I Found My Neighbors…

‘Lily,’ said the child in yellow.

‘Lucy,’ her sister breathed.

I guided them up my driveway without looking directly at the house next door. It took all my self-control not to run.

For illustrative purposes only
The Man at My Door
Once we were inside, I turned the deadbolt. The sharp click made both girls flinch so violently that Lucy nearly lost her balance. That reaction frightened me more than their hiding place had.

I brought them to the kitchen and placed water, crackers, and sliced strawberries on the table. They watched the food without touching it. Only after I sat several feet away and told them it was theirs did Lucy reach for a strawberry. Lily followed. Within moments, they were eating with urgent little bites, as if someone might remove the plate.

I kept my questions simple. ‘Is your mother next door?’

Both girls stopped chewing.

‘What about your father?’

Lucy shook her head, but neither child offered another word. I reached slowly for my phone, intending to call for help. Lily slid from her chair so quickly that it scraped the floor.

‘No police!’ she cried.

I froze with my hand above the counter. ‘Why are you afraid of the police?’

Her eyes filled. ‘He said police take bad girls away.’

Before I could ask who had told her that, a man’s shout carried through my partly open window.

‘Lily! Lucy!’

The effect was immediate. Both children vanished beneath my kitchen table. I closed the window, drew the curtain, and moved to the front room. Through a narrow gap in the blinds, I saw the man from next door stride off his porch. His face no longer held the blank caution I had noticed in the driveway. He looked furious.

He searched the grass, glanced behind his shrubs, and walked straight to my trash can. When he found it empty, he lifted his head toward my house.

Three hard blows struck my front door.

I left the chain fastened and opened it only a few inches. The man stood close enough that I could see a pulse moving in his jaw.

‘Good morning,’ he said, although nothing in his expression was polite. ‘Have you seen two little girls?’

I made myself look puzzled. ‘Little girls?’

‘Twins. Three years old. They wandered away.’