Linda .... Linda Glorian ... the name sounds a bit familiar, but who was she? Oh, just your typical suburban mother who tries to do the best for her children in this muck of a world we live in. I mean, you can't watch TV anymore without hearing about a shooting, or the skyrocketing prices of gas. That's why I find it's best to have your children read. Of course they have to be good books, and not the trash schools try to fill their heads up with. Something clean and family friendly. Something sweet and gentle. Speaking of sweet, I hope little Jeremy, Miss Murphy's youngest boy, can play well with Todd.
He seems nice enough, those cute little shoes running around the house all day! I just hope he's not too active with Todd. You see, my Todd's not a runner, and he could get hurt with all that activity. That's what I've told Rachel, Rachel Murphy; I told her, they should play a fun board game like Checkers or Monopoly. It's never too early to learn how to run a successful business. Isn't that right, Rachel?
"Oh yeah, Linds, absolutely. My Tommy was a born accountant since he was three. He's so bright now, I wouldn't be surprised if he were president someday..." Rachel took a sip out of her glass, and I had to agree. This was turning out to be quite a lovely evening. From the sitting room downstairs you could watch the boys in the yard play, make sure they're alright. You never knew, even in a small quiet well renowned neighborhood like Elmester Heights. The boys were playing something outside now, I tried to tell them to play indoors, but boys will be boys, I say. Besides it's too lovely of an evening to spoil it with yelling.
"Linds, did you hear about Samantha?" That perked my ears up from their pleasurable stupor. Samantha was a petite little thing, a few blocks down. To tell the truth, she and her dog of a husband were the talk of the town these days. They always fought, and her loud, obnoxious crying could be heard from very far away, even with the windows closed! I had heard the rumor about her recently from Ethel, and I already knew what Rachel was about to say.
"She's finally decided to move out! Take the kids and go stay with her mother," Hmm. I hadn't heard of this before. I wondered if it were true. She didn't really seem like the type who could stand up for herself. Maybe the poor thing had finally had enough.
"Well, good for her!" Linda applauded quietly, gracefully. "It's about time she left him. How does he feel about it?"
"He's furious ... heard he didn't come home at all last night. I heard from Ethel that he might have ..."
But Rachel couldn't continue on as she heard in the little garden, loud, excessive crying coming from a little boy. It was Todd who was crying. It struck a chord in Linda's heart to hear such a noise. How long had he been going for, she wondered. Was he alright? She looked over at Rachel's worried face, and narrow eyes staring at Linda, waiting for her to go see what was wrong. But Todd always cried didn't he? She had glanced out quickly to see him playing with Jeremy still. He had probably lost; he always cried when he lost a game. Jeremy looked happy, it couldn't be too bad. But something in her told her that she had to do something. Linda ...