Jason walked up the driveway to the landlady's home. The first number he had called the landlord's room was already taken by some other college student who was going to state. So, Jason had hoped that the next number he called the room was available to him. And it was. Thankfully. The home belonged to a woman called Mrs. Lucas, and from how she sounded on the phone she was about in her late fifties to early sixties. Jason walked on the front porch where two rocking chairs relax on its concrete. On the next house over, Jason could hear a dog barking. Great, he thought. I just hope its hypoallergenic. Jason reached over and ringed the doorbell.

"Coming!" Said a cheerful voice on the other side. When the door swung open an elder woman in her sixties stood there. She was short and plump, the kind of elder woman you read about in books who baked cookies and were the sweetest people on Earth. "Ah! I was wondering when you were going to show up!" She said.

"You're Mrs. Lucas?" Jason asked.

"I don't anyone else with my name and address, do you, young man?" Mrs. Lucas said with a crooked smile. Jason shook his head.

"No, ma'am."

"Please, call me Mrs. Lucas or Mrs. Susie, your choice." Jason nodded again.

"Yes, Mrs. Lucas." He said a bit sheepishly.

"Good boy. Now come in, come in! Let's not waste time standing out here. I'll show you to your room." Mrs. Lucas let Jason in her two-story house. The house itself was crowded with shelves full of antiques and pictures. There was a three-cushion sofa with a small box TV in the living room. The kitchen had one circle wooden table with two wooden chairs to match. A counter, sink, fridge, dishwasher, cabinets, and stove finished off the rest of the room. Mrs. Lucas took him up the long stairs. Jason noticed there wasn't a chair lift that many elder people put in their homes.

"Aren't you worried that you'll get stuck or fall down?" Jason asked. Mrs. Lucas laughed.

"My boy, when you get to be my age and see the technology around you change and expand, sometimes you refuse to evolve with it. I don't believe in using those chairs. If God had intended us to use stairs, then we use it. No shortcuts." Jason didn't respond, because for one he didn't know how. And two, if he were to argue with the old woman, he may not get the room. When they made it up the stairs, Mrs. Lucas turned right and took Jason to his room.

The room was small, but suitable. It had one twin bed pushed against the corner of the wall, a nightstand stood next to it. A dresser was beside the door with a round mirror. A walk in closest across from the door and a small rug rested in the center of the room. The room smell musty and of strong perfume. "Here it is," Mrs. Lucas said. "I hope it's to your liking." Jason walked into the room. He examined it and nodded to himself.

"It's just fine, Mrs. Lucas, thanks." Jason said. "I don't need anything fancy since I'm here only for the few weeks until my car is fixed." Mrs. Lucas nodded.

"You're very welcomed. Now I'll just leave you to it and you may join me for dinner when you're done unpacking." Mrs. Lucas closed the door to the room and went downstairs leaving Jason to himself. Jason flung his bag on the bed and dust flew everywhere. He coughed and waved away the dust. Jason unzipped his bag and took out his laptop. He turned it on and went on his college website where he sent out an email to every one of his professors explaining his situation and saying that he'll be missing school for next two weeks. When he was done with that, he took out his smartphone and texted his mother that he found a place to crash.

When Jason was settled, he went downstairs to join Mrs. Lucas for dinner. On his way to the kitchen, he saw a picture of a war veteran. The veteran was a gentleman in his mid-twenties. As Jason took a seat, he asked Mrs. Lucas about the man in the picture. "Oh, that was a picture of my late husband, Drew Lucas. He was part of the Vietnam War, you know. We were married as soon as he returned from the war."

"Where is he now?" Jason asked as Mrs. Lucas placed a plate of food in front of him. It was baked chicken with vegetables. 

"He's dead. He died of cancer six years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. Now no more questions, eat."

----

Jason ate the rest of his dinner in silence. After he finished helping taking care of the dirty dishes and cleaning the table, Mrs. Lucas gave him permission to watch TV while he was staying there. So, for the last four hours Jason had watched the small television. By eight-thirty at night, Mrs. Lucas has declared that she was going to bed, but Jason could stay up as long as he wanted. As long as he kept the television down so that she could get her "beauty sleep".

