A truck pulled in at the gate as a new family moved into their new home. Before long , they were at ease with their neighbors except Mrs Oldham. She was an old spinster living by herself , only accompanied by 2 of her kittens.

“John , do come back before dinner” , shouted Mrs Eunos.

“Yes Ma!” , replied John as he sped away in his bike.

It wasn’t a month before John had become part of the neighborhood and made himself as one of the kids. They met regularly in the stream nearby after school and John was a regular member of the meetings. Their topics would range from homework to girls and what are the rumors in the neighborhood.

It was one such meeting that John first raised the question of Mrs Oldham. He swore he had known everyone in the neighborhood except her. But to his amazement , none of his friends knew anything about her either! It seemed that she was a complete mystery to all but herself.

There were stories , of course , that she was a witch , a ghost or even she was a he! Anyway , that meeting piqued John’s interest in Mrs Oldham and decided he would find out as much as he could about her. And the opportunity came sooner than he thought , Halloween night.

Trick or treat didn’t go as well as he expected but he hope it would be much better at the last night at the corner of the street , Mrs Oldham’s house. John approached the front gate and stopped. He observed that the gate was covered in rust and the garden was full of weeds. He gently pushed the gate and slowly walked his way towards the front door.

Suddenly , there was a sound in the garden and John froze. Then he saw who or what it was , 2 black kittens. Then the front door opened and Mrs Oldham came out with her cane in her hand. John was about to turn and run when she invited him for coffee.

It seemed everyone was wrong about Mrs Oldham. She was simply an old lady who lived with her two cats. Her sister came by every now and then with basket of food so she rarely had to go out to buy , which probably added to the mystery. She introduced her two cats , aptly named Thunder and Lightning, to John and they were close friends till she passed away.

The end.