A/N:
This is a collab I'm doing with 2spiffy C:
Um...AU with no wolves.
We don't happen to own anything in this.
Once upon a time, there was a house...
Like a lot of houses, this one was full of love and all the things that should be in a house, like family dinners and board games. It was far back in the woods, not because the people who lived in the house were unfriendly, but rather because they really liked nature and looking at the trees in the fall.
The people in the house were all very nice; a nice mom, a nice dad, a nice daughter, and a nice son. They loved each other and, better yet, they loved the town and the trees in the fall and playing sports and helping people out. The son was young, so he didn't do much, but the mom and dad liked to invite people over for dinner and generally do nice things. The sister was a few years older than her brother and she was popular at the elementary school.
All in all, this was a really nice house and a really nice family.
Your daddy and I knew them well, since Derek was only a few years older than you. His mother went to the same hair dresser as me, and we always talked to each other whenever we were there at the same time. Daddy helped them one time when someone broke into their house and took their jewelry and things they liked a lot. They were really upset, but Daddy helped them get all their stuff back, and they invited us to dinner a lot after that.
They were even nicer at dinner and I liked eating there a lot.
They'd lived in the town for years and the dad had earned a lot of money working with his brother, Peter, to create a line of safety vests and body armor for soldiers and policemen like Daddy. It got a lot of money because it worked really well and people felt safer wearing their stuff. They joined with another big company, owned by a family called the Argents, that sold weapons and they worked with the army to make their lines the main supplier for soldiers.
So, aside from being nice, they were also doing well money wise.
They weren't afraid to share that money and they helped a lot of people without expecting anything back. They even helped Ms. Mikes when she couldn't pay for her home and she's still thanking them.
Unfortunately, like a lot of good things, the house was burned to the ground one day. Daddy was one of the first to the scene, but it was too late. The whole place was gone, just piles of ash and beams too black to call actual house anymore. The beautiful picture windows were melted and gone, as was the big front door with the doorbell that sounded so pretty when you pushed it. It was lost forever along with the memories and the dinners and the mom and the dad and the sister.
The brother was only five years old when the house burned and he was at a friend's house. Daddy had to take him to the police station and tell him that his family was gone. He cried a lot and they couldn't comfort him, even when they gave him candy and promised to care for him.
He was taken by the dad's brother, Peter, and given a home in New York or Boston or wherever. He's there now, learning and praying every night, like the good little boy he is.
No one knows where he is or how he's doing, though I'm sure he's doing well.
The house is still in the woods, all black and burned. No one goes there anymore, since there's nothing but bad memories. There was a big funeral for the mom and the dad and the sister, and everyone in the town went. Daddy and I went and it was really sad. Lots of people were crying and we shared stories about them, good stories, ones that made us all feel a little better. When we came home, Daddy and I had a really long talk about how sad it was, and how we hoped the little boy would do ok with his uncle.
People don't talk about it now, unless they're telling little boys and girls the story. They talked about fixing up the house and putting it up for sale, but no one wanted to forget about the nice people. So, it's remained the same.
Bad things happen sometimes, you have to remember that, but just think about the good those people did. Even now I can think about how nice they were at dinner, and how happy they were that your Daddy helped them out. Ms. Mikes still leaves in her house that they helped her with and she still thanks them, because she still remembers how good they were to her.
Just remember that not all bad things happen for a reason, but you can always think of them with a little good on the side.