self-aware. Your eyes roam around your surroundings: the bushes are littered with messily painted roses, the trees have abnormally colored leaves and the house has eyes! Eyes! And it responds! You almost forgot yourself– you don't belong here! Yet...it feels like you've been in this place for a very long time now. Your stomach churns to accompany your racing thoughts.

"Is the lamb lost in thought?" Wally drawls, his hands now free from groceries, free to grab you by the arm before you could bolt away like a scared little lamb. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"You...don't want to hear them." Your eyes avoid his, painfully aware of how much you'll falter the moment you stare right into the abyss in his eyes. You swallow your spit, your head beginning to spin. You groan.

"Do you need water, neighbor?" Wally pulls you in before you can respond, into Home and then into his kitchen. Spacious , you distract yourself. His house is clean and messy, his decorations are in organized chaos. "Summer's just around the corner, so the days are becoming warmer! Here!"

Wally presents you with a glass of water, the liquid sloshes around in the process of it. Your thirst makes you hesitant; you don't want to seem desperate for a simple drink. At least say thank you before grabbing it, little lamb. You mutter it, like a reverence, and your fingers, damaged from hours of passionate artistry, grasp the glass like a golden chalice before bringing it to yourself. Though it didn't quite reach your lips. Clumsy lamb.

"Oops! Haha, sorry about that, little lamb, I got you all soaked up!" It seems that Wally wasn't able to let go of the glass in time. He giggles as he cups your cheeks and brushes away the water dripping from your forehead to your chin. It felt like you've immersed your head in a vat full of water, with Wally's hands bringing you back to the surface. It did help with that little ol' head of yours to pause your racing thoughts. Your heart stutters, conflicted if it was out of anxiety or embarrassment. Or something else entirely. You've been quite a mess the whole morning, haven't you?

Wally blocks your view. He's all you can see, all you can feel. The strange texture of his hands, suddenly too scratchy, suddenly too warm. Since when did he get so close?

"Do you want to change out of your clothes? They're quite wet! I got a lot of spares you can borrow!" He suggested, a bit too excited by the idea. You nod nonetheless albeit silently.

He drags you to his bedroom, to hell with neighborly etiquette, you suppose. Home assists you two by opening the door to reveal the spacious room. You have to get used to Wally's sentient house. His bed is big, though you don't think he needs that much space. To your left is his wardrobe which Wally trots towards.

"Oh, uh," you stutter, "at least take me to dinner first." Children's show. Lost children's show you try to remind yourself. Though much to your chagrin, Wally isn't much of an innocent man that you think he is. He peers over his shoulder, silently laughing at you with his eyes. Like a sly little cat.

"Don't worry, we'll be doing that much later, little lamb!"

You're talking about dinner, right? You hit yourself in your head. Get your mind out of the gutter, Home is watching! Or listening, you're not sure. You look around for any sign of life but everything seems to be at a standstill.

"Here's one of my pajamas! Quite thin; good for the warm weather! But first," Wally walks closer, the pajamas in hand, "Are you alright? I noticed that you've been quite...jumpy."

An innocent question–is there even a choice to lie to him? He seems more than meets the eye and from what you can assume, he's anything but naive. How can you lie if he stares you down...like that?

Like he's aware, merely waiting for you to do something. Anything. Or maybe you're overreacting.

"Um," you start, grabbing the pajamas Wally was holding, "You could say I'm kind of homesick." Not quite the truth, not quite a lie. You feel like you ARE at home but...you know you don't belong here. You're at home, but you feel sick. Haha, homesick. Good one, little lamb. You mentally hit yourself in the head.

"I see, everyone is like that at first," Wally looks at you with care, if you squint, his eyes drooped a little. And for the nth time of the day, he touches you. On the top of your head this time. This man really likes his skinship.

"But with time, you'll like it here. Our neighbors are great fun! You'll never get lonely, especially when I'm only one call away and one skip, a hop, and a jump away! Remember, if you ever need something, pick any path because every path leads to Home!"

Every path leads to Home. You push your head against his palm more and he gladly pats you. To think this silly little cartoon character is good enough to calm you down. You wonder when this dream will end.

"I want to hug you but I'll get you wet," you blurt out, for a millisecond you felt embarrassment but it disappears when Wally merely giggles at that, "But I guess hugging isn't a very neighborly thing to do between neighbors, right, neighbor?"

"But it's a friendly thing to do between friends!"

"Yeah, I'm not hugging you right now. I should change."

"Okay."

You two awkwardly stand there.

"I meant change alone. Or do you plan on watching me do it?" You tease, Wally jumps at that and Home makes a noise– creaking sounds of cupboards very akin to laughter.

"Sorry! I'll go, I'll go!"