Who Lives Next Door?

When Liam moves out of his parents’ house to Florida, he has no idea what sort of crazy adventures are coming his way.

Chapter 1: 10/3/2020 my first entry

Okay, I know it's kinda weird for a guy to write in a diary. But this is not a diary. First of all, it's on a computer, and I'm typing it, so it can’t be a diary. That's totally girl stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I'm not gonna go around saying that I think boys are better than girls, because that’s just simply not true. But let's get down the facts. This is a journal, not a diary. 

I feel so alone sometimes and I just want someone to talk to. My parents live in Europe and I don't have any siblings, so that just leaves me to explore this life on my own. No guide, no help. Just me. Alone. Today’s my 21st birthday so I made a little cake. My parents are so annoying. Yeah, they gave me money to buy a house, but now I gotta live on my own. But it's still better than living with them, ‘cause I couldn't be myself around them. I had to always be a prim and proper guy who did everything perfectly, from manners at the table to grades to pretending I knew old people at dinner parties. 

But anyway, I moved to town 3 days ago, October 1st, and I have to say, Florida is beautiful. The palm trees, the birds, the sunlight. So much to take in. Now this sounds like some cheesy story so I'm gonna close for today.

-Liam

Chapter 2: 10/4/2020 still in bed

I went to meet my neighbors yesterday. The ones to the left of my house. To the right of my house is the ocean. Back to the neighbors. The neighbors were really off, like something about me was funny to them, but it wasn't like they were happy to see me. 

Let me explain. I grabbed a slice of cake from my cake yesterday and went to their house to see who they were and who I was living next to. I rang the doorbell, and in just half a second, 3 middle aged ladies answered the door. But then something weird happened. It was as if the nice door looked all banged up and the paint was peeling off. But then it went away, and the door looked the same.

Theory: Maybe the house was run down but was being supported by magic.

“Hello my dear boy!” the one with brown hair exclaimed.

Okay let's start with that. They answered the door in less than a second!! And there were three of them there in less than a second. If I didn't know better I would say they had super speed, like the Flash. Also, what's with the excitement? Maybe people are just nice in Florida, or maybe these people are just crazy. Maybe I'm the one who's crazy. But back to what happened. After they greeted me, I said

“Um, Hello. What are your names?”

The ladies whispered something to each other and giggled afterward.

“From left to right, we are Betty, Barbra, and Beatrix. We’re family friends, so we decided to live together.”

“Thats uh - great!” I said. I always analyze people when I first meet them so that I remember them when we meet again. I have never forgotten someone’s name or called someone the wrong name. Betty was a tall, middle aged looking lady (like Barbra and Beatrix) and had long, blonde hair halfway down her back. Barbra was a bit shorter, with light brown hair to her shoulders. Beatrix was the shortest of them all, and had red hair in a pixie cut.

“What about you?” They all said in unison.

Okay. That. Was. Creepy. It was like they were one, or they could, like, read each other's thoughts or something. Anyway, I responded

“I'm Liam.” I extended my hand for one of them to shake it. “It's nice to meet you all,” 

I stumbled on my words. I suddenly felt dizzy. The ocean nearby was starting to rise to the sky. The ladies were upside down and something started to sprout from their backs.  “That's weird,” I thought. I'm suddenly really hungry and have to eat lunch. I think it's because I was dizzy. 

Till next time,

-Liam

Chapter 3: 10/4/2020 just finished lunch

Okay, I ate lunch. I have to tell someone the rest of what happened. So, in a flash of light one of them is right in front of me, or at least I think so. It was really blurry. After that, I don’t remember anything because I woke up in my bed this morning. The first thought that occurred to me was: Maybe it was all a dream. Who knows? Then a million thoughts swam through my head. How? What happened? Am I in another dimension? Am I really in my room? They all talked in unison. Could they read each other's thoughts? Could they read my thoughts? Then I realized three things at once. 

1) I had a headache from all this thinking. Or maybe it was something else.

