Stars glistened in the sky above, it was already dark out.
Anderson and Len had just arrived at Anderson's house, and Anderson didn't seem to be happy about it, his face had it written all over.
It seemed like he had lost something important to him…
"welcome to my humble abode, kid."
Len looked at the house in front of him.
The house was a small one, it was surrounded by two much larger and modern houses at least twice the size of his. The exterior was painted a dark gray that was chipped away on all sides, a real bust of a place for its location. The front of the house actually looked decent, leading to the house was a small walkway, surrounded by two patches of grass, which were surprisingly well kept by Anderson.
The two of them approached the door, and Anderson opened it, revealing a dusty graveyard of wood and dirt. He put his hand up to the back of his head and began scratching it, sighing deeply at the same time.
"Make yourself at home."
Len didn't know what he meant, he never once had a place to call "home" before, and the phrase Anderson spoke of, had no relevance to him.
"Please, don't mind the mess."
He suddenly looked around, the house seemed noticeably old. There were cobwebs in every corner and the floor by the entrance was made up of dark wooden planks, destined to give a splinter.
Just to the left of the entrance was a room. There was a small table in this center with a singular lightbulb hanging overhead, A TV sat on a box in the corner of the room, a controller lay on the ground just before it connected to a small console right next to the tv.
Where there should have been a door, there wasn't one, it was just an open doorway connected to the hall, the only one like it in this small house.
"What are you looking at?"
Len pointed towards the TV.
"The TV? That's where I play my games, you wanna see?"
Len nodded curiously.
They walked into the room, and Anderson suddenly threw his left hand towards the wall, hitting a small switch just next to the doorframe.
An orange glow came from the middle of the room, the overhead light sparked on, dimly lighting the room. A continuous buzzing noise came from the light, and didn't stop, it seemed like it was on its last breath, but it never ended up taking it.
"You can go ahead and turn it on, just give me a second to change my clothes, then I'll show you how it works."
Len turned around and walked towards the console, staring at the TV. All he could see from it was a pitch black piece of glass, with a small orange spec in the reflection. He looked around the side of the TV and couldn't see the glass anymore, only the gray plastic that supported the interior.
He sat down in front of it on a small red rug that seemed as dirty as the rest of the house, and picked up a yellow controller from the ground, thinking it had something to do with the TV in front of him. He started pressing every button, but nothing happened.
Suddenly, Anderson entered the room, donning a white t-shirt and blue shorts, truly a king's attire. He looked up at the TV, then down towards Len who was sitting before it, controller in hands.
"You figure it out?"
Len shook his head.
"Here let me show you how."
He approached where Len was sitting, and hunched over him, looking down at the controller in Len's small hands. He suddenly pointed down to the middle of the controller, where a small black button was, covered by a small set of lines creating a square.
"You see this colorful logo right here?
Len nodded.
"Take your finger, and slightly push on it"
Len hovered his thumb over the button, then pressed down on it… nothing happened.
Anderson became confused.
"Really? Is this thing acting up again?
He went
"Here let me try."
Anderson pressed the button, but nothing happened.
"Looks like it's not working, kid, let me try a few things to try and fix it."
He looked behind the TV and found an outlet with two power cables connected to it. He unplugged the bottom cable and plugged it back in right after. He went back to the console and tried again… nothing happened.
He sighed.
"Sorry kid, looks like it's not working, maybe we can try another time, but now doesn't seem like the time. I would get another one, but the boss hasn't paid me in weeks, I can barely even eat as it is right now. I don't even know why he chose me, I can't afford to feed you myself."
He walked out of the room, and looked over to a small clock that hung opposite of the entrance.
"Follow me kid, it's getting pretty late, so we should probably head to sleep."
Len followed Anderson into a bigger room with a dirty mattress in the corner. On top of the mattress, lay two navy colored blankets, both of different sizes.
"You can sleep over there on the mattress tonight, I'll just sleep on the floor next to it."
He pointed towards the isolated mattress in the corner away from everything else in the room.
Len approached the mattress, then put his hand down flat on it. He noticed the mattress was somewhat firm, climbed on top of it, and crawled to where the two blankets lay. Len laid down on his side then pulled one of the blankets over him, covering his small cold body.
At the same time Anderson laid next to him, just on the hard floor just below.
"Hey kid, can you hand me one of those blankets?"
Len grabbed the bigger of the two blankets and handed it over to Anderson whose hand was reaching behind his body.
"Thanks kid."
He grabbed the blanket from Len and rolled over on his side, pulling the blanket over his body. He noticed it was the smaller of the two, but didn't say anything not wanting to bother Len.
"Good night."
There was a small pause before Len responded quietly.
"good night."
Anderson smiled.
He closed his eyes, and was fast asleep. Len looked over towards Anderson and turned towards him, staring at him for a moment. His eyes slowly stuttered, and his mind slowly faded away.