The People in the Woods

Mommy, who are those people living in our woods?” The child was breathing hard as he spit the words from the mouth before the door even closed into the foyer. His feet slid across the marble in excitement.

“Whoa there, big fella”, she said with a smile. “What people?”

He reported of his adventure as dutiful as any 10 year old and she listened, surprised he was so far out in the woods on their estate that he encountered the People of the Woods. She remembered when she first discovered them. It had been so long since she even thought of them. His story brought back the memory of her first encounter and how her father explained to her just as she was about to explain to her son. She knew to tell the tale in such a way to inform yet caution about those wonderful but potentially dangerous people.

‘Well, son, let’s head back to the kitchen and I will tell you about them over some chocolate chip cookies.’ He was off in a flash towards the back of the house to the day kitchen. She gave him a cookie to munch, placed a few more on a plate, and headed to the veranda. It was such a nice day and the fountains were lovely. A perfect place to share the history of the people that used to live on the property that was her son’s home and would be his and his childrens’ home long after she was in heaven.

He listened as she told of his father’s father’s father and even many fathers before that and where they have lived on a small piece of land way across town. She bit back her anger when she informed the munching cookie boy how there was so little room and how the people that owned the land charged them to live there and kept them on their tiny piece. It was her husband’s people that headed across town and found this wonderful house and acres of land and a few people living in house big enough for hundreds.

“It may seem silly, son, but there were a few people in the house but most of the rooms were empty. They had no decorating sense. Windows were left open even on the hot days because they did not have air conditioning. I heard they sat and told stories in what is now the library, used only candles since they did not have electricity, and that none of them had jobs or even paid taxes.”

“Really, Mommy? You are not making this up?”

She smiled and assured her it was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“Well, your Daddy’s Daddy’s Daddy befriended them and decided there was enough room for all his family in addition to the few people already living in this great big house so he went back across town and they all moved here.”

“It wasn’t easy, son. They had to assign rooms, put up walls, and reorganize just about everything. Pretty soon, we added the West Wing, put up the beautiful fence with the Eagles on it, and had to ensure the people next door did not try to come and move into the house. It was a lot of work.”

The cookies were long gone but her son seemed not to notice. “What about the people in the woods? Why are they down there?”

“Well, son, they were in the way. We would put in a kitchen and they wanted to grill in there. We put in the pool and they would try and take a bath there. They walked into rooms without knocking. They got mad if we had a family gathering and did not invite them. It got pretty nasty. There were even some fights.”

She smiled. “Your Daddy is a strong man and his Daddy was strong and his Daddy was, too. Just like you are and you will be even stronger, son. Pretty soon, we had enough of the rudeness and crude ways so we gave them all that property in the area in the woods and told them they could just have it. After all, just because they are different than us doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a place to live. Right, son?”

He agreed and headed into the day for more adventures. She smiled as he headed across the yard to the playground. “Be careful, son. No more going to see those people in the woods. Alright?”