The Good Neighbor
Too much of a good thing
Patty maneuvered the key in the lock, relieved as the tumblers clicked and the old oak door opened. Her dark, cool living room was a haven after this hectic day with her second graders. Tossing purse and books on the chair by the door, she rested her fifty-two-year-old bones on the couch. As she closed her eyes, she heard a clatter in the kitchen.
“Oh, no! Not again!” She muttered. Gritting her teeth, she marched into the kitchen. “Mrs. Clemson! How did you get in?”
A withered leaf of a lady looked at her over thick glasses. “Why, Miz Ellis! You’re home early. That old brown cow of your husbin’z got out agin. Ah put her back in un fixed the fence fer ya. Ya need ta tell the Mr. he’s outta wire agin. Sinced ah was over here anyways, ah brung in your eggs n mail n fed your dog.”
She handed Patty two opened letters. “You got a letter from your sister over in Tyler City, an your son got some kind of traffic summons or sumthin’. You really gotta have a talk with that boy. He jes’ don’t keep reglar hours. Oh, that milk you got in the fridge is soured.”
Swaying before the gravelly onslaught, Patty stared at her neighbor in disbelief as the gray-haired woman shook a twisted finger in her face.
As the bent shape in dusty work clothes and boots turned and shuffled back through the woods she had come from, Patty shook her head. She’s like my personal elf. Isolated as we are here, she’s a godsend the way she watches over the place while we’re gone. But she’s so nosy! How did she get in here? I need to change the back locks again.
Sometimes I wished I had someone come and check up on me every day! But my son does come a few times during the week and on Sundays to cut the grass and do my laundry and other jobs around the house! I just saw him yesterday. He took out my trash and then left! But Teddy is here but not at the moment! He was on the sofa with me but he disappeared! But at least it's peaceful and quiet today. I can't stand noise!