It was time to rest his eyes after spending hours looking at the screen of his computer. Joey stood up, cocked his head to one side and the other, making his neck crack, and walked towards the window of his office.

That was one of those moments in which he regretted having moved to Warner Falls. The promotional brochures described it as a paradise of peace and calm, in the most sunny part of the country, immersed in nature; the perfect place to raise one's children. Joey thought that the brochure had to talk about very distant times, because that didn't do justice to the town. Warner Falls had been once surrounded by a massive forest, that was true, but most of it had been abusively cut downand now only a few acres remained. As for the sun, maybe those people who complained about the climate change were right after all, because sun wasn't very frequently seen there. But at least they were right about the calm; though Joeay would have rather described it as "absolute, demential boredom". It was funny, because he had moved to the town after a period of severe stress, recommended by his doctor, and now that not only had he recovered his healthy but also had ended up being that town's mayor, he felt he didn't like Warner Falls at all.

Oh, but he wouldn't leave. That would be a mess he didn't want to go through again. And he guessed that was just a silly feeling which would disappear soon. It was just one of those teen-like tantrums everyone had on moody days.

He walked to the phone and dialed, then waited leaning on his desk.

"Yes?"

"José, are you busy?"

"Busy? No, not at all. People don't often come at this hour."

"Fine. I'll be with you in a second. I haven't seen you in some days and it's time to bring each other to date. Also, they've left a package for you in my office again."

"Ah, I was waiting for that. Yes, come here whenever you want. You know there's always a place for you in the bar, and not because you're the big boss."

Joey smiled, even though José couldn't see him. At least he was surrounded by nice people; that was a good reason not to leave.

"Aaaand voilà! Succotash!"

Mrs. Hart had to giggle, with one hand covering her mouth, at that fancy presentation. It was Isadore's day off and he had been working on the house all day, doing the chores, going to the market, but it seemed he had enough energy to cook as well. Mrs. Hart didn't even try to convince him to rest that day; she knew it would have been useless. Isadore, Izzy, had always been a very restless boy.

"That smells really good, dearie." Mrs. Hart complimented him.

"Not as good as yours, but I tried." Isadore replied, sitting in front of her.

They ate in silence for a while until, half of their meal eaten, Isadore asked:

"I've been looking for my old teddy bear, do you know where it is?"

"Mr. Whiskers?"

"Yeah, that one."

"I gave it to Pip."

His lips made a small, descending curve.

"You said you were going to donate all your toys, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Isadore couldn't help saying that with a very cold voice, so much that Mrs. Hart noticed.

"Oh, I should have asked you first." She lamented.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm sorry. You did right. If he liked it..."

They kept eating.

"He's a nice boy." Mrs. Hart said. "You would like him if you made a little effort to know him."

"I never said I don't like him." Isadore replied.

"You don't. I am old and I am losing my sight but I can still see that, honey."

"No, really, I have nothing against him. It's just…It's just that I don't think you need him. You have me."

"But you have your own life, your work, issues to deal with. I don't want to bother you all the time."

"You're not a bother. You took care of me, right? Then it's time that I return the favor."

A sincere smile returned to his face. Oh, he looked so cute when he smiled that way. In spite of the fine moustache and the height, he was still the little boy who followed each of her steps like a duckling. Mrs. Hart's heart melted just remembering it.

"Oh, Izzy…" Mrs. Hart had to be the only person who was allowed to call Isadore that way. "You are too kind. But I won't change my mind: you need to have more time for yourself. And you know, Pip considers this some kind of training. He wants to take care of the eldery when he grows up, that's what he told me. He's a very precocious boy, don't you think? And so obliging. Look how clean the house is, and have you tasted his meals? You should; he cooks so well! Oh, yes, he will make so many old souls happy…"

Isadore made a true effort not to make a grimace, and he changed the subject as soon as possible.

"Yes, he is a jewel. By the way, my parents' photos are here. I'll show you: they look fine."

"Do they?"

"Sure. Computers now make real marvels."

"I'd love to see it. But please, take your time to eat and leave the dishes for later. Or let me wash them. Don't you? Oh, please, dear, I'm not disabled, let me do some work. It gets really boring to just sit here and do nothing. No? Oh, Izzy, can't you say anything else?"

