In a Stranger's Arms

This bliss of home rarely exists when one has multiple children 3 and under. The reality is that things happen at the same time (i.e. one child is running around the house with hands covered with syrup and the other's diaper has blown out dramatically). Anne was having a blissful moment. The only child at home was 2 year old Joseph and he had been quiet and content all morning. This was an extra blessing as Joseph had been designated a "strong-willed" child.

Anne washed dishes and listened to the stereo, with mind drifting from the toy-cluttered patio out the window to sleep-like reverie in memories. Her babies were growing so fast, and if not for constant battles of will her love for them would be almost unbearable in its power.

The doorbell rang rapidly three times. Anne answered the door at will, depending on the activity inside the house. The front door was solid wood with a lock, a bolt, a child-safety latch, and no means to look from the outside in.

The bell rang three more times in the same rapid fashion. This was bold even for a traveling salesperson. Anne stepped out of the kitchen and looked down the hallway at the door, not yet sure of what she was going to do. She thought she saw the handle move slightly and then the door began to swing open.

Four houses down the street from Anne's was a natural wood home that stood out from the others on the cul-de-sac. The house was structurally sound and the finish was tolerable, but the yard was returning to the wild. A huge sycamore tree had taken over the front yard and most of the lawn underneath was dead. Juniper hedges had thick, burled wood exposed from infrequent but aggressive trimming, and other yard plants were becoming trees. As is often the case, the home had become a de facto nature preserve, full of birdsong, foraging squirrels, and many other sounds from hidden creatures.

The family tended to move quickly from car to home and back, and Anne did not even know their names. There were five total family members in the home: father, mother, teenage boy, twenty-something daughter, and baby granddaughter. All had dark hair and olive skin reminiscent of Southern Europe. A more Northern European young man with shaved head was often parked in front of the home, and the young mother and baby would shuttle to and from his car. The teenage boy had a mental disability and spoke loudly with words that were difficult to understand.

On the few occasions when people gathered for an outdoor event on the cul-de-sac, the father and son would appear and were obviously well-known to their immediate neighbors. The boy had braces and a generous mouth and would often invite the younger kids to join in a game with him. In addition to his loud speech, he would have sudden emotional outbursts that left him in tears and speaking continuous, unintelligible words. The balding father was very affectionate toward the son, often giving him strong hugs and pretending to wrestle. The young man reveled in his father's attention.

As Anne's front door swung open, the young mother from up the street stepped inside holding Anne's little boy in her arms. Anne moved instinctively down the hall with a mosaic of colliding thoughts - Joseph's obsession with door handles, the brief morning visit from the pest control man, the quiet of the house. Anne looked into the young mother's brown and gold eyes and perceived very few of the words her neighbor was speaking - "across the street", "thought I recognized him", "walked right up to me". In an instant Anne was alone holding Joseph. His small body relaxed in her arms and he began looking around the room for something to do.