"a gift from the gods" -an eddie munson short story-

one

- june of 1985

"welcome to hawkins guys!" my dad says excitedly as he points to the welcome sign while driving. hawkins, indiana. my new home and first ever 'new home' considering i'm 18 years old and have been living in the same house my whole life.
"at least it's not ugly. i was scared it was gonna be some ugly ghost town" i say, shrugging my shoulders looking out my window.
"oh like we lived in some beautiful, suburban mansion before this? besides, we're not at the new house yet so don't judge too early." my dad responds, chuckling.
"now that we're officially kinda home, can we find a bathroom? sixx is acting like he needs to go" i ask my dad. he sighs, but thankfully we were passing a gas station anyway. he should've know traveling six hours with his daughter and her cat wouldn't be the easiest journey. we get to the gas station and i let sixx go to the bathroom and put him back in the car while i go. i swear, leash training a cat was the best idea i've ever had.
"alright, no more stops! we're only about 30 minutes away and i have a meeting in two hours." my dad says as i'm climbing back in the car. after my parents got divorced, my dad finally decided to pursue his dream of opening up his own liquor store. i chose to stay with him at the house when they separated while my mom went lord knows where and we both hate our home town, so we thought a fresh start from everything would be just what we needed.

we finally arrive at our new house. it's a small, one story nothing-special house, but that's all we need. just a simple little house to start our new simple little life.
"do you mind helping me unpack some of my stuff first so i can get ready then you can unpack your stuff while i'm gone? i'm sorry i have to leave you alone already but i gotta make sure i get this space for the store" my dad asks while pulling me into a hug.
"i guesss. i mean you did buy us this house and drive six hours to get us here so the least i can do is unpack a box or two for you, i suppose." i respond jokingly. he hugs me tighter and laughs.
"let's get started then you little brat!" he says while we laugh and each grab one of his boxes from the trunk.

we lock sixx in my new room for the time being so he doesn't end up wandering away and getting lost in a new environment. we unpack all my dad's clothes and personal care so he can get ready for his meeting. i'm almost certain he had this in the bag, we wouldn't just move for no reason. i think he's just nervous about finally doing something he wants to do instead of boring desk jobs like he's had his whole life.
"alright," my dad starts while getting his shoes on, "i'll be back in maybe three hours. not sure what all they're gonna have me do there but three to four hours seems long enough i would think. if you just want to finish unpacking your stuff and get sixx situated, you can explore the town a bit. just leave me a note on the table and an estimated time of when you'll be back so i'm not here worrying." he explains while walking towards the door.
"noted. don't unpack anything, let sixx scratch up all the boxes, then i'll leave and never return. right?" i respond with a smirk.
"you are such a little bitch do you know that?" he says laughing. "maybe sixx should be in charge."

i give him a hug and he goes on his way. i love my dad & i's relationship, being able to live with just him and not my mom has been such a blessing for us both. i honestly don't know how we put up with her for all those years, as if she was really around anyways.

i go ahead and get sixx's litter box, food and toys set up before unpacking my room. i get all my clothes put away and set up the few decorations i have. hopefully there's a thrift store or something near by so i can get this boring room looking decent. i change into some normal clothes out of my comfy 'travel outfit' and put on some makeup, just because. i see that my dad left me some money on the counter for anything i need while he's out so i grab it, write him a note and head out.

i unfortunately don't have a car or bike here yet, so i had to walk into town which thankfully wasn't too far from the house. hawkins seems to be a smaller town than where i'm from, which i actually like a lot. luckily, there is a thrift store nearby so i grabbed some random small decorations for my room, along with some cassettes. i was exploring the area, just window shopping, when i found a video store. my dad and i are music and film junkies, so i decided to stop in.