Nosy Neighbors

by Freya Sampson

Tomasz in flat five

Omar in flat three

Gloria from flat six

Dorothy Darling, flat two,

the day the girl with pink hair arrived at Shelley House.

one did not come across dwellings like Shelley House every day.

She could still remember the building vividly from her childhood.

there was still something eerie about Shelley House.

Kat couldn’t imagine anyone willingly choosing to live here.

But you are lol

someone had vandalized it so that rather than reading SHELLEY HOUSE it now said HELL HOUSE.

Lol

“Joseph Chambers.

Dorothy’s an eccentric but her bark is worse than her bite.

He wasn’t at all keen on my last lodger. Used to pee behind his wardrobe

As he should

Her grandfather had lived in this village his whole life, which meant he must have known Poet’s Road back when it was still all mansions like this. In fact, perhaps he’d even visited Shelley House?

She had learned at an early age it was best never to get too close to the people you lived with.

She and her mum had fled that night, her mum cursing Kat for “blabbing her mouth off” to their landlord.

I’ve not got used to cooking for one yet, you see. It’s been three years now but still . . .”

Omg :'(

“It used to be our daughter’s bedroom.”

whether she wanted to come back to Chalcot in the first place. After all, there was a very good reason Kat had stayed away for fifteen years,

Hmm...

The less he—or anyone else around here—knew about her, the better.

conducted her inspection of Shelley House.

Girl, chill lol

a sign that read DO NOT LEAVE PERSONAL ITEMS IN COMMUNAL SPACES. Dorothy had put the sign up herself some years ago,

You're the crotchety neighbor everyone hates lol

his rat of a dog,

Excuse you!

Dorothy prided herself on not being nosy.

Bro what lol

A task Dorothy had completed every single day for the past three decades.

Do you have OCD?

As usual there was no post for Dorothy herself nor for the ruffian in flat four, who had yet to receive any correspondence.

Weird

vowed never to think of the letter again.

Ugh tell meee

Kat might be twenty-five now and using a different name,

What was your other name?

“I’ve always believed you’re better off on your own. Other people just let you down in the end.”

she had a twenty-two-point list of problems to address with him.

Girl please chill lol

Thirty-three years ago, she had made a vow never to utter another word to that man, and she was not going to break it now.

Oop they have beef

who’d dropped out of school at sixteen.

Too much time alone inside her own head was a dangerous thing.

I never want to see you again . . . If you ever come back to Chalcot, you’ll be arrested for what you did . . . You are dead to me.

That man today might not have been her grandfather, but every moment she spent here she risked running into him.

Do we know he's still alive / around here?

Joseph. He was lying sprawled on his back, his eyes closed.

exCUSE MEEEE

How many times had she dreamed of this moment over the past three decades, fantasizing about the myriad ways in which Joseph might finally get his comeuppance?

Uh……

Reggie had been so distraught at his master’s sudden disappearance

Omg :'(

she brought nothing but bad luck to anyone she allowed herself to grow fond of.

any unknown male was a potential threat and to be treated with extreme caution.

Fair lol

What if the killer had already been in the building and had attacked Joseph

details about Joseph beyond the fact that he was in an induced coma,

He is an exceptionally stupid animal, after all.”

I hate you lol

Many years ago, Dorothy had been an English teacher,

Nooooo you're making us look bad lol

Dorothy closed her eyes, and this time she did not try to stop the tears as they fell.

Ok I feel a littleee bad for her lol

why all these strange emotions now? It was most disconcerting.

Oh so you do have a heart lol

You would be a darn sight better off if you learned to live with yourself rather than needing some half-witted man around the whole time.”

Ohhh dang get her!

Dorothy; she was clearly delusional

Is she tho? I really don't know.

connect her with the girl who’d once caused such trouble.

Alright just tell me already *eyeroll*

There was something about the vehicle that made Dorothy pause. She was sure she had seen it somewhere before,