We hadn’t always been here.
But the neighborhood has. Even before it was a neighborhood on
earth this one had been here. Here for those that would be lost
on those cursed grounds, here for those who would die long
before their real life ever truly began, here for those who
never really wanted to grow up. We come from different times
and we come from different lives, but one thing remains true of
all of us. We lived on the earthly realm of the neighborhood at
some point in our lives and died long before our time was
supposed to come. We don’t remember much of our lives in
the cul-de-sac since the last member of our group joined us and
certainly we won’t remember now when the next spirit
comes, but here is what we do know: Rolf was the first to come
here. Unlike most of us he was born in far off lands and even
in the afterlife hasn’t lost the touch of his old world
upbringing. He lived in the neighborhood before it was
developed. The son of a shepherd, he and the rest of his family
came to start a farm on the lands that would soon turn into the
place we would all eventually reside in. He died in 1903. While
tending to the family’s animals, the bull broke loose
from its pen and in Rolf’s efforts to stop the beast he
was trampled to death. That is why even though he brought many
of his family’s livestock with him in spirit he chose not
to bring the cattle along. He continues to go about the farms
business on a daily basis, but is more than happy to
occasionally neglect them to play with the other children of
the neighborhood.
Jonny was always the lonely
child. In fact Rolf actually became his first human friend ever
when he came to the cul-de-sac after his death. His parents
moved onto the grounds of Rolf’s former farm not long
after his death. With no other children around and no fieldwork
to take up his time as it did Rolf’s Jonny drew into his
own mind to a great extent. From the Plank was born. Together
they wandered about the country side climbing trees and getting
themselves in trouble. Sadly this didn’t last forever as
a few years later Jonny became bedridden with illness. In 1922
he died after a long battle with tuberculosis. He saw his
imaginary friend plank standing by him to his last breath. Even
now in the afterlife without the countryside to play in Jonny
still wastes much of his time frolicking through the backyards
and streets.
Eddy was the next to come. Eddy
was born in New York City but moved to the neighborhood in
1932, just as the Great Depression was hitting full swing. The
neighborhood while still different was beginning to take form
from the fields of its past as families moved in and split up
the lands that had once belonged to Rolf’s family. Always
a schemer, Eddy looked to do anything to bring some comfort to
his very bare family life even if it cost him the friendship of
others. Eddy died in 1939 after one of his grand plans to
swindle a sap backfired. He drowned trying to cross the local
river after trying to run away from the angry kids that he had
tried to deceive. Even in the afterlife he keeps chasing after
the almighty dollar.