THE NEIGHBOURS

“Good neighbors always spy on you to make sure you are doing well.”
                                                                                                                       ― Pawan Mishra

It happened at dusk. One late summer day. It wasn't that dark and it wasn't that light.  It was just right. We  saw them arrive. Eight of them. One mom and a bunch of kids.  A lot of noisy, bouncing kids from big to small. In the twilight. In the night. My mother and I had a good view of them  from the front steps. 

They had friends. Apparently. Friends who didn't mind unpacking a truck late in the day. friends who left as soon as they could.  There were lights all over their house next door, outside and in.  My mother got her binoculars. She cranked up those  things to  get a look at what they were  doing .

She told me to go wrap up the fresh bread she had made earlier.  She always made  five loaves every other day. "Two loaves. Make it three," she said.  She wondered how they would all fit in that house. She peered through her binoculars, then dropped them. "Go give them the bread...."

I trundled over with three loaves of warm bread. Then dutifully handed them to the new neighbour.  She promptly shouted out: "Bread!" The kids came running. They ripped off hunks like coyotes.  They chewed in the  dusk that fell into a summer dark. They had a dog. A big dog.  The dog ran up. "That's Bruno," said our new neighbour. "He loves bread. " Bruno grabbed one of the loaves and ran off.

Our new neighbour was  called  Neece. She was interesting.She had hair piled up like buns on top of her head.   She plonked herself down on a lawn chair, near the  front steps, while her kids scarfed down the bread. "I don't eat bread, " she said. "I eat crackers. Do you have any crackers?" No, I said. Not with me.  "I have a mighty powerful hankering for crackers." 

I told her I would go look. "And maybe  something to drink," our new neighbour suggested. "Got me a  thirst for some Tang. Do you have any Tang?" We always had some.  Astronauts drank it, so it must be good for you.  I toddled home to get some crackers and Tang. In the not so  dark. In the not so night. Bruno , the dog, howled to the moon.

My mother sent me back with  a package of water crackers and  box of powdered Tang. Neece was lying on the lawn chair, with two of the younger kids hanging off it. The others were playing tag with their dog. She yelled at them ,once in a while, to slow down. Which they didn't.

Neece was very happy to see I had crackers  and Tang. "We haven't unpacked yet. Do you have any glasses?" She waved her  hands around. She had 4 inch nails carved off of her fingers. I wondered what she did. She chewed gum, wore big hoop earrings and her nails were paintedpink. She didn't know where the  glasses had been packed. "My husband's overseas. This war thing......he always did  the unpacking. "

I dutifully toddled back to the house. With four of her kids in tow. Neece said they would help carry stuff. And they would be much obliged if there was maybe an apple or two the kids could share. She was worn out from moving. I left her staring up at the early night sky.  Maybe she would see stars, she said. Maybe if I bonked her with the package of crackers I could make her  see stars.....

My mother  had her binoculars out again. Not that she could  see much with the light going.  She didn't have glasses , but  had paper cups left over from the church picnic the other weeeknd. We also filled a paper bag with the last of the apples and oranges.The kids squealed and ran back to their new house. It was now dark. It was now night.

Her kids loved the fruit. They started  playing catch.  Neece, from her lawn chair, yelled at them to stop. Bruno loved catching apples.  They all  seemed to have selective hearing. Neece said she only ate  grapes. Did we happen to have any on  hand? She hadn't eaten any crackers yet, I observed.

"I usually ONLY eat crackers with grapes, and maybe a slice of cheese. Do you have any cheese? I would dearly LOVE some cheese. " Neece yelled at her oldest kids to  find the tupperware bowl and make some Tang. " And the kids like yellow cheese. I'm not that particular. Maybe cut in cubes..."

I ran home, in the now definite dark summer night, with only the lights from our two houses. We only had a jar of  Cheez Whiz left. My mother stuck a knife in it. I walked back with my cheesy prize. The kids jumped up and down.  Neece  yelled at them some more . Apparently, it was my job to smother the crackers with the cheese. Neece told me she was plum worn out with the  long day it had been.

Her kids devoured the snacks.  Bruno devoured a  cracker with cheese. Plus any that the kids dropped. For all of her asking for food, Neece never ate a thing. While her kids  glopped out paper cups of  Tang they made up in bowl, she spent her time staring up at the night sky. Back then, there were plenty of stars to go round. In the dark. After twilight.

"You know what would be great," Neece started to say. But I was way ahead of her. I handed her the last bag of Dad's cookies from our pantry.  My mother  had given it up, with a bit of resistance, as she stood staring at her depleted shelves. I  left her to make up a shopping list....

Now the kids started grabbing at the cookies. Bruno joined them, trying to grab  treats.   Neece paid them no mind. She was too busy looking up at the stars. Too busy watching the skies, not fretting the small stuff, in the night, in the dark.....

“You shine when you're kind to your neighbour.”
― douglaskiogoraquotes

Photographs 2023