Our neighbor across the street is Marlys Henning.
She’s seventy-four. She’s lived in that little white ranch house since before Rick and I ever bought ours. She’s watched everything that’s happened on our street for fifty years, and she has no intention of missing anything now.
On the second night, at six o’clock exactly, Marlys came out her front door carrying a folding lawn chair and a cup of coffee.
She set the chair on her front step. She sat down in it. She crossed her ankles.
She didn’t wave. She didn’t call across the street. She just sat there and watched. The way you’d watch a Hawkeyes game you had money on.
I made meatloaf that night. Baked potatoes. Green beans from the freezer.
And I lit a little vanilla candle in a pint Mason jar and set it in the cup holder by the steering wheel.
Rick looked at the candle.
Then he looked across the street at Marlys.
“She’s watching us,” he said.
“She’s watching the boat,” I said. “It’s a pretty boat.”
He made a sound in his throat that wasn’t quite a laugh.
He ate two helpings of meatloaf. When he was done, he wiped his mustache with his napkin.
“That was good, Karen.”
“Thank you,” I said.
And I meant it. I wasn’t angry at the meatloaf.
By the third night, Marlys had brought out a sweater and a plate of her own supper. She ate on her front step while we ate in the boat.
Later, I walked across the street and took her a piece of rhubarb pie.
She took the plate in both hands and looked up at me.
“Honey,” she said. “How long are you going to do this?”
“Until it’s done,” I said.
“Until what’s done?”
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
And that was the truth.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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