The neighbors across the street are moving

A young couple with a kid that we never got to know

I feel like the creepy bad guy in a suspense novel

As I sit on the sofa and watch through the window

It seems nothing is novel

My husband and I are an anchor in this neighborhood

A military town where no one is still

Deployments, petty theft, new jobs are such a thrill

I remember when they moved in

The Toyota Echo out front had Kentucky plates

One day their dog got out of the gate

I tracked her down and led her back to those steps

I rang the doorbell and waited for what was next

The husband appeared, holding a beer

I told him, “Your dog got out” as I motioned to the pup on the stoop

He didn’t say a word, just cracked the door to let the dog in

The kid wailed in the back of the house, sounded like croup

The guy’s face was young – Z Gen – I thought

When was the last time he talked to a stranger or the last time he left his home

Today the garage door is open

There’s a new wood door on the front of the house

Just beyond the For Sale sign

A U-HAUL truck and a mattress are parked under the pine

Last night the husband was loading boxes up in the rain

If you ask me, moving looks like a pain

The little boy likes to run out into the street

His mother chases him in her bare feet

I presume she stays home too

Another time the dog was out again and I brought her back

The wife answered the door

Seemed she also didn’t know what to say or do

Will today be the day they move

I’ve seen her return with groceries

I’ve seen him come home in boots

I presume somewhere online there’s a trail of postings

I wonder where they are going

What do they do for a living

Maybe they’re returning to their roots

Their lawn is edged

There’s fresh mulch in the beds

In two and a half years I’ve never heard anything they’ve said

I stood in my garden watching their house

When another neighbor, Mary, came out

She’s the resident who knows everyone’s business

Knowing the neighborhood is her existence

I asked, “Mary, where are they going?”

She told me, “They already left”

Meanwhile, I saw that dog roaming the sidewalk again

Also, the kid in the front yard cryin’

“The couple is deaf,” she told me

“Looks like you’ll have a new family,” I told her

She approached the kid and the dog

There descended a fog

In reviewing my home security camera files

In the middle of one night there was caught for a while

Mary leaving her yard, crossing over to the neighbors

She unlatched their gate

She held some vials

Dispensed the contents onto their handrails and car door handles

She knew that little boy touched everything and then his mouth

The camera caught her trekking all around the house

The next day that little boy touched all those germs she’d left

Then he licked his fingers

He was inoculated with a bug

Mary shrugged, unafraid

I went back to the sofa and closed the window shade