While Simon is gone I decide to use this opportunity to explore. The house isn’t very big, only one floor. With a connected kitchen and a bedroom, a small bathroom lays off to the side and a small pantry holds exotic herbs, spices, some rare fruits, and cheese, lots and lots of cheese. The amount of cheese that makes you worry. Like so much cheese that you’ll never be able to see cheese the same way again.

     The pictures on the wall are all of the same couple people, always mid smile or laugh, never sad. Only a few contain Simon, his hair was long and curled slightly, he wore it up and his smile was always the brightest, it seems to radiate positive energy, he always had the same blue scarf on. Simon seems to be the one taking the majority of the photos. They are all from at least a couple of years ago, there are no recent photos to be found.

     The wooden floor is covered in blankets, furs, and sheets. He slept on the floor while I took up his bed… I decide to tidy up the mess caused by my existence. I pile all the blankets on the floor onto the bed, he doesn’t seem to have a sink so I just pile all the icy bowls littering the house onto a small side table. I look around feeling very proud of the very poor job I have done at cleaning this small abode. I lay on the small bed and close my eyes, the pounding of my head slowly fades away.

     When I wake up my headache is gone and I’m trapped under a million blankets. I struggle and squirm out of my cocoon of warmth only to find Simon, with a wheel of cheese in his hand, viciously devouring it. We slowly make eye contact and it lasts for what seems to be one thousand excruciating years but was probably only a couple minutes, during which he continued to slowly chew his cheese.

     “Truly disturbing…” I throw his way, he blushes and swallows.

     “Cheese” is all he says then proceeds to put the rest back into the cupboard. This guy is insane! I now crave cheese, I do not like cheese, so this is not an enjoyable feeling. I shake away the thought of cheese and focus on Simon. His clothes are covered in soot, his once blond hair is now ashy and black, Where does he work? In a volcano?