What You Know

You know they are nice people albeit absolutely
not given to public scrutiny. But you know
them in a kind of way having lived next to
the couple for decades. And during that time
there have been occasions when conversations
were started and then ended and you went on
your way as did they. You know they had a
dog and they had a cat. You know they also
had a little girl and a toddler-son when they
moved in next to you. You know that they
loved to indulge in decorating the exterior
of their house on Halloween and at Christmas.
You know the children no longer live at home
but when they drop by it is with them that you
sometimes speak. They have their careers
and their quiet lives emulating the way they
know best. You know the dog that loved to
be noticed, appreciated and stroked is gone.
You know the cat, sleek and black that left
corpses of birds and baby rabbits about is gone.
On the approach to Halloween you know the
decorations will go up, the creepy music will
play, their lawn festooned with skeletons. No
sooner does that occasion turn the calendar it
is time for Christmas decor to make its noted
appearance, bit by bit, something added daily
as though by some mysterious, unseen hand;
lighted deer, a sled, a half-life-size Santa, a
gigantic wreath, a pair of inflated candy canes
a jolly gingerbread man, coloured lights in
abundance festooning trees, shrubs, as proof
there is life within yet questionable without.
You will know when they are no longer there
when the decorations somehow fail to appear.