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Chapter 1-2

As small as the town was, the streets were busy with people at this hour. Businessmen and women alike were walking up to a restaurant, which was queued with people. Little kids were carrying their school bags and holding onto their parents' hands as they walked, finishing kindergarten for the day. Boutiques, retail stalls and shops lined the street.

The GPS on Louise's car brought her to a quieter district away from the town centre as the hustle and bustle faded. The houses on this street here were broader, with two stories instead of only one. They were also more spaced out from each other. What's more, the famous lake was directly next to the house. Louise parked her car on the driveway and got her new residential key from her purse. The water in the lake was still and peaceful. Under the late afternoon sun, the water glimmered as if Tinker Bell had casted pixie dust all over it. As she was walking up the stairs to the house's front porch, a woman in her forties was walking a pittie towards the house next to hers.

A dog lady for a neighbor. Reassuring, Louise thought.

"Good afternoon. I reckon you are new here? I don't remember when's the last time anybody had set foot in that house!" The dog lady exclaimed. Her pittie looked up and wagged its tail. "Anyways, I am Joanna, and it seems like I will be your new neighbor."

She phrased that last sentence with a tone that sounded like a question.

"Looks like it. Nice to meet you, Joanna. I am Louise. Just been transferred from the city. Your dog is pretty cute." Louise smiled. Should she tell her about what she's here for? Or did she know already, like the mayor did just now? She figured that everybody must've known each other in this small town, so the latter was probably more likely.

"It's nice of you to say that! Charlie here was nowhere near sweet. He bit someone at the park a while back and has to wear this stupid collar ever since." She uttered as she pointed at Charlie's red and yellow collar. "I don't think that's necessary though. He was pretty aggressive as a pup, yeah, always barking at the mailman, chewing the couch and all that, but now he's a good boy. The streets scared ya straight hadn't they?" Charlie licked her hand as Joanna patted him on the head.

"He was afraid of the streets?"

"Oh that's just what I think. I don't know for sure, but Charlie ran away a while back and didn't come home for a week. I was worried sick. He was probably chasing after a squirrel or something and got lost. Couldn't find his way home. We found him on Maple Street a week later, sleeping under one of the benches. He sure did scare me, but I was glad he's safe. He's been an obedient boy after that and never ran away again." Joanna explains.

"Well I'm glad to hear that, and I'm sure he is. Nice to meet you again, Joanna."

"Likewise!"

Louise heaved her two large duffel bags and a bulky suitcase into the house and closed the door.

Home sweet home. She thought.

The house was old but grand. It reminded her of the house in Mary Poppins. There was a fireplace carved in delicate woodwork in the centre of the room, and a chandelier above her head. The walls were covered in white wallpaper with floral patterns. Louise hated it, but hey, at least it was not worn or mouldy like the one she had in the city.

After she had fully unpacked all her belongings, managed to put everything in their new places, and cleaned out the entire house from top to bottom, the day was already approaching evening. Louise heated up a microwave mac n cheese on the stove and stared at the cheddar, urging it to melt faster.

The temperature was colder here, and she felt a sudden chill all over her body. She shivered and wrapped her jacket tightly around her body.