New Years Eve, 1994

Billy mirthfully contemplated all the medicine it had required for him to muster the patience to decorate his house. He checked his watch. His friends would be over soon. He poured himself half a glass of sparkling wine and then topped it up with orange juice. He was wearing his pajamas and a festive party hat made from pink and green tissue paper. He pinched it with his thumb and forefinger, appreciating its wrinkled texture. The doorbell sounded.
He opened the door to the brisk dusk. His lover stood on the doorstep smiling tenderly. He invited her in and took her coat.
"This house is a fucking blessing," he told her. "There was all this weird energy in the other place, I felt too unsettled to write."
She smiled politely. She didn't speak too much English. That was okay. Billy embraced her tenderly, petted her back, her hair, kissed her hair. He adored her.
"You smell great," he told her.

Gradually the rest of his friends filtered in. They brought beer or wine. They brought the threat of emotional disturbance or even complete destruction. His brother and sister arrived, both his elders. He introduced them to his recently acquired lover. They were curious to meet her after hearing her described as a 'middle aged South American.' Billy was 26. He looked at least six years younger.

He felt calm. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready to leave this place. Outside the wind stirred brittle leaves that had fallen in the autumnal dawn. All of a sudden it began teeming with rain.

He drank a lot of coffee, much like his idol, David Lynch. At least he was given to understand that Lynch was an avid coffee consumer. Unless Lynch was LYING for reasons beyond anyone's fucking comprehension.

He splashed water on his face. Jesus, calm down he told himself. He repaired to his bedroom. His lover lay on the bed, nude. He sucked her tits for a while then fucked her ass.

He returned downstairs. His friend Indigo was reading a poem she'd written entitled Ambiguity Estuary. Billy snatched the sheet of paper from her hand and threw it to the floor. Then he called her a stupid cow and told her to fuck off. Then he started dry humping her. Then her boyfriend punched Billy very hard on the chest and called him a sad little rapist. Then Billy started crying and all his friends left.
The fairy lights twinkled on and off.