A Community

Suddenly a community appeared
where not long earlier a forest
and farmlands had been. The
wildlife moved out and the 
families moved into their gleaming
new homes. Young families and
young children who unlike their
parents harboured few suspicions
of their peers with different looks,
language and customs; they melded
seamlessly into a playful aggregation
of boisterous enthusiasm for games
and adventure. Soon enough, the
parents relented, recognizing in
others their very own selves with
slight variations that over time faded
from consciousness as the community
settled into complacent friendliness.
With one notable exception, one
family none of whom, parents or
offspring deigned to notice the
presence of their neighbours, any 
neighbours, satisfied with the fantasy 
of representing the only people of
note inhabiting the street; all others
transparent enough to look right
through. And so it was that many
years later when that superior family
dissolved into the parts of its sum
and their home listed on the real estate
market, no one seemed to notice.