Here's my story for Steggy Week Day Seven. Unfortunately (like Steve himself) it's a little late. Do I get a pass if I say life imitates art? ;)
Minnie would be highly offended if anyone called her a spy. She didn't spy on her neighbors, she merely watched them. And if she spent far more time watching than most people did, well, that was because most people weren't as old as she was. It was hard for Minnie to move around much anymore, so she sat at her living room window, sometimes knitting or reading, but mostly watching and listening to the people who came and went in the street and yards in front of her.
She probably knew more about the little goings on in her neighbors' lives than anyone else, unless someone actually was spying on them. Minnie knew that Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan were going through a frosty patch but were determined to work through it. She knew that Mitch Moore was working extra hours to earn the money to buy an engagement ring, and that the little Lopez children were performing in the school play in a few weeks. Minnie was aware that old Martha Henderson loved gardening and that Miss Carter had few visitors.
It was this last fact that was particularly relevant today. A tall blond man was standing outside Miss Carter's house, staring at it with a mix of nervousness and delight, and Minnie had no idea why he was there. Miss Carter didn't have people over very often, and when she did, they were usually one of the same four people. Minnie called them Mr. Proper, Mrs. Ginger, Mr. Mustache, and Miss Curls since she didn't know their real names. Mr. Blond (as she decided to call the man) was definitely not any of those people, and the way he was staring at the house indicated that there was probably something more going on here than a simple social call.
Minnie watched with interest as Mr. Blond took a deep breath and strode purposefully up the path to the front porch. He hesitated there for a second before taking another deep breath (Minnie felt sorry for him, the poor boy was clearly nervous), standing up straight, and finally ringing the doorbell.
A few seconds later, Miss Carter answered it. Minnie could only barely see her face at this angle, but as soon as Miss Carter registered who was standing at her door, her look of shock was obvious even from across the street.
Well, that was very interesting, Minnie thought. Miss Carter had always seemed quite unflappable to her.
Then it was Minnie's turn to be shocked. She gasped as Miss Carter pulled a gun from somewhere and pointed it at the man standing in the doorway. Minnie suddenly found herself giving the rumor that Miss Carter worked for some secret government agency a great deal more credit.
Unfortunately for her curiosity, Minnie couldn't hear their conversation, but it seemed to consist of Miss Carter asking questions and Mr. Blond answering them. Minnie could only see Mr. Blond's back, but he didn't seem nearly as tense as Minnie would expect someone to be when a gun was pointing at them. She wondered if that meant he was sure Miss Carter wouldn't shoot him or if he was some sort of gangster who was used to being held at gunpoint.
Mr. Blond reached for something in his pocket, and Minnie tensed, hoping it wasn't a weapon. Should she have tried to get up and call the police when Miss Carter first drew her own gun? The telephone was on the other side of the house, and it would have been quite a bit of trouble to get up and use it, but she would rather do that than see her neighbor be murdered.
Luckily, it seemed that Minnie had been right not to bother. Whatever Mr. Blond had taken from his pocket was small, definitely not a weapon. He held it out for Miss Carter to see.
She studied it for a moment, and then the drama across the street took another unexpected turn. Miss Carter set her gun down and leaped forwards to embrace Mr. Blond! The two held onto each other for some time, and Minnie glanced away after she saw Mr. Blond lean down to gently kiss Miss Carter.
They were drawing apart when Minnie looked up again. Miss Carter looked happier than Minnie could ever remember seeing her. Through their hug had ended, Miss Carter kept her hold on Mr. Blond's hand. Both of them looked around, as if suddenly realizing that their entire reunion had taken place on the porch for all to see. Mr. Blond said something that made Miss Carter laugh, and she drew him inside and shut the door.
Well! That was the most interesting thing Minnie had seen any of her neighbors do in a long time. She immediately set to trying to come up with an explanation for it all.
No matter what the exact story, it seemed clear that there was a deep history between Miss Carter and Mr. Blond. Minnie had never seen him in the six months that Miss Carter had lived across the street from her, and given Miss Carter's reaction to seeing him, Minnie would bet that the two had been separated for at least that much time if not longer.
Perhaps the two had been in love, but someone in Miss Carter's life disapproved of Mr. Blond, Minnie thought. This disapproving meddler could have kept Mr. Blond from showing up at a pivotal point (perhaps even their wedding?) and then lied about him to Miss Carter. It would explain how she went from pulling a gun on him to kissing him after a few minutes of conversation. Maybe Mr. Blond had kept some gift from her, and that was what he had showed her.
Or maybe, Minnie thought, giving free range to her imagination, the rumors about Miss Carter were true. Maybe she was a secret agent, and so was Mr. Blond. Perhaps he'd been captured by the enemy during the war, and when Miss Carter had first seen him, she'd thought he was an enemy plant meant to deceive her. Whatever Mr. Blond had shown her was proof of his identity, and now Miss Carter was delighted to have her love back at last.
Minnie shook her head. As much fun as it was to consider such stories, they were surely too outlandish to be true. They sounded like they could belong to the plot of one of the movies her granddaughter loved to watch. Obviously there must be some drama to the true story, Miss Carter's gun was proof of that, but it could be something much less fantastic.
It took Minnie several minutes to come up with a less fantastic explanation, which made her wonder how realistic it really was. Nevertheless, surely it was more likely that Mr. Blond had been travelling abroad and only just made his way home? Miss Carter could have merely mistaken him for someone else at first. Or perhaps they'd fought long ago and Mr. Blond had come back today to beg forgiveness. The thing he showed Miss Carter could have been the engagement ring she threw at him after storming out after the final fight.
Neither of these accounts satisfied Minnie quite as much as her first two did, but they were probably as close to the truth as she would ever get, more's the pity. She really would have liked to know the full story.
I hope you enjoyed! This was my first time using outsider Pov, so feel free to let me know if anything wasn't clear. I love all feedback :)
