The Loneliest Number


With every step the Caroline took, her suitcase became more and more of a burden. By the time she reached the house her arms were aching.

“Is this really it?” The girl asked in disgust.

“Caroline! Hold your tongue. This was the only boarding house within walking distance. If you want anything better, ask the bank for our car back.” Her mother snapped.

Though, the teenage girl could tell her mother was just as disappointed as she was.

The house in front of them was large but aged.. The path up to the house was cracked. The blue paint on the wood was peeling and the garden was overgrown. Caroline could not believe anyone could live in those conditions. In their house, if one weed dare show its ugly head in her tulips it would be ripped out by the roots.

“Now, remember, three other families will be living with us. We must be…nice.” Her mother said. Caroline smirked. If her mother really wanted to be nice, she would have not worn the diamond earrings her father had got her. They are one of the few items they were able to save when the bank took their house. Her mother had hidden them in her purse. They were her most prized possessions. They were what she wore when she wanted to flaunt.

It was her mother’s last whisper of the luxury she cherished so much. The “Great Depression” was doing a great job of draining what little she had left.

Though, Caroline could not judge. She also looked her best. Her brown hair was pulled back is a French twist and she wore a lovely dress with large purple flower print.

She looked to her right and saw that her father was in his suit. The apple does not fall far from the tree Caroline thought proudly. Caroline and her family walked slowly to the door, when they got there, her father knocked three times.

A thin, tall man with dark circles under his eyes opened the door. He wore a worn dress shirt. Caroline’s mother took notice of this and brushed her dress while a very unsure look passed over her face.

“You must be the Smiths,” The man said with a tired smile “I am Percival Raques”.

Percival held out his hand, but when none of them took it, he placed it back at his side.

‘Alright then, why don’t we introduce you to everyone?” He said and led them inside.
Three weeks pasted since the first day the Smiths arrived at the Raquel house.
Caroline had set up her room in a facsimile of the room she held at her other house. It greatly contrasted the dull and slightly dusty manner the rest of the house was kept with. Everything had a place and was cleaned almost daily. She spent almost all her time in her room reading, sewing, or writing letters to her friends. She had a very nice typewriter that she had acquired when she was very young but she had never used it nearly as much as she had the last few weeks.
Dear Amber,
She typed.

How I wish I could see you there is no one here I can talk to, which I find fairly remarkable since I am living with three other families. The family that owns the house have a daughter my age, Juels Raquel. But she is always sick. I heard one of the parents taking about it. Turns out I am sharing my house with a person with an immune deficiency disorder. This is sad because out of all the people my age in my house, she seems like the only to have passed the second grade.


One of the other families simply frightens me. The Genues come right out of a ghost story. They are all ghostly pale and wear all black they also happen to have a business selling coffins. The daughter they have that is my age name is Vievena is very odd. She barely talks but always has a far-off look in her spookily-light eyes. I often find her staring at me. It is very uncomfortable.

Sadly, this is not the worst part. The worst part is the Jambols. They enjoy water fights and playing steal-Caroline’s-diary. They have five boys that all look very similar and all wear overalls, except for one, the one my age, Ry. Ry wears normal clothes and brushes his hair. I might have come to like him if he didn’t show up at my window every night and ask me to come outside with him, please! As if I ever would!
Please write back soon,

Caroline Smith

Caroline took the paper out of the typewriter and placed in to her perfectly organized desk. She smiled Just like home she thought fondly.

Clunk, clunk, clunk, Caroline knew that sound that was the sound of Ry throwing stones at her window like some annoying Romeo.

She swung open the window.

“I told you…” She was cut off when she realized it was not Ry, it was Vievena. She was there in her long navy-colored nightdress, her waist-length black hair hanging limply around her face

“You coming?” She asked in a slow voice.

“Why on earth do you think I would go with you?” Caroline snapped.

Vievena shrugged “Cause you got nothing better to do? Ry convinced me”
Caroline laughed “As if!” She then slammed the window closed.

This trend continued for three nights and every night Vievena got the same response. Though on the fourth day once again the pebble thrower changed, this time is was Juels.

Juels is very frail looking, as though she might break at any moment. She reminded Caroline of a porcelain doll.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Caroline growled.

“We just want to hang out. We are all down here.” Juels said in a weak voice.

“We?” Caroline asked.

“Yah, Ry bothered both Vievena and I until we finally decided to no longer fight it” She said with a soft smile.

“Will you stop bothering me if I come?’ Caroline questioned.

“Probably” She said.

“Fine”

“We got Caroline!” Juels called. Suddenly, both Ry and Vievena appeared from the bushes.

Caroline turned towards the door.

“No, you got to climb down the roof.” Ry said.

Caroline ran back to the window, “No! That’s crazy, I am in a night dress!”

“Juels did it.” Ry challenged.

Caroline huffed then climbed gingerly out of the window and on to the roof. She carefully slid to the edge of it.

“Don’t worry we got you!” Ry called.

Caroline inched away toward the edge. You can do this she repeated to herself If Juels can do it so can you. She closed her eyes and dropped from the roof. The people below quickly arranged themselves to catch her. but her force was too strong. When she hit they all collapsed in a pile.

“Well that didn't go very well…” Ry grumbled.

Caroline laughed as she stood up. Vievena looked at her with surprise.

“What?’ Caroline asked.

“Nothing…Just I have never heard you laugh before.”

Caroline said nothing.
……...
………………………………………………………………………………………………

Several weeks passed and this midnight knock became a nightly adventure.
“Honey, do you need more typewriter paper?” Caroline’s mother asked, opening the door to her daughter’s room.
“No, I am good” She said holding up a large stack of paper.
Caroline’s mother looked surprise, for the past four weeks she have had to pick up paper.
“Are you okay” She asked her daughter.
“Yeah, why do you ask?” Caroline
“No reason…” She replied suspiciously.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“… My parents spend every penny they have on me, but we all know I am incurable. Why would they bother?” Juels confided in them on the fifth night.

They were all lying on the browning lawn. The cold dark was surrounding them but they did not mind.

“Because they have hope, which is one think my family has never been able to have.” Vievena answered “My family decides not to feel pain”.

“How can they do that?” Ry asked curiously.

“They just keep moving forward. After we lost our house, they still went to work every day at the same time, even if they had no house to come back to. My sister was the one that finally got them to come here.” She explained.

Caroline sat up., her hair blowing ever so slightly in the wind.

“Peter Pan’s hideout…” She whispered

‘What?” Ry asked.

“This house, its Peter Pan’s hideout. It is a house full of lost boys” Caroline said with a soft smile.


They said nothing for a long time, all of them basking in the starlight.
“They are so beautiful” Juels sighed.
“What?” Ry asked.
“The stars.”

Caroline did not like looking at the stars very much. They made her feel small and insignificant. As if she was the smallest thing in the entire universe. She shifted uncomfortably.

“Weird huh?” Ry asked.

“What?” Vievena asked.

“In this entire planet, in this whole wide universe, we are the only ones in this place, right now.” Ry said.

“It makes me feel so alone” Caroline whispered.

Suddenly, Juels grasped her hand.

“No one is ever really alone “She whispered “Even the lost boys had one another.”

Caroline squeezes her hand “I know.”