Chapter Three: Mr. Bill�s Garden:

Mr. Bill was a strange man. He was strange just like me. He stayed in his house all day and the only time he came out was to get his groceries at the door or tend to his garden in the backyard. I couldn�t do that. I asked Daddy why he never left his house when I was six years old.

�He�s afraid the outside,� he explained. I gave him a confused look.

�What do you mean?� I asked. Daddy put down the rag he was using to polish the wood he was smoothing.

�People are afraid of certain things for no real reason at times,� he began, �He is afraid of the outside for no real reason.�

�But why?� I asked. Daddy shook his head and sighed.

�I don�t think I know that myself,� he answered. Every day we passed his house, Mr. Bill would peek out the window at us. I had never seen such lacey white curtains before in my life. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him back then. The first time I got a good look at him was when I was walking home from the park one summer afternoon. He was at his door getting his groceries. I was surprised to find him to be so skinny. Mr. Bill looked paler than snow. I stood there staring as he signed some papers and handed the local delivery boy his money. I tried to figure out why he was afraid to go outside. I like the outside; it�s so much fun.

Suddenly, I noticed him staring back at me. That look in his eye scared me so much that I took off running. However, my questions about him didn�t stop. I just had to learn more about the man who was afraid to go outside.

That next year, I would get my chance. I was going around our neighborhood handing out leftover cake from our summer party that year. (Daddy really can�t have sweets and he didn�t want me to over eat them either. �It�s not healthy to be fat,� he told me.) That year, Dotty made too much cake and we couldn�t eat it up fast enough. Yet, Daddy didn�t want to throw it out.

�It�s not good to waste food,� he would say. Whenever we had food left over that we weren�t eating, I would take it around the neighborhood for anyone to eat it. By the time I made it halfway through the block, the tray was almost empty. There was one piece of cake left. I started to get hungry around this time. That piece looked really good too. I shook my head.

No, I thought. I have to give this last piece to somebody. I happened to look up and see Mr. Bill�s house. I couldn�t get the way he looked at me out of my head. I was still scared of him, but I had to get rid of the last of the leftover maple cake on Dotty�s tray. I drew in a deep breath. I can do this, I thought. I marched up to that dark green door and knocked on the hard wood. I backed up when I heard grumbling. I wanted to run away, but knew that would be useless. I waited as the door opened up a crack.

�Hello?� a raspy voice asked on the other side. I gulped as I stood before him shaking.

�H-H-Hi!� I yelped. Those eyes peered at me like an evil cat.

�What do you want?� he hissed. I shoved forward the single cake on the tray.

�Daddy and I had some cake left over, do you want some?� I asked. He looked down at me as he poked his head out of the crack downwards. I held up the tray so he could see the cake. I admit that I thought that he was going to gobble me up if I stayed there too long. Suddenly, he snatched the tray out of my hand and slammed the door in my face. I gave him a small, confused wave.

�Bye,� I said to no one in particular. I ended up sending extra food around to his place. Mr. Bill didn�t seem to like this at first. He wouldn�t even come to the door while I waited until it got dark and left it there. Despite all of this, I still didn�t give up on him. One day, he ripped open the door looking like he was an angry stuck bull.

�Why the hell do you keep coming back here?� he snapped. �I don�t want your damn food. I can feed myself, thank you!� I shrugged at him.

�I don�t know,� I answered, �Daddy keeps telling me to.�

�And why does he do that?� Mr. Bill snorted at me.

�He doesn�t like letting food go to waste,� I said.

�Is that all?� he asked.

�Yes,� I said nodding. Mr. Bill narrowed his eyes at me in way that really scared me. He took the bag of hush puppies I was giving him that day.

�Come with me,� he said, �I have something to show you.� I watched him as he turned back into his house and walk inside. I didn�t really get what he was trying to do.

�Well, are you coming girl or not?� he asked. His voice was so loud that it made me jump.

�Uh� yes!� I shouted. I raced after him through the house. He didn�t really have much inside. I only saw a table, bed, couch, and desk in one room before I made it outside to the backyard. I found Mr. Bill standing on the stone pathway flashing a huge grin at me. I looked at him in a weird way.

�What do you want?� I asked. He held out his arms.

�Take a look around you!� Mr. Bill shouted. I stepped out on the stone path and glanced around. My little eyes almost popped out of my head. We stood in a sea of wild flowers. I could�ve sworn that there millions of flowers of plants all around us. There were cucumber plants to my left and tomato plants to my right. I looked around gasping in surprise as I turned back to him.

�You grew all of this?� I asked. Mr. Bill nodded with such pride.

�Of course,� he said. �These are my babies!� I looked around so many times. I thought that my head would spin off of my head I kept looking around.

�Beautiful,� I said.

�Yes,� he agreed. �I stay here and tend to them all day.�

�Do you?� I asked.

�Why yes,� Mr. Bill said.

�Wow,� I murmured. He grinned harder than anyone that I had ever seen in my life. I visited his garden every time I brought over food for him.