I began writing this little story on
Sunday, April 03, 2011 at 9:09 PM

Just Neighbors
by Ora Lea Harrison



Chapter One
The Birthday

      I heard the children's laughter before I had even opened the door.   I had gone to pick up Daddy at the train station while Jimmy and the children had begun their dinner.
      Jimmy looked at me above the children's heads, smiling,   "We waited for you, Babe.   How are you, Pop?"
      The children ran to hug their Gramps and then Rory, our oldest, came over to me and taking my hand, said,   "Come on Momma, Honey's about to blow her candles out."
      Jimmy lit the candle's on the cake and little Honey, so pretty in the light, earnestly closed her eyes and after making her wish, blew out the candles.
      I gave the cake knife to her and putting my hand over her's, helped her carve out the first piece for herself.   I removed the candles and cut the rest of the cake.   Passing plates of cake to Jimmy, he put scoops of vanilla ice cream next to the cake before passing them on around.
      While Jimmy put the children to bed, I visited with Daddy while we did the kitchen.
      Daddy liked to brag about how he was able to still 'paddle his own canoe' and even lived by himself since Momma had died three and a half years ago, making us worry about him.
      The next day, Jimmy had to go into the office for a half day while Daddy stayed home with the children and me.
      When Jimmy walked in with the groceries that he'd stopped and bought, he was smiling and said,   "You won't believe who I saw at the store,"   looking expectantly at us, getting our attention.   "Timothy Bridges."
      "Timothy Bridges!   Are you sure?   Why, what in the world is he doing here?"
      "I heard some people saying that he has an aunt that lives here and he's visiting her."
      "Wow, Daddy, I wish I had gone with you!"   Rory looked a little pink at the thought of her own Daddy getting to see one of her favorite movie stars.
      "I wish you had all been with me.   You know, he looks the same way that he does in movies.   I didn't think those people were really like that in person."   Jimmy just stood there, smiling and shaking his head.
      "I wonder if he'll be here for very long,"   I said.   "Maybe we'll get to have a glimpse of him when we're out sometime."   Turning to Rory I said,   "Why don't you run out and get the mail, Sweetie?"
      Rory had hardly gone out the front door when she burst back in, hardly able to talk.   She motioned us to the window and looking outside, we saw in front of the house, a cab with a man that looked a lot like Timothy Bridges getting out with a bag of groceries and going to the house just across the street.
      "Do you think that's really him?"   Todd was wondering aloud.
      "Why would he be at Mrs. Bridges?"   Rory asked no one in particular.   "You don't suppose?"   The question was left hanging in the air as we stood gaping out of the window at our used to be ordinary friend's house.
      Melanie Bridges opened the door and hugged her visitor, letting him inside.
      We stood for another moment after the door had closed, just looking at it.
      Then we all excitedly began talking at once.
      The little ones didn't really know what all of the fuss was about but was enjoying the family fun.
      Jimmy handed the grocery bag to Todd, asking him to put the things away and turned to me,   "I know, lets go over and borrow a cup of sugar from Mrs. Bridges."   he joked.
      I turned to Daddy, who had been quiet.   "You alright, Daddy?"
      "Oh, yes, of course.   Thank you for getting the things that I needed at the store, Jimmy.   I can't imagine why I didn't pack them."   he said.   "The funny thing is, I believe I know your neighbor from someplace, I can't think where, though."
      "Why, Daddy, we've been here all this time, is this the first time that you've seen Mrs. Bridges?"
      "I guess so, it must be.   I wish I could think where I've seen her before."
      Remembering something, I said,   "You know, I do believe I've heard her mention before that she's from Oak Grove, the same as we are."
      Furrowing his eyebrows, he said,   "What's her name, do you know?"
      "I don't know her maiden name but her first name is Melanie."
      "Melanie Bridges, that's it, that is her maiden name.   I wonder if she never married,"   he looked thoughtful.
      "We've always called her Missus, I assumed that she had been married."   I answered. "Would you like to see her while you're here?"
      "Nah, she wouldn't remember me, it's been way too long."   he spoke hurriedly and went out to the kitchen.
      Jimmy and I exchanged glances and looked around at the children.   We both knew what the other was thinking.



