Love, Suburban Style by Karl Kramer

Mr Shaw was a rather grumpy man in his mid 50s who did not care for anyone else in the neighborhood. He would take a walk to get the afternoon paper and did not want anyone bothering him at all. 14 year old Johnny, who had just moved in with his mother, had just crossed paths with The Grump (as he was known to the neighbors).

"Hi, my name is Johnny!" The dark haired boy smiled.

"Grrrrr. Out of my way!" snapped The Grump.

Johnny just smiled and walked away. He then came across Miss Kelly, who was the older single lady living in a large mostly empty house. She was very pleasant and told Johnny "You are the new boy here. Never mind that old Grump. I will be over later on to bring you and your mother my nice homemade cheesecake."

Johnny smiled and thanked her. He then sat on his porch and waited for a bit. The Grump could be seen coming back into view from his trip to the store. He had his paper in hand, and looked angry. Johnny then pulled out a quiver and took an arrow out. He pointed it at The Grump and shot it. It hit him in his heart and he got a strange feeling he hadn't felt before.

Seeing Miss Kelly outside was like seeing her for the first time. He looked at her radiant beauty and smiled at her. Walking up to greet her, Miss Kelly stated "I will get someone to cut down those branches over your yard so you don't have to keep complaining!"

Johnny pulled another arrow and hit Miss Kelly with is. Her sour look also turned into a smile as she noticed how handsome Mr Shaw was. They both embraced each other, and Mr Shaw asked "Do you have any of your world famous cheesecake?"

"For you, I will always have some!" she replied as they walked into her house.

"JOHNNY! GET INSIDE!!" his mother yelled. After Johnny got in the house, he saw his mother looking at him with a smile.

"Cupid, my dear boy, you have to be careful when shooting your arrows. Someone might see you and we would half to explain who we really are."

Cupid smiled at his Goddess mother Aphrodite. "He needed someone to love. and I was doing my job."

Awe that was cute. I want cheesecake now...(another 20 pounds later lol)

I just thought of this story as Valentine's Day is coming up. It is quite simple and we all know or have known grumpy old neighbors who only need someone to love.