We walked up and onto the porch of the lodge. Unlike the town, he had out a large patterned rug and several chairs with a bench. A few benches even had pillows. When Wendell reached the door, he didn’t stop to grab any keys or fiddle with any locks. He simply pushed on the door as it swung open without a sound.
Headed inside I was immediately greeted with a kitchen to my right and an empty nook under the stairs to the left. The kitchen had real tile floors and wooden cabinets with wiremeshes to peer into its contents without having to open them. All of the cabinets made a cube shape with one side missing. The missing side being the side closest towards me. Facing the kitchen, the left side of cabinets had four bar stools lined up on the outside of the shape. Above were string lights along wooden beams illuminating the kitchen.
We moved forward. Straight ahead was a simple living room and a large fireplace in the corner. On that fireplace was a handpainted portrait of a female nonferal bear. She wore a victorian style dress and loomed over the rest of the room with a sharp glare.
Wendell took a U-turn up the stairs to our left while I rubbernecked at the painting. He glanced back at me as he reached a landing on the stairs, “We're not on a tour in Hollywood. Let’s get moving so I can go to bed.”
I responded while walking to catch my breath from keeping up that whole time, “Who’s the old guy up on that painting?”
The stairs took a right after the landing and led to the second floor. There was a large empty room with railing on one side that looked out over the living room and kitchen. Opposite of the railing were two doors spaced apart on the wall.
Wendell responded as he headed to the furthest door, “That would be Blair Barrett. Head of the family and my mother.”
He pushed open the bedroom door as there was yet again not even a slight squeak from the hinges. Without asking he reached out and grabbed my bag from my hands. He flung it into the room carelessly by the handle and began to walk away, “Breakfast is at whenever we feel like it and no I will not add locks to any of the doors. Fuck off and sleep your pathetic life away.” He raised his middle finger at me before heading back down stairs.
I stood idle for a moment as I wasn’t sure what to make of him. His first impression on me was protecting me and yet this is how he acts otherwise? Is he good or not?
I shook my head and headed into my room. Inside was a wide room with the wall immediately forward being a long window looking out into a field of grass and the treeline to the woods. To my right was a tall solid wood wardrobe with small designs of daisies carved into the double doors. I reached down and grabbed my bag before heading further in. The furthest wall back had a bed that touched from wall to wall, leaving only the one open side facing the room. I set my bag on the bed and unzipped it to check my belongings.
I first pulled out a handful of sweaters and shorts. Along with them I grabbed a cloak and dumped them all in the wardrobe behind me. What was protected by all the soft clothing inside was a ceramic tragedy mask with red tassels on either side of the face. I looked it over carefully to check for any cracks and sighed in relief. I slid it under the bed and continued.
I moved a few random items aside such as a pocket knife, phone chargers, and screwdriver. But wedged into one of the interior pockets was a small stuffed bear. I pulled it out and looked it over just as carefully as I did the mask. Its fur was medium brown at the base but the ends were gray giving it an old and dusty appearance. A ribbon just as small as the bear was wrapped around its neck into a bow. I glanced at the room around me looking for a butter place to set him before putting him in the back of the wardrobe behind some of the sweaters.
Lastly, I got out a paper envelope. Inside was a keychain of a golden bead with a feather attached to it. I hung it near the bed on a nail that stuck out on the window seal. I wasn’t usually superstitious but if hanging a small real gold bead near a window at night would help me understand my life any better, then to me it was worth looking stupid. Not like I didn’t already stoop that low anyways.
I zipped the bag back up and slid it under the bed. I took a deep breath and got out the phone with the script. It was going to be a long month. But at least Wendell was being annoying to make things easier on me. But I couldn’t tell if that was intentional. I read over the start of the script in my head to myself, “Take the bus to wickerwoods. Take an offer to live with Wendell Barrett at Barrett Lodge. Move into the Barrett lodge. Live a quiet life for one month. Never raise your voice. Never talk back. Never show anyone your phones.”
The hard part was over for a while now and I could relax. I set both phones on the ground before climbing into the bed and laying on my back. I wasn’t expecting to have such a soft bed for this stay so I drifted to sleep faster than I intended. This lodge was as quiet as it gets. Not a single noise disrupted the natural wind gently brushing the grass and trees outside. Closing my tired eyes, it was like the walls were never there. Muscles that I didn’t even notice were tense began to relax for the first time in a long time. I could have sworn even the bags under my eyes felt lighter in a sense. The only thing that was going to suffer from this much rest was going to be the rats' nest of hair on my head. With where I was now though that didn’t matter.
Though if sleep is like this every night I’m here, I’m not sure I could be convinced to leave. I knew it said later in the script that I was moving out. Maybe if I figured out where they got this bed, or the walls, or the trees. I could make it myself and live in it forever. I guess all good things must end before they spoil and become mundane… maybe that was my job here.