It seemed surprising that out all the friends Treg had he had chosen to spend most of his time with Martin. He had to be the one whose character differed the most from his: if Treg had always been a very talkative guy, Martin only spoke when it was necessary; Treg had only finished high school and Martin had a B.A; Treg loved sports, Martin read. But for some reason they liked each other enough not only to keep their friendship after kindergarten, but also to move together. In Warner Falls they had seen them grow up side by side, like flesh and nail. Always together, that's how one would find them.

They were watching TV but none of them seemed very interested in it. Martin glanced at his nails all the time, while Treg, lying on the sofa with his legs on Martin's lap, had his eyes fixed on the screen but his thoughts seemed to be far away from the program.

"You should go." He eventually broke the silence. Martin needed no context: he knew what he was talking about.

"Treg, I always go back from work so tired that my only thought is sleeping for the rest of the day. What makes you think I want to spend the weekends getting up at 6 A.M to run?"

"It would give you more energy."

"That's not for me, Treg, you know it very well."

"Yeah, I remember, but you could learn. You got the best teacher" and he winked while saying that, making Martin draw a smile. "Please. You are so stunted that it makes me want to cry."

"That's my constitution, what can I do about it?" Martin quickly changed the subject before Treg could reply. "By the way, with what are you going to poison me today?"

"I thought of making pizza."

"Again?"

"What? You don't like it?"

"I do. But you always make pizza. Can't you cook anything else?"

"Hamburgers maybe?"

"Something that is not a grease bomb?"

"Okay, a salad then."

"I'm going to buy some books tomorrow. Maybe you could come with me and see what recipe books they have."

"Ah, no. No, no. I accepted cooking on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we never talked about having to cook gourmet meals."

"You consider a healthy nutrition to be gourmet? I thought you ran because you wanted to be fit and healthy."

"I just can't resist. It tastes sooo good! Calculating the portions, eating insipid dishes, that's so boring!"

Martin chuckled softly and crossed his arms, making himself comfortable. "Well, alright, kill me with your calories…Because I'm not cooking all week, oh no."

"My poor husband, he works sooooo much." Treg said, getting up to caress his hairy cheek and speak to him with a fish face. Martin didn't look at him but smiled.

"What's up, smiles?"

"Ah, hi, Sheldon."

Sheldon had known Ben for nearly four years and he was sure he had never seen him smile. Maybe something would catch his attention and made his lips curve, but Sheldon had only seen that once or twice, and for stupid reasons such a squirrel or a particularly good day. He definitely never smiled while saying hello to him or the other neighbors, not even to Kath. For a long time, Sheldon had wondered if Ben hated him for a reason unknown to him, but as time passed he realized that it was nothing personal. Ben was simply a sourpuss douche. A real jerk, in Sheldon's opinion.

So the black man forgot about him and walked to the house at his left, one which such a lovely decoration it could have only been inhabited by a young woman. It seemed Kath was already back from work, since he heard music inside as he approached. He rang and waited, looking at the sky. It had been a very grey day, so it was getting dark pretty soon. Kath opened the door. It was funny how pretty she looked when she had her blond hair tied carelessly and wore tracksuit. However, Kath was one of those girls who didn't want any reminders, and Sheldon wasn't interested about her anyway, so he went straight to the point:

"Here, your screwdriver. Thanks."

"Ah, good to see you didn't break this one too."

"It's much easier when you have tutorials."

"Yeah…So, how's life treating you?"

"They officially laid me off today."

"Really? I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. I hated working in that place, I didn't know for how long I would have stood it. Anyway, I've already had a very promising interview, so…"

"That's great."

"What about you?"

"A friend of mine, from Atlanta, is going to visit me in three weeks. She likes this kind of places; I don't know why."

"Oh!

"Not so fast Sheldon: she's a lesbian."

"I never said I was interested about her. But it'd be nice to see new faces here. Well, time to go home. I rented a movie, a horror one. They say it's horrible. I got a big box of popcorn and a big bottle of soda. It's going to be great."

"Yeah, sounds like a big plan. Have fun." Before going back inside, Kath turned to Sheldon with a smile. "You still rent movies?"

"Yeah, I'm old, so what?"

Sheldon walked away. When he looked up at the sky, he thought it would start raining soon.