Shade of Mother Oak

The new neighbors were moving in. He saw the truck work it's way around the barnyard and back towards the house and stop. The distinct sound of the air brakes hissed. It was as close to the front door as it could get, but was still twenty feet away. They would have a lot of packing to do so he thought maybe they could use some help. He could take the time and postpone the fencing and laundry. That would be the neighborly thing to do, but first he had to finish the job at hand. After he cleaned the fish and put them away, he packed some cans of soda into a cooler along with some ice, figuring it would make a good "Welcome to the Neighborhood" gesture. He parked his pick-up along side of their driveway so it would be out of the way in case the semi had to move. He walked past the big semi tractor, still idling, and when he was alongside the van trailer, he could hear voices, the tromping of feet, and the shuffle of furniture coming from within. He went around to the back of the truck where a ramp was hooked onto the back of the trailer. He saw movement inside the house and it drew his attention away momentarily so he stopped at the bottom of the ramp. Just then someone coming down the ramp behind a pile of boxes stacked so high it partially blocked their vision, collided with him. Cory helped steady the boxes and apologized. "Oops, excuse me. I better watch what I'm doing before I get trampled underfoot." The person lowered the boxes enough to peer over. What Cory saw totally surprised him. It was something he never expected. It was a girl. In fact, she was a very beautiful girl, her eyes an illuminating emerald green. Although she looked like a tomboy with a baseball cap, her dark brown ponytail poked through the hole in the back, he was still astounded. With a startled expression on her face, she asked, "May I help you?" "Ah--, I'm your neighbor. I live straight across the road from you. Oh yeah, my name is Cory. Cory Iverson." "Hi, I'm Kate Linsey. Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you, too. Um, if you want, I can help carry stuff into the house for ya?" "You're offering to help?" "Yes, ma'am. I thought it would be the neighborly thing to do." "Well, thank you. My brother, Bud, is in there. He'll tell you what to do. My folks are both in the house. You can meet them when you come in." She gave a friendly smile and turned to go into the house. He couldn't help but look at her shapely form, her tight blue jeans fitting exactly to a slender perfect body. He couldn't believe it. She was breathtaking.