Page 27 - It Ends with Us

interesting day to write ab out yet, if you do n’t count the day Abigai l Ivor y

slap ped Mr. Car son for looking at he r cleav ag e.
You remember a whi le bac k whe n I told you ab out Mrs. Bu rleson who lived
behi nd us? She died the night of that big snowstorm? My dad sai d she owed so
much in tax es that he r dau ght er was n’t ab le to tak e ownershi p of the ho use.
Whi ch is fine by he r, I’m sure, becau se the ho use was star ting to fal l ap ar t
an yway. It probab ly would hav e been more of a burde n than an ythi ng.

The ho use has been empty since Mrs. Bu rleson di ed, whi ch has been ab out
two year s. I know it’s been empty becau se my bedroom windo w looks out over the
bac kyard, an d the re has n’t been a single soul that goes in or out of that ho use
since I can remember.
Until las t night .
I was in bed shu f fling cards . I know that sounds weird, but it’s just
somethi ng I do . I do n’t even know ho w to play cards . Bu t whe n my parents get

into fight s, shu f fling cards just cal ms me do wn sometimes an d gives me
somethi ng to focus on.
Anyway, it was dar k outside , so I noticed the light right aw ay. It was n’t
bright , but it was coming from that old ho use. It looked more like can dl elight
than an ythi ng, so I went to the back porch an d found Dad’ s binocular s. I tried
to see what was going on over the re, but I couldn ’t see an ythi ng. It was way too

dar k. The n af ter a little whi le, the light went out.
Thi s morning, whe n I was getting ready for scho ol, I saw somethi ng moving
behi nd that ho use. I crouche d do wn at my bedroom windo w an d saw someone
sneak ing out the bac k do or. It was a guy an d he had a bac kpac k. He looked
around like he was mak ing sure no one saw hi m, an d the n he wal ked between
our ho use an d the neighb or’s ho use an d went an d stood at the bus stop.
I’d never seen hi m before. It was the first time he rode my bus. He sat in the

bac k an d I sat in the middl e, so I di dn ’t tal k to hi m. Bu t whe n he got of f the
bus at scho ol, I saw hi m wal k into the scho ol, so he must go the re.
I hav e no ide a why he was sleeping in that ho use. The re’s probab ly no
electricity or running wat er. I tho ught may be he di d it as a dar e, but today he
got of f the bus at the sam e stop as me. He wal ked do wn the street like he was
going somewhe re else, but I ran strai ght to my room an d wat che d out the

windo w. Sure enough, a few minutes lat er, I saw hi m sneak ing bac k inside
that empty ho use.
I do n’t know if I sho uld say somethi ng to my mothe r. I hat e to be nosy,
becau se it’s none of my business. Bu t if that guy do esn’t hav e an ywhe re to go, I