2) I remember writing earlier about something sprouting from their backs

3) If they knew what I was thinking, if they could read my thoughts, then I probably shouldn't be thinking about how strange and weird they were.

I wish that I had gone with someone. I wish that there was someone with me to tell me that these weird ladies were just a dream, or I’m just crazy, or something. Anything. 

That's it for now,

-Liam

Chapter 4: 10/4/2020 just went stargazing

Something happened after I ended my last journal entry. An invisible force tried to pull me out the door. I know it sounds crazy, but in my mind, something blared real loud, telling me to go to the house next door! Yes, the one to the left! Yes the one with the weird ladies! I don't know what is happening to me. Maybe I should go find a therapist. But anyway, I fought the force, because that sounded like the best thing to do in my head, and it's a good thing I go to the gym every day because I was able to get back into my room and block out the force from my thoughts. This is too crazy and I have to rest my head for now.

Bye,

-Liam

Chapter 5: 10/5/2020 the invisible force

The invisible force is back. This time, it's telling me to go to my neighbor's house. I realized that I can communicate with the force, and it's somewhat like a voice. It sounds like…a middle aged lady. 

“Didn’t I already go to my neighbor’s house?” I asked the voice out loud

“Why no, you silly boy.” the voice laughed. “That was only a dream.”

Okay. Now I’m freaked out. They could read or see my dreams or something?

“Of course we can see your dreams hon” soothed the voice.

“What the fu-?”

“Please don’t curse” interrupted the voice in my head.

“Fine. I won’t curse.” I said “But can you at least tell me your name? Maybe I remember it from my dream.”

“My name!?” exclaimed the voice. “My name is...a secret.”

“Then leave me alone!” I yelled with hopefully more confidence than I felt.

“Fine” snapped the voice. “See you in a few days.”

Wait, what?

-Liam

Chapter 6: 10/6/2020 a normal day

Hi again. Nothing really happened today. Just an average day in Florida. I woke up, went downstairs, made breakfast, ate it, then went and read the newspaper for half an hour. Then I got up, got a snack, forgot to eat it, did a stretch, went for a run around the park near my house, came back, and took a shower. After the shower I made lunch, ate it, read my book for an hour, and went for a walk. Then I went to the town pool to go for a swim to get some more exercise in. After swimming for about one and a half hours I went home and took another shower. Then I made dinner, ate it, got my flashlight and went stargazing. After stargazing I put away the flashlight and went to my room to write this entry, and now you know what a normal day looks like in Florida. Well, at least for me. Maybe I’ll meet those ladies again soon. I hope not. They were creepy. 

See ya,

-Liam

Chapter 7: 10/8/2020 capture

Today was really freaky. I'm on my phone typing this in a dungeon at the bottom of my neighbor’s house. Yup a dungeon at the bottom of my neighbor’s house. Let's take it back a step. So, I woke up this morning to find Betty, Beatrix, and Barbra looking over me. As soon as I had one eye open, a very firm hand was clamped over my nose and mouth. It definitely did not feel like the hand of a middle aged lady. This hand was much stronger than that. But there were only those three ladies in the room. Luckily, I had slept with my phone in my pocket. Then I saw wings on the backs of all three of them. One of them was actually hovering over me on the ceiling. My neighbors are...fairies? 

“That’s right!” said Barbra, obviously reading my thoughts.

I looked over at the window, but the shades were drawn. Of course I thought. Of course they took precautions. 

“What are you gonna do to me?” I yelled.

Unfortunately, since a very strong hand was covering my mouth, it sounded more like

“Huh ah hugh huhu ho ho he?”

“Save your breath sweetie,” cackled one of the fairies.

