Neighbors

Neighbors- a flash-fictions urban fantasy

I must have missed the moving truck, but I saw lights in the windows last night. 

Since I moved into the neighborhood 2 years ago, that house has been dark. I could only assume that someone moved in, but I’m not the kind of person who brings a casserole to the neighbors. I’m more of a “watch the neighbors fight on the front lawn, and maybe call the cops if things get violent” sort of person. So, I left nosy Mrs. Wilkerson from across the street to do the meet and greet. I was sure she’d come by to give me her detailed thoughts about them later. 

Except, later never came.

Mrs. Wilkerson never cornered me while I was checking my mail or taking out my trash to gossip about the new family. After a few weeks, my curiosity over Mrs. Wilkerson’s uncharacteristic absence overrode my distaste for suburban small talk. Taking a leaf out of the Wilkerson playbook, I approached Mr. Wilkerson as he washed his car.

“How’s Sharon?” I asked.

“Who?” He asked, wringing out a sponge.

“Sharon? You’re wife?” I elaborated, confused at his confusion. 

“I’m sorry, Jess. I don’t have a wife. I thought you knew that.”

The half-second pause was palpable.

“I apologize. I must have confused you with Mr. Williams down the street.”

I wrapped up our conversation with polite chatter about the weather and his (and Sharon’s) oldest daughter’s upcoming graduation. 

‘How could he not remember his wife of 20 years? The mother of their 3 children? The ultimate suburban housewife, Sharon?’ I wondered as I crossed the street back home. As if waiting to answer my questions, I saw a flickering light in my neighbor’s window. Catching my attention and bringing me to the edge of their property line. Narrowing my eyes to squint through the panes, I saw small, flittering shadows with wings darting about the front room. 

‘Fairies! That explains it!’ I thought to myself, satisfied with the discovery that answered all my questions. 

It was too late for Mrs.Wilkerson, but it wasn’t too late for me. I would just continue to mind my own business, especially where the Neighbors were involved.