The House That Had A Gentle Heart - Part 1

Tom and Helen Miller were a happy couple with a happy six-year-old daughter named Gentle.

Happiest of all was the house that sat on the corner of Elm and Oak. That was the Miller’s new home.

It was known by all in the neighborhood as the house with the blinking eyes. Every evening, as the sun set low on Elm street, the sun’s rays would filter through the leaves of the shady elm that stood in front of the Miller house, casting a flickering light upon its upstairs bedroom windows.

“Look, Mom,” said Gentle, gazing up at the house for the first time. “Our house is blinking.”

“Why, so it is,” said Helen.

“Can we get it some sunglasses?”

“I don’t think we’d find a pair big enough, dear,“ said Helen. ”We need to get it some shutters.”

“Good idea,” said Gentle. “I can open his eyes in the morning and close his eyes at night. Then I can read him a bedtime story.”

Hearing that, the house took a deep breathe and fell madly in love with Gentle.

“Oh, dear,” said her mother. “The wind just blew the front door in.”

“What wind?” said Gentle.

After the shutters were put in place, Gentle woke that first morning and made her rounds. First opening the eye in her bedroom. Then a run down the hall to open the eye in her parents room.

“Morning, sunshine,” said her dad. “What are you doing?”

“I’m waking up the house,” said Gentle.

“Oh,” said her dad. “Don’t forget to brush his teeth.”

“Now you’re being silly, Daddy,” said Gentle. “Houses don’t have teeth. They have pretty eyes and a big, warm heart.”

“Yes, Tom,” said her mom. “That’s why we bought the house in the first place. Remember what the ad in the paper said? A beautiful three-bedroom, two-bath Colonial with pretty eyes and a big warm heart. It sold us.”

“I’d forgotten,” said her dad. “But I’m not forgetting who likes strawberry pancakes with piles of butter and maple syrup. Who’s in?”

*****

Bent and Soggy Bristle were a miserable couple. They lived in the house next door with their six-year-old son Rusty.

Rusty Bristle had a mouth full of vinegar and a heart full of spite.

They lived in a ferocious looking house with blackened windows and angry doors.

“It’s no one’s concern what goes on in here,” said Mr. Bristle one day. “You mind your business and we’ll mind ours.”

“I didn’t mean any harm,” said Tom Miller. “I was just curious about the windows was all. I was only being neighborly.”

“We ain’t the neighborly type,” said Mrs. Bristle. “And tell your little girl, here, to stay away from my little boy. He ain’t neighborly either.”

“Yeah," said Rusty, “I eat bumble bees and sleep with snakes. So unless you do the same, you better stay away."

With that the Bristles turned and went back inside the house. The door slammed on its own and left The Miller’s standing there with their Welcome to the Neighborhood cake still in hand.

“Does that mean we get to keep the cake?” said Gentle.

“Seems so,” said her mother.

“Let’s get out of here,” said her dad. “This house is giving me the creeps.”