Chapter Two
Daddy and Mrs. Bridges
      That afternoon, feeling rested from our lunch and naps, Daddy, Jimmy and I sat in the front room talking while the children were in the back playing.
      There was a soft knock on the door and opening it, we saw Mrs. Bridges standing there with a wrapped gift.
      "I'm so sorry to be late with Honey's birthday present,"   she said as she walked into the house, "but I've been preparing for a visit from my nephew and didn't get to come over.   He's resting now so I thought it would be a good time to come.   Where is she?"
      Asking her to have a seat, I went to call Honey.
      When I came back, Jimmy was introducing Mrs. Bridges to my Daddy.
      Daddy stood up and they exchanged greetings and Honey burst into the room.
      "Here you go, Sweetie, Happy Birthday,"   Mrs. Bridges said, giving Honey the gift.
      Honey opened the present and saw that it was a jewelry box with a little ballerina on top and smiled.   Opening it, she saw the mirror and place for her jewelry.
      "What do you say, Honey?"   I coaxed her.   "Thank you, Mrs. Bridges."
      Honey went over to Mrs. Bridges and hugging her, said,   "Thank you Mrs. Bridges.   Do you care if I put my treasures in the box?"
      "That's what it's for, Sweetheart,"   Mrs. Bridges held out her hand for the box.   "Let me show you something, okay?"   Taking the box, she turned it over and wound the little key on the bottom of it and giving it back to Honey, they listened and watched while it played a magical tune and the ballerina twirled.
      "Someone gave me a box like that a long time ago," she said.
      Honey seemed to be mesmerized by the box and stood holding it, watching the little dancer and listening to the music.
      Daddy had been looking intently at Mrs. Bridges since she came into the house and now he spoke,   "You are Melanie Bridges, aren't you?"
      Mrs. Bridges looked from Honey to my Daddy, startled and said,   "Why yes, I am," she was puzzled at his asking this after she'd just told him in their introductions, wondering if he may be senile.   "And you're Charles Samuels," then, leaning her head a little to her left, she looked at him closer and said,   "Are you Charles Samuels from Oak Grove?"
      Daddy smiled and said, "I thought it was you, isn't this something, here you've lived just across the street from my daughter all these years and I never knew it."
      Just then, the other children came into the room and looking at Todd, Mrs. Bridges said,   "I should have known that he would be your grandson.   He's the spittin' image of you as a boy."
      All eyes went from Daddy to Todd, trying to see the comparison.
      "Do you remember when you gave that jewelry box to me when we were young?"   Mrs. Bridges asked.   "You were always the romantic one."
      I could see that, I thought.   Daddy was a romantic.   He was always doing special things for Momma and we girls.
      Looking at me, Mrs. Bridges said,   "Why don't all of you come to my house this evening for a barbeque?   My nephew's here for a few days but he wouldn't mind, I'm sure.   He'd probably like to meet some of my neighbors and see that I'm well fixed for friends.   You know how young people are, always worrying about us old folks."   She laughed.
      Standing up, she walked to the door and waving bye, said that she'd see us in a couple of hours.
      Mrs. Bridges hadn't said anything about her nephew being a movie star so none of us felt that we should either.   We were thankful that the children were distracted by the music box and hadn't thought to.


                 

Chapter Three
The Barbeque

      Timothy Bridges came to the door when we rang the bell and Mrs. Bridges came up behind her nephew, wiping her hands on her apron and introduced him as Tim Bridges.
      We all tried not to be star-struck this close up to a real star but it wasn't easy.
      Mrs. Bridges and Tim behaved in such a family-casual way, I was beginning to wonder if maybe we had been mistaken.
      Finally, over dinner, between mouthfuls, Mrs. Bridges said,   "Okay, we may as well get this over with, yes, this is Timothy Bridges, the actor, but when he's here, he's just my much loved nephew and helps out around here with what I need doing.   Not that I save up work for his visits, he's always taken care of his Auntie, though."   She looked around the table at us, waiting for us to say something, I supposed, but none of us knew what to say.   It was strange, her having a famous member of her own family and no one had even known and he'd been coming here all these years unseen.   It was extraordinary, to say the least.
      Daddy, looking over at Mrs. Bridges, said,   "Melanie, didn't you do some acting when you were young?   It seems like you were in a couple of school plays, weren't you?"
      Tim said,   "So, that's where I got that from, you never told me you were in plays, Aunt Mel."
      We all laughed, feeling normal again.
      "Now, Aunt Mel, what's this?   You knew Mr. Samuels before?   Why haven't I heard before now?"
      Mrs. Bridges looked over at Daddy and said,   "We do have some history, we lived on the same street when we were kids but lost touch after high school.   Why didn't we keep up with each other, Charles, do you remember?"
      Daddy looked like he was trying to remember from long ago but only said,   "You went away to college and I was in the service for a couple of years, then got married.   Your folks died so you didn't have a reason to come back to Oak Grove and that's all there was to that."
      The kids asked Tim to tell about some of the stunts that he'd done in movies and he regaled them with stories.
      After dinner was over, I began clearing the table but Daddy said,   "You and Jimmy and the kids visit with Tim, I'll help Melanie in the kitchen."
      I didn't argue, it wasn't every day that we got to hear about the doin's in Hollywood, first hand.
      After about an hour of Tim holding court with Todd and Rory still begging for more stories, Jimmy and I, holding the already sleeping little ones, gathered our brood and trooped across the street with Daddy not far behind.
      When we were out of range of their hearing, someone said,   "Well, now, this is surely a day for our memory books,"   and the rest of us agreed.

      Three weeks later, on a Sunday afternoon, Melanie, as we now called her, and Daddy were saying their marriage vows in front of the Pastor from her church.
      They said that they didn't need any courting time, they had already done that when they were children.
      My sister, Marilyn, and I were overjoyed that at last he'd found someone to be happy with for the rest of his life.
      The kids, no longer thinking of Tim as a movie star but a friend, were happy that we'd all be family.


The End



The Property of Ora Lea Harrison ~ All rights reserved, April 6, 2011

Thank you so much for reading my little story, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.
You may write me concerning this story at ora.lea @ gmail.com
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