"I don't just look this good by standing around, you know?" She said and Jason chuckled. An hour and a half later, Jason decided to retire. It took about another hour before Jason was able to fall asleep. The next morning after breakfast, Jason went out into the backyard with his laptop. As long as I'm here, Jason thought, I might as well get started on some homework. For about twenty minutes Jason did this. He stopped when something caught his attention in the neighbor's backyard. A young boy about ten years old, sat on one of two swings. He wasn't swinging, he was just sitting, staring at the dirt below him. Without nothing better to do, Jason got up and walked over.

As Jason walked over a large German Shepherd came bounding over barking viscously. Jason yelp and jump back. The boy's head snapped up and looked over at the dog. "Buster!" He yelled at the dog. "Knock it off." The boy looked back at Jason. "He won't hurt you. Unless you're planning on killing me." Jason shook his head.

"No, I came over to introduce myself, that's all." Jason said, his eyes never leaving the dog called Buster.

"You're new here?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, I rented the room in Mrs. Lucas' house."

"Ah, I was wondering who was going to take the room." A long silence filled both yards.

"I'm Jason by the way." Jason said taking a few steps closer to the boy. The dog snarled at Jason as he stepped one more step.

"Knock it off, Buster," the boy said. "Don't worry about him, he's been that way for the last two years." Jason was able to fully stand by the boy.

"Uh, may I?" He asked gesturing to the empty swing. The boy shrugged.

"Sure." Jason sat and let the swing sway him a little. They both sat there for a while not saying much.

"So, what's your name?" Jason asked after a few moments of silence.

"Dennis." The boy said.

"Nice to meet you." Jason said.

"Likewise," Dennis said. "Where you from? I know it isn't here."

"Jeffersonville."

"You're pretty far from home, aren't you?" Dennis asked.

"Well I was on my way to East Georgia State College when my car broke down." Dennis hummed in thought, but he didn't say anything. He pushed off the ground and let the swing bring him back and forth. "Is it just you here?" Dennis shook his head.

"I got my parents and two- I mean one sister." Jason raised an eyebrow. He was about to asked about it when the back door to the house opened.

"Dennis!" Said a woman that was his mother. "We're leaving here soon, come on!"

"All right!" Dennis said and jumped off the swing. "Well I got to go.... come on, Buster." Dennis patted his hip and the dog jumped to his feet and followed Dennis inside the house. Later that day, Jason asked Mrs. Lucas about the family.

"Oh, the Windales?" She asked. "A wonderful family they are. The father goes out on business trips and the mom is a stay at home. Three children. Two girls and a boy."

"I talked to the boy today, I asked him if he was the only kid in the house and he was about to say two sisters but stopped himself and said one." Jason said shoving a mouthful of pasta in his mouth.

"Oh that." Mrs. Lucas said, turning from her normal cheerfulness to gloomy. "Yes, they did have to two girls."

"What happen to the other."

"She went missing." Mrs. Lucas said. "The poor girl. As far as I know, she went to those woods back there and never returned." Ms. Lucas clucked her tongue and shook her head. "And what was worse, for almost year the other two children disappeared too. When they returned, everyone wanted to know what happened to them. All they could say was they looking for their sister but couldn't find her. The oldest girl went back to her life as far as I know, finishing college and all. The boy though went through a deep depression. Mary, the mother, told me that she takes the boy to a psychologist twice a week to hopefully get him out of his depression state." Mrs. Lucas shook her head. "A shame really. The girl did go through a lot before she disappeared."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked, biting into his garlic bread.

"Well," she said. "The girl, Karma was her name, sometimes came over here and we would talk. The poor girl didn't really have anyone to talk to. No friends, no social life. She always drew in that book of hers though. That was her only escape, she told me once. She hated life here. The girl truly did. It's no wonder she ran away."

"You think she ran away?" Mrs. Lucas shrugged.

"To be honest, if you lived in a world where you were constantly being bullied and being judge wherever you go, I would too look for an escape."