The Little Girl Next Door

Chapter 17 - Long for Thy Neighbour

Well, here we are. We are finally at the end. I won't know what to do with myself anymore when it's over...

Daddy got better in the end, and Molly had never felt so happy.

She finally got to have her family again.

Although Daddy may have scars for the rest of his life, at least he got to come home. The moment he was released from the hospital, he came back to stay with her and Mommy for a while, and it was more than Molly hoped for.

Everything was right with the world again.

She may have her Daddy back, but she hadn't seen Nny since the night he brought her home in his car.

Molly was really worried, especially as the police were on the lookout for him.

They talked about Nny on the news, and a sketch of him always appeared (yet for some reason, they made him look like Happy Noodle Boy...)

The police kept questioning Molly, asking her about the mysterious, blue-haired man who killed the doctor and brought her home, and Molly would tell them that Nny was innocent and that he saved her...

She never told them his name or where he lived, since Molly was a smart girl. She knew if she told them, they would find him and lock him away forever.

Nny was not crazy...

Okay, maybe he was just a little, but he was still good. Sure, he had done bad things, but he was still Molly's friend, and he helped her.

Molly loved him, and he loved her back. They were best friends after all.

The people of the city agreed with Molly too, saying that Nny should be pardoned for hurting the doctor because he saved her.

The people were divided. Some think he should be locked away since the doctor's murder had been connected with a string of other murders over the last few years, and they all blamed them on Nny. But others believed that Nny was a guardian angel of some kind, going out of his way to save a helpless little girl...

He'd become a hero in the eyes of the people, and he was.

He was Molly's hero.

It was just a shame he was gone now, and Molly may never see him again. As she gazed out of her bedroom window, spying his dark house, she sighed.

Poor Nny. He must be so alone and frightened. Wherever he was, she hoped he was safe, hoped he was happy...

Molly would see him again. She just had to believe.

She peered back at her bedside clock. The small hand was on the nine. It was past her bedtime. Her Mommy would be angry with her for being out of bed, but Molly couldn't sleep.

All she could do was stare at Nny's house, pressing her nose to the window as she fogged the glass.

His car was still outside...

Just where was he?

"Please come back, NNY. I miss you..."

No one answered, of course. So she wiped the tears from her eyes and crawled back into bed.

If only Nny were around to tell her one of his weird bedtime stories. They never did make sense. They were mostly just about Happy Noodle Boy, but they still made her laugh.