He unlocked the gate, and she ran into the backyard. He sat down on the porch swing and watched Mandy look around the garden.

“You have a nice garden!”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“We don’t have a garden!”

David watched as she walked around looking at the flowers in the garden.

“I like these! This one’s pretty! There’s bees on this one!”

He saw her look toward the wooden fence. She suddenly ran through the garden until she reached the fence. Then she stopped and stared at the gap in the fence. She crouched down and went through it. A few moments later she came back through the gap in the fence. Then she turned around to look at it again. David watched as she ran back to him.

“Why do you have a hole in your fence?”

He smiled at her. “It’s been there a long time,” he said.

She thought for a moment. “Why don’t you fix it?”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a way home.”

“From what?” she asked.

David paused. “From what’s ever on the other side.”

Mandy Flanagan

Mandy appears at the very end of the story. David's parents have long ago moved to Florida and his sister, Sarah, has passed on. The band has gone on to become one of the biggest groups in the hard rock music industry. So David has been alone for many years. Then a developer buys all of the houses in David's neighborhood in order to build a new subdivision. Well, almost all of the houses. David refuses to sell. The developer decides to simply build the new subdivision around David's house. The old home he lived in with his parents and sister, which was across the street, has been torn down. One day David looks out his front window, and he see a small girl playing out front of the new house currently under construction. That girl is Mandy and she finds her way to David's house. The two form a special connection, and Mandy finds what she needs most...a friend...someone who likes to listen to her. David assures her that other families will be moving into the new homes once they're finished. Then, David tells her, she will find new friends. One day, while exploring David's garden, she discovers the Gap in the Fence. As David watches, Mandy passes through the Gap in the Fence, only to suddenly re-appear in the garden. His connection with Mandy gives David the strange, but comforting, feeling that things are starting over again.

******************************************

David grabbed his gardening tools and headed to the front of the house toward the ornamental shrubs.

“What are you doing?” Mandy asked.

“I still have a bit more work in the front, dear.”

David went about his work as Mandy told him all about her new school, her new teacher and how there still weren’t a lot of kids around. Then she stopped.

“But you said there’d be some soon.”

David looked at her. “There will.”

She paused. “But you’re my friend,” she whispered.

David smiled. “And you’re my friend.”

The two got up and walked around to the front of the house. About 30 minutes later, Mrs. Flanagan pulled up and parked her car across the street. She got out and walked up the front walk toward his house. He and Mandy were sitting on the front porch eating cookies he bought at the store. She stopped in front of them and smiled.

“I must thank you somehow, David. I know! We’re making fudge tomorrow. I can bring some over later tomorrow night. Is nine o’clock too late?”

David smiled at her. “Not at all. But if I go to bed early, I’ll leave you a note.”

Mandy and her mother began walking toward the driveway. Mandy stopped, turned around and waved to him. “Bye, David,” she whispered. He sat and stared for a moment. Then he heard them talking.

“David has a nice garden, Mom.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There’s a hole in the fence. But it has to stay there.”