Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Valley (08/10/06)
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TITLE: My Neighbours In The Valley | Previous Challenge Entry
By Angela Linton
08/16/06 -
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For about a year now, the house next door has been empty and the weeds and flowers were having a wild party all around it. In sunnier times I usually watch the butterflies, grasshoppers and bees playing. So it was with a sad heart that I observed two workers striking down these weeds with their cutlasses. Still, I was also thankful because the mosquitoes that lived there was also helping themselves to my bedroom and my skin.
The yard was soon cleared and the house was given a new coat of pink and white paint. When the workers were finish I couldn't help but envy the person who were going to live there, but that was short lived when I heard my father saying,
"I hope they tell this tenant what happens to tenants in that house."
That night as I lay in my bed, I thought,
Maybe I should tell the tenant to keep the bedroom windows close at nights.
Then,
Maybe not, I don't want any trouble with the landlord, we already had problems with him.
So the following morning I observed with great interest two vans pulling up in front of the white painted chain link fence that surrounded the house. The vans were quickly emptied and I and watched as they climbed up the hill and disappeared out of my sight and out of the valley.
That evening after supper, as was expected, a knock, came on our front door.
My father when to the door and I heard him say, "come in."
Joseph and Simone were going to be our new neighbours, they had no children, but they were hoping that God would bless them with one or two in the coming years. Joseph was of average height, dark in complexion with protruding eyes. Simone was tall with small shoulders and when she smiles, it reaches all the way to her eyes. That caught my attention and I couldn't help but smile.
They left our home and thus begun life in the valley for another couple. As the weeks pass my neighbour's yard was turned into a vegetable and flower garden and I thought,
Oh no, please keep your bedroom windows close.
Life continued and to my surprise Joseph and Simone were sharing their vegetables with us.
I sometimes attend church, but since our neighbours have moved in, my mother has been insisting that I attend more often, all because practically even Sunday Joseph and Simone are seen heading to or from church.
"Going to church alot, doesn't make someone a Christian you know Mom," I protested one Sunday morning.
"Come on, don't argue with me, just get ready," she replied.
Then one Monday morning one of the things that I had dread came to pass and I thought
Oh, no, they have started.
Joseph and Simone's beautiful garden was now looking as though two wild cows had grazed in it. Their garden was vandalized and as a result of this I waited for them to prove that they were just church attendees.
They said nothing to us about it, instead, their garden slowly begun to take shape again as additional vegetables and flowers were planted.
So life continued and one morning around six o'clock I was startled out of my sleep by a loud noise.
Oh no, I thought, they have strike again, and I did nothing to help stop it.
When the dust had settled, we found out that Joseph, unable to sleep, was laying in bed when to his dismay a hand come though the window bars and was headed for his wife. Instantly he reached out for the cutlass under their bed and now the intruder's hand was partly detached. The bicycle that was supporting his weight, had collapse and his hand was trapped between the bars.
"First it was your garden and now this, does this mean you guys will be moving?" My mother asked.
"Well," Simone replied, "whenever we move it will be more God's doing than us running from anyone."
That Sunday as the preacher preached, I whispered, Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my sins, please forgive me, come into my heart and save me. Amen.
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