Mrs. Patrick was very busy greeting her friends and cousins. She was very happy and her face gleamed even more because of that happiness. The house warming ceremony was coming to an end with guests leaving and Mrs. Patrick was sending off one after the other guests personally thanking them for joining.

I was sitting at the corner, slurping and enjoying the delicious soup served by Lucy, I mean Mrs. Patrick. I knew Lucy from my childhood. We were living in the same street and I have sweet memories of our roaming around and having small fights. Lucy was the cutest of the children around and was pecked and pampered by one and all.

But everything was not rosy about Lucy's life. She lost her siblings in a road accident and never knew her father. Before she grew up into a youngster, she lost her mother too. She was later adopted by her aunt, who lived on the other side of the town. We were separated for a brief period. Later on, I learnt that she had her own family and kids too. I met her after almost a year, when she came to invite me to her home.

As I was lost in my thoughts, she came to me and greeted me. "Oh! Rosy! Sorry that I could not spare much time with you. Why don't you have something?" Saying so, she served me some meat.

We discussed many things as both of us finished our dinner. Before I could leave, she said, "You know Rosy, how happy I am. I chose this particular place for my home as it has all the amenities on this side of the road. The school, the park, the food store, everything is on this side". As you know, I lost all my dear ones to road accidents; I did not want that to happen to my kids", she added.

I looked around and said, "by the way, where are your kids? I haven't seen them". "They must be playing outside. I will call them" she said. And as we both stepped out of the house, she called her kids. In a few seconds her kids came running on their little paws from the other side of the road.