That was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

-Liam

Chapter 8: 10/9/2020 in the dungeon

Hi again. I already told you that I'm on my phone typing this in a dungeon. There's no wi-fi down here, and I tried calling, but who would I call, 911? My parents? What would I say?  I met some fairies that help me captive next door to my new house? Who would believe me? Even so, I can’t call, the call signal is dead on my phone. I can only use google docs, which is where my diary journal is. I apparently had it pulled up on my phone from earlier, and if you pull it up online before going offline, then you can work on google docs. I stuff my phone back into my pocket when the fairies come back. I guess there is no escape. But anyway, when I woke up, I was in the dungeon. I still don’t know what fairies want with me. I guess because my parents are rich they would want my money. The floorboards upstairs are always creaking, so I guess this house was cheap. Right. Dungeon. After a little while I realized that there was a window at the ceiling, and a few dents in the wall, and I used those as footholds. When I climbed up, I could see out the window, and there was my house, right next door. I smacked my head, now remembering everything. I was in the fairies’ dungeon.

-Liam

Chapter 9: 10/10/220 A way out

I found a way to escape. I felt the walls of the dungeon, and sure enough, they are made of stone. I felt every stone that I could reach and pounded on it. After a few hours, I finally came across a loose stone. After another hour of pounding I was out of breath, and my wrists and knuckles were in terrible pain, but I finally got the stone out completely. I was able to stick my head out of the opening, since the opening was about to the height of my knee. I looked around, and I realized that the window made it seem that the dungeon was more underground than in reality. The dungeon was actually made from their basement! When I stuck my head out, I saw a shovel nearby, with a sharp point. It was about a foot away from the opening, just lying on the grass, unprotected. I took my head away from the opening, and put my arm into the opening instead. I then felt around until I got the shovel. As soon as I pulled the shovel into the dungeon a middle aged female voice spoke behind me.

“Planning to dig yourself out?”

I whirled around, expecting a fairy, but instead, all three were right there.

“What do you want with me?” I asked what I hoped sounded more menacing than how I felt.

All three fairies laughed.

“We want your money of course” Beatrix said, still laughing.

“Fine. Take my money.” I said, pretending to be scared. I was thinking of a plan. Maybe if I thought of my plan fast enough they wouldn't be able to read my thoughts in time. 

“Oh?” Asked Betty, clearly interested.

“Yes. In return, I want my freedom, and I want to never meet any of you, or any other fairies ever again” I said.

“In your dreams” Barbra sneered, lunging for me with her fist clenched.

This was my chance. I braced the shovel in my hands and swung the blade. I smacked Barbra in the stomach with the side of the shovel, sending her flying into the wall. She hit the wall, and passed out. The other two ladies started toward me, and I did the same for them with the shovel. After all, I was 21 and they were middle aged ladies. After I was sure all of them were unconscious, I ran home and locked my door. What an adventure!

-Liam

Chapter 10: 10/11/2020 my last entry

Hi again. It's been fun talking to someone, even if it was just a diary. This will be my last entry because I no longer feel alone. There is still nobody to hold my hand through life, but I think I can manage on my own from now on.  So much has happened in such little time. Maybe someday I’ll come back to these entries and read them again.

Bye,

-Liam

Author's Note

Hello to all the reviewers out there. Please ignore grammar mistakes, I'm not perfect. If you have any feedback please tell me, or if you have an idea for another story, please tell me.

Reviews

[S Meyers]

What an adventure! A young man on a journey to follow his curiosity, fight for his freedom, and kick some scary fairy butt. Well written and so imaginative. Go, Liam, go!

[Loves To Read]

This is a great story for anyone that likes adventure. It is really imaginative. I can really understand how Liam is feeling. This story kept me interested all the way through.

[Delmar Cooper]

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading it. I think the fairies richly deserved the shovel.

[mbochman]

what a wonderful imagination! We feeling the desperation of this young man that is looking for his way out of the neighbor's house and is happy when he finally wins. A great story even if I feel that these old ladies
do not deserve to be smacked by a shovel of the young hero.....

[pbochman]

A young man is lonely, even though his wealthy parent gave him money to buy a house. Or maybe he is lonely because they want him to go away from them? Anyway, starting a lonely life leads to an adventure, where he literally has to dig himself out of an underground dungeon and feels empowered to take on the world as the result. What a wonderful story!

[Anxiety]

This is a great story and you should be happy of your work:)