Madeline:
Mommy and I live in an old house on an old street. It's a nice street with lots of big trees and we have a big backyard. We used to get the mail delivered to our house but now there is a street mailbox. Mommy lets me get the mail because I'm seven and the box is just at the end of the street. It's one of the jobs I do to earn money.
Mommy grew up in the house but moved out when she was eighteen. Grandma said mommy used to be a hellraiser.
Mommy met a man at a bar when she was twenty-eight and became pregnant with me. But she never saw the man again and didn't know where he lived. She looked but never found him.
So mommy moved back home with grandma and I lived with mommy and grandma. I have a grandpa but he lives with another lady in another state so we don't talk about him. It makes grandma grumpy.
Grandma owned our house and we had lots of money when she was alive because she worked as a manager at MacDonald's and mommy is a hairdresser. But grandma died last year and now we don't have lots of money. Mommy often gets upset when I get the mail and she sees bills. She tries not to react in front of me but I know we don't make enough money because we don't eat at MacDonald's anymore and we shop at the thrift shop for clothes. I don't mind because they have nice clothes but I think it upsets mommy.
We have two next-door neighbors but there is a big wooden fence on the one side and we never see those people. Mommy says they're not very friendly.
Jerry is our neighbor on the other side. He's new. He just moved in last month. Mr. Granger lived there but was really old and mommy said he couldn't take care of the house anymore and moved to an apartment.
Mommy has talked to Jerry a few times and said he seems nice. He's older than mommy and has grey hair. I think he's forty-five which means he's ten years older. He used to be married but his wife got sick and died.
I felt sad for him when I heard that because I remembered how I felt when grandma died. It wasn't nice and I still think about her.
There is a fence between our house and Jerry's because Mr. Granger had a dog but it's a chain-link fence so I can see through it. My bedroom looks down on Jerry's yard so I can see what's going on. Mommy says I'm nosy but I'm not! I'm just curious.
My school is ten minutes away by bike. I always call mommy to let her know when I get home. She worries until I call. It bothers her that she can't pick me up. I don't know why because it only takes me ten minutes to get home on my bike and I'm very fast. No one would ever catch me and I don't talk to strangers.
Mommy works until eight some days. I eat the food she puts in the fridge for me and then do my homework. I'm very smart and finish my schoolwork fast.
My school friends don't live close so I'm not allowed to bike to their place. Mommy won't let me get a cell phone to talk to them. She says we can't afford it. But I can talk to them on our iPad.
There are no kids for me to play with on the street because most of the people are old. I don't see my friends from school throughout the week. So I'm often bored until mommy gets home.
I've been looking at Jerry's backyard through my window lately because he just got a puppy. It's very shaggy and cute looking and she runs around the backyard. I know it's a she because Jerry calls her 'Sadie'.
Jerry saw me looking through my window one day and smiled and waved so I waved back. He saw me again the next day and smiled and waved again and I waved back. I decided he was okay with me being curious, or he wouldn't have waved, so I put my shoes on and went outside to the fence to see Jerry and Sadie.
Sadie ran over and licked my hand through the fence and wagged her tail. Then Jerry came over.
He smiled. "Hello! You must be Madeline. I'm Jerry."
He reached down over the fence to shake my hand. His hand was very big and calloused.
"Why is your hand so hard?"
He smiled.
"Because I'm a carpenter and work with my hands so my skin has become tough."
That made sense. "I like your dog. What kind is it?"
"It's a Bearded Collie."
"She has long hair. She looks like Benji from TV."
"Yes, she does."
"Does she like to play? Does she bite?"
"Yes and No."
"Could I come over sometime and play with her?"
"Of course, if it's okay with your mom."
"Okay! Thanks! I'll ask mommy tonight! Bye!"
"Goodbye, Madeline."
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Jerry:
I preferred old neighborhoods because I grew up in one and liked big old trees and narrow streets.
But Jane was a designer and wanted to build a house from scratch.
Unfortunately, that meant building in a new subdivision with no trees.
Unfortunately, Jane got pancreatic cancer and was dead six months after we moved into the house.
The house was nice but living in a new subdivision was not my cup of tea and the house reminded me of Jane all the time, which made me sad. I hadn't built any serious relationships with our new neighbors and didn't need to live in a five thousand square foot house. There was just me. So I sold it.
The housing market was going berserk so I made a ton of money and bought a small war-time house in a beautiful old neighborhood with lots of trees and narrow streets. Just like I liked. The house cost one-third of what I sold the new one for because it was small and needed some work. I was a carpenter so that wasn't a problem.
And it had a big beautiful backyard. I checked the dirt which was dark and rich with lots of worms. It would be great for growing veggies which made me happy because I had a green thumb and liked to garden.
The yard was already fenced in which meant I could get a dog. Jane was allergic to dogs so we never had one. But I grew up with a Bearded Collie. They're great dogs, very friendly and I liked their shaggy look. I looked forward to having one again to keep my mind off Jane.
I had zero interest in looking for someone new but was excited about having a dog so four weeks later I had a new Bearded Collie puppy named Sadie.
I always wanted kids but it never happened because my sperm count was low and Jane was indifferent so we never bothered with fertility treatments.
