Edward opens the door of his new home.
That’s it, he’s the owner, it’s a new step for him!
He leaves his suitcase in the entrance and watches the soft light illuminate the rooms on the first floor.
How happy, how peaceful!
He felt good, everything was right, everything seemed aligned and in phase with his life path.
The following days, Edward settled down, some work here and there, furniture, decoration, neither too much nor too little.
This house became his, he added his energy, his heart, his lifelong desires that he finally manifested in a place of his own.
The following months, he took full advantage of it.
He invited his family and friends and created his first memories in his house.
One day of heat wave the following summer will make everything change.
The storm starts in the middle of the afternoon, the temperature is stifling and the rain is very welcome.
The first drops quickly gave way to torrents of water.
Edward took the opportunity to check the roof, the gutters and the drainage all around his house.
When he came back inside, he discovered traces on the ground.
At first, he thought they were his own water marks, but suspicious noises made him realize that there was someone else in the house.
Cautious and curious at the same time, Edward started to go around the rooms, listening to the slightest noise, which is very difficult in the middle of a storm!
The noises are repeating, he is sure, there is someone else in the house.
Losing patience, he went around the rooms even faster!
And there, he finds himself face to face with a huge toad, as big as a stool!
Edward doesn’t know if he should be reassured or worried by the size of the beast.
The animal stares at him as if to challenge him.
This challenge will become a war.
Edward tried everything, from making it move with a broom, to pushing it with a chair, the animal is impossible to dislodge, and escapes from the slightest trap.
He even tried to leave everything open several days in a row hoping that the animal would leave by itself.
In vain.
He couldn’t sleep at night, hardly ate, couldn’t concentrate at work.
Edward was going through an emotional roller coaster to the point where he no longer felt at home, but at the toad’s house!
By trying all sorts of things, Edward more or less succeeded by chance in getting the toad to go down to the basement!
With the door closed, Edward felt relieved.
Months of tension are suddenly released, Edward bursts into tears.
Edward’s life almost returns to normal, he has almost forgotten the presence of the toad in the cellar.
From time to time, he hears a noise, or he has to go downstairs for a problem with the pipes, but for him the cellar is condemned and he sets foot in it as little as possible.
Months and years pass.
The house starts to show some problems that force Edward to go down to the cellar regularly.
He had started to forget about the toad, but several times a week he saw it down there during his comings and goings.
He wonders how he could have survived so long down there!
Worse, the toad seems to have grown, and has gone from being “worrying” to “scary”!
Edward feels a whole bunch of old emotions coming up.
He dares to look at the toad even less.
Even more so when he realizes that the toad is the cause of the problems in his house!
Pipes, cables, everything suggests that by living downstairs, it is causing damage to the installations.
Edward could not take it anymore, he was fed up.
One morning, when he wakes up, the decision is made.
It’s time to get the toad out.
Edward is determined.
He doesn’t want to hurt him, but his house is his house.
Out with the unwanted roommates!
Edward spends hours in front of the cellar door, hands on hips, trying to come up with a strategy.
To begin with, for the toad to get out of there, the door has to be open.
He opens all the doors and decides to go down.
The toad is standing in the corner watching him, as if waiting for him.
Edward took a chair and sat down a few feet away from the toad, in silence.
At first, he almost trembles, a part of him has only one desire, it is to leave.
Another part invites him to stay there, facing the toad.
Edward observes the toad who observes him in return.
He immerses himself in the toad’s gaze, like a challenge, the one who looks away, loses.
The game becomes so intense that Edward feels himself merging with the toad, as if to become a single being.
He observes the texture of its skin, the different colors, the breathing movements, the eye movements.
He comes to see himself through it, on his chair, looking into its eyes.
He feels what he feels, he breathes as he breathes.
He feels the emotion rise in him, a great sadness invades him suddenly.
He closes his eyes and starts to cry, cry, cry ..
He dives deep inside himself and empties himself of all the accumulated, repressed, buried tears.
And then this feeling.
“That’s enough.”
Still with his eyes closed, he slowly gets up, walks up the stairs, past the doorstep and stops. He feels the warmth of the sun on his skin.
He takes a deep breath and disappears into the daylight.
Edward exhales slowly as he opens his eyes.
He is sitting on his chair in the basement.
He looks ahead, the toad has disappeared.
He feels calm, puts his hands on his knees to stretch his arms and legs and takes a deep breath.
He gets up slowly, climbs the stairs one by one and heads for the doorstep of his house.
He looks up at the sky and feels the sun’s rays warming his face.
He smiles.
