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New Neighbor

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Mr Berryman was enjoying the nice weather by sitting out on the porch. The weather was just the way he liked it and he didn’t even have the porch ceiling fan on. Inside his wife Caroline was watching her soap operas and playing on the internet. He liked sitting on the porch reading and had his nose in the latest cheapest sci-fi paperback novel.

Suddenly he was disturbed by a lawn mower starting up. He looked across the road at the house that had been vacant for the last 90 or so years. A red haired young man was driving a riding mower around the yard. He sat up better trying to get a better look. This wasn’t the usual person that came and mowed that yard. He wondered if someone was actually moving in. No one had ever lived there as long as he knew of the place.

He had heard of Mr Chanser right after he and his wife moved into this house just over 35 years ago. There were strange weird stories about that house and how Mr Chanser just up and disappeared one dark and stormy night. That little tale had helped Mr Berryman write his first scary novel. He had also spent weeks at the library researching that old house and the man that built it. That was one reason why he watched the young man mowing so intently. He had red hair like Mr Chanser. He had only found one picture of that man and it was in black and white, but he had also found where someone wrote up how he was so easy to spot with his bright red hair and beard.

Mr Berryman’s imagination was going wild as usual. He wondered if this young man was any kin to Mr Chanser.

He looked at his watch and knew it was time for his youngest daughter to be getting out of school. He wished that she would come straight home, but Carol was most likely going to run around with friends until supper was ready. Then she and her friends would be here for some of his wife’s great country cooking.