Short Story 4

The New Family in Town

They parked their car outside of their newly bought house.

"Well, we're here. Honey get the suitcases," said Mrs. Menlo.

Mr. Menlo got out of the car and open the doors to let little Danny out of his toddler chair. Danny was three years old but he had a big imagination.

"Danny get your drawings," encouraged Mr. Menlo.

Danny grabbed all of his drawings and leaped out of the car. The grassy yard felt wet under his sandals. Mr. Menlo grabbed Danny's hand and his suitcase and led him to the front door of the house. The front door was a rich brown mahogany wood carved with the latest details. The house looked a lot like the house next to it. And the one next to that as well.

"See here son, this is our new home. So much space and fresh air. Just like the ad told us. Go inside, I gotta help you mom with the bags."

Mrs. Menlo signaled her husband to help.

The neighborhood was quiet and peaceful, unlike the city life. The Menlo's lived in New York for about 5 years, before Danny was born. Mr. Menlo worked as a news editor and his wife worked at the soup kitchen. They lived in a 20 story apartment with the whole view of the city. But the noise and lights were too much. Cars and trucks blared their horns every night of the week. They barely got any sleep because of it. But when Danny was born they had no choice but to move. For the past 2 years they looked at ads and brochures that are suited for families. Mr. Menlo's boss saw the struggle they were going through, so she recommended a job for him in West Virginia. That, and she gave him an ad of a beautiful house with a large front and back yard. Mr. Menlo talked with the editors in West Virginia and they seem to like his work. So they packed their bags headed towards the state.

Mrs. Menlo looked around and nobody was outside. Not a single human being enjoying the weather.

"Where is everybody," she asked herself. "Derrick is Danny with you?"
"Yea he's playing in the front yard. Don't worry I got my eyes on him," Mr. Menlo yelled back.

Mrs. Menlo got the last of the suitcases and went inside the house. The hallway that connected to the entrance on one end had a stairway on the other. It led to the bedrooms and balcony of the backyard. Their were four openings in the hallway. One led to the kitchen. Another led to the dining room. The third one led to the living room and the last one led to the basement, the only one with a door. The kitchen and dining room connected while the living room is right across from it. What a beautiful house, Mrs. Menlo thought. She saw that her husband had taken most of the bags upstairs to the bedroom. She locked the doors behind her and she made her way to the stairs. As she climbed upstairs she heard giggling from the room to the left of her. That must of been Danny's room, she thought. She proceeded to the right where her and her husbands room was. As she walked in Mr. Menlo was laying flat on the bed. She sat beside him.

"Oh honey, this house is beautiful. You better thank Caroline for this."
"Don't worry I will. I'll tell her all about the job once I get situated. First things first, Danny's stuff. Boys got more toys than Toys R Us. Second, I'll make the phone call to the editors and tell them I'm here."
"I'll take care of Danny don't worry. You go make that call." She said as she pecked him on the lips.

Danny was drawing, as usual in his new room. Mrs. Menlo came in and saw the joy in his eyes.

"You like the house Danny?"
"Yea," he said with joy. "Mommy look!"
Mrs. Menlo looked at the picture and it was a drawing of the new house. "It's amazing," she said. "Hey, do you want your toys?"
Danny leaped with joy and went for his toy bag. Mrs. Menlo looked at him as he unziped his bag and an avalanche of plushies came bursting out. What a wonderful sight.

*1 week later*

"Danny stop pulling on mamas fingers. And don't go too fast I can't keep up," Mrs. Menlo joked. The two were walking around the streets to meet new neighbors or anybody at this point. A car passed by and Mrs. Menlo ran for Danny for his safety, but he stopped running on the sidewalk for the car to pass. Danny looked around in amazement from the grass in the ground to the trees in the sky. Mrs. Menlo also looked around as well.

A few days ago she found a nearby supermarket around the corner of her street. A very nice Indian lady greeted her the moment she stepped into the market.

"What a very handsome boy," she said. "He's going to break hearts when he grows up."
"Hopefully he won't go through those kinds of problems. Your name," Mrs. Menlo asked.
"Alveera"
"Oh, you don't have a last name if I may ask?"
"It's okay darling, don't have have one actually. Don't know what it is," she said pleasantly. As Mrs. Menlo left she turned back. "I'm glad to have met you. Oh! The names Stephanie. Stephanie Menlo," she said proudly.
"It's nice to have met you, too."

Danny was running down the sidewalk and Mrs. Menlo was watching him carefully. Danny made little airplane noises and ran back and forth, towards and from her mother. But he took one wrong step and fell on a neighbors front yard. "Mommy!" he yelled. By the time he screamed Mrs. Menlo was already by his side.
"It's okay baby let me see," she comforted.
"Oh dear," yelled a stranger.

Mrs. Menlo looked back and she saw the owner of the house at the door. She was small, but skinny as well. She ran towards Mrs. Menlo to see what was wrong.

"Oh my, both of you stay right here. I'll get some bandages from the house," the stranger said.

Danny had scratched his leg and a little blood came out. Mrs. Menlo looked at Danny's face but he seemed pretty calm about the situation. No tears or whining.

"Oh, who's my strong man," she said. Danny chuckled.

The stranger came out with bandages in her hand and alcohol. The stranger gave the alcohol to Mrs. Menlo. She examined the bottle to see if it was safe. She seemed content and told Danny to be brave. She poured a little bit onto the leg. Danny flinched a bit but settled down again. Mrs. Menlo lifted Danny's leg as the stranger wrapped the bandages around him.

"Christina Marie. Yours," the stranger asked.
"Stephanie Menlo," she answered. "We just moved in a couple of blocks away. We were looking for neighbors but nobody was around."
"Ah yes. That's because the priest from the church died a few days ago. Everybody was there to mourn for him. He was a very polite gentleman. Made jokes once and awhile when he was preaching. I knew him since I was a little girl. Well, everybody knew him. He was like the father of this town back then. It's really hard to take in, he was like family."
"I'm sorry to hear."
"It's fine, you didn't know. My, you have a brave little boy. Not a single tear."
"Yea, his names Daniel. He's three years but acts like some sort of adventurer."
"Three? My daughter just turned recently three. Her names Gabriela. Very tough girl. Always want what she wants."

The bandages were finally wrapped around Danny's leg and he was able to walk again. But he held on to his mother just in case.

"Thank you so much for the help. If it wasn't for you I would had carried Danny six blocks. And for a women my age," Mrs. Menlo said as they both laughed.
"It was a pleasure Mrs. Menlo. Oh? Do you want to say hello to the neighbors," said Christina to a young child.

Gabriela looked at Mrs. Menlo, a towering figure. And then she looked at Danny. Gabriela then retreated behind her mother.

"Oh don't worry, she's always shy when she sees new people," said Christina. "Oh by the way, theirs a good school just blocks away from here. I was planning to sign Gabriela up."
"Yes I seen that school. I was planning on registering Danny too. I want him to be close and not too far away at the moment. He tends to wander off on his own."
"Sounds fantastic. Welcome to the neighborhood Mrs. Menlo. You came with a husband," Christiania asked.
"Yes, he's working right now and he won't be back till evening."
"Ah. My husband just left recently and he won't be back till ten o'clock. Well tell your husband I said hello."
"As to yours as well."

Finally the two friends said their goodbyes but realized both their children's were gone. They were playing tag in the front yard as if they had been friends for years now. My, Mrs. Menlo thought, what a great neighborhood.