The Same Four Walls

I've heard the phrase, 'if walls could talk' so many times. It's so ridiculous because we actually do! We just don't talk to the humans who dwell within us. Seeing how scared they become with fictional ghost stories, it never seemed to be a good idea. How boring would our life be if our human moved away in fear and we never got another to entertain us? That doesn't mean we don't have a little fun ourselves. East is the only one of us who has done it. With a view of the hall, East sees when the human is near and sometimes she whispers unintelligible words to see how the human will respond. The rest of us giggle when the human peeks into the room with that fearful hesitation. I think the best laugh we had was when East made squeaking noises and the human thought there was a mouse. If we were a floor we would have been rolling laughing.

We've had about three human families dwelling in the home since our life began. It's a small place so we've only had one human family with a baby. We all cooed at the precious bundle when it first arrived and then quickly became annoyed when it would cry every few hours. They left after a couple years and now we have a human male living here. He seems decent enough. No one will compare to the first human. She came through and looked at all of us with such love. We practically beamed! The second, the human family, had other priorities and the, third, our current human loves the TV. Thankfully for my pride, the man chose me to hang the TV. What a glorious job to hold this human's one precious item!

Through the large window taking up the majority of South I can see the driveway where the human's other prized possession sometimes makes an appearance. Compared to the other humans who had lived here, the car of this one is impressive. I sometimes see it pulled out of the garage and given such a loving bath that I swear he's moving the cloth in slow motion as a love song plays. East has seen the car and supposedly isn't very impressed. I think she's jealous that she isn't given the same gooey eyes. West can't see anything except trees at the side of the house so I have no support. Even if she could see it, South doesn't care one bit. She mostly sleeps.

Then something changed.

"He's coming!" East says in excitement.

"Thanks for the warning," West responds with that nervous fear from being frightened so many times.

Sure enough, the human enters the room from the opening in West, making him jump in surprise.

"I did warn you!" says East with slight annoyance.

West lets out a breath to slow down the anxiousness. "Maybe a countdown next time."

"What will it matter? You'll still jump!"

I ignore them, watching the human. Usually around this time he's either watching his TV or sleeping in the other room. Today he is standing and facing the window in South.

South, waking in annoyance at the arguing, is surprised to see the human facing her direction. The first human had enjoyed the views from that window, but since she had gone, none of the others had found interest in South's one beauty. "What's it doing?" she asks.

"It looks like he's waiting for something," I respond, wondering the same thing. I try not to be too hurt that he hadn't come to face me instead.

South eyes the man with uncertainty. "Tell it to go away. I look awful."

"You look just fine, South," I say in comfort. I remember her insecurity after a real estate agent came to inspect the home and said that the window in South was "ghastly". It was years ago, but South had given up ever since, hence why she always slept.

East eyes South. "Don't overdo it, North. She needs some work! It doesn't matter, though. Whatever he was waiting for is arriving."

Sure enough, a strange car I'd never seen before pulls into the drive and the male quickly leaves the room. "I think he was waiting on a who." I watch as the door to the car opens and I am barely able to make out a female human. Our human greets her in an embrace and guides her into the house. "He's bringing her in!"

"Oh no," begins West, already sweating with anxiety.

"It's a her?" Even South looks uncharacteristically anxious about the newcomer.

"Oh relax, the both of you!" East snaps. "He may not even bring her in here."

We all look at East. "Gross!"

"He may take her to the kitchen."

"GROSS!" We all say in unison.

"Oh, get a grip! You know what I mean! Shh, they're coming!"

We all quiet in excitement and apprehension. An odor begins to fill the room. "Ugh! West!"

"Sorry! The wait is killing me!"

Our human finally enters the room with the stranger. West jumps, of course. I watch with fascination as I take in the female. Our human hadn't had many visitors so I was curious how he'd managed to lure her here. I watch as she makes her way around the room. She seems curious, but also as if she is judging what she sees. Our human remains quiet, as if worried what he says could impact her opinion poorly. She stops before South, looking out the window. South cringes, trying to bury herself away. Then stops as one word comes to the female's mouth. "Pretty."

As the female begins moving away from South, South stares at the female in amazement, slowly bringing herself back up. Before I can say anything to South in the form of 'I told you so', the female is looking at me. Her eyes narrow as she takes in the TV. "Wow, that's pretty big."

Both me and my human beam with pleasure. Yes, our TV is pretty big!

"What do you think, Katie?"

She turns and looks at our human. "Fine so far. I'd like to see the rest. You said there was a spare room?"

"Yes, this way." He guides her from the room and we all let out a breath of relief.

"What is going on?" East asks.

"She said I was pretty!" South beams.

"Was it just me who was nervous? It looked like he was nervous. Was anyone else nervous?" West asks nervously.

"I think she was pretty," says South in adoration.

"Whatever, she's too blonde," East says, rolling her eyes. "It still doesn't answer my question. What is going on?"

"I don't know," I say. "Maybe he's selling the house." The words came out before I realized what I was saying.

"No! Not again!" South wails.

"I don't think I can go through that again!" West whimpers. "The constant open houses of people going in and out and in and out." He shudders. "Thank goodness we ended up with one introvert human! Can you imagine a whole family of extroverts?! I won't have a second of relaxation!"

"I can't take the rejection!" South continues.

"See what you've done?" East says to me.

I sigh. "It is unlikely he is selling the house," I begin. "More likely he is in a relationship."

"Why did it seem so transactional?" East asks.

The others look to me. My attention is caught as the female and our human are seen in the drive. He hugs her again, she gets in the car and leaves. Our human stays there for a while, maybe watching her drive away. His shoulders slump and he turns back to the house. "I don't know, but something is definitely going on."

We watched our human closely after that. He seemed to get in better spirits a few days later and the next week he left us completely alone for a while. We thought we'd been abandoned until he came back a week later with Katie. I watch through South's window as they unload her car and comprehension begins to dawn on me. East was watching, too. "Oh my gosh."

"What is it?" West and South ask in unison.

"Our human is bringing in that Katie and a baby," I answer.

"Well that was quick," South responds judgmentally.

"That must have been why she was here," I muse out loud. "She was seeing if she could live here with her baby."

"We've had a family before. It was the worst!" says West.

"Okay, let's go over this again." I get their attention. "We have new humans to welcome."

East brightens, "That means new games!"

I shake my head. "If you pretend there's a mouse in the house with this lot, I have a feeling they really will sell us."

"Fine..."

"They need to feel at home. They need to be warm. We show them we care."

"You know, we start out with the best intentions until they get on our nerves," says East matter-of-factly.

"New humans. New goals."

The others nod in agreement.

Katie enters the room with the baby. We all jump, feeling unprepared.

"Oh for goodness sake, West! Not again!" South wrinkles her nose at the smell.

"No one warned me!" West glares at East as she shrugs.

Katie's nose wrinkles at the sulfuric smell. "Tim? Why does the living room smell like crap?"

Our human comes quickly into the room. "Oh, sorry about that. The plumbing in the bathroom has rusted." He taps West's wall. "I have someone coming out to replace next week."

We all look at West. "Ohhhh, I thought I was passing gas!"

"You were, in a sense," says East. "Your jumping was rattling the wall that the rusty pipes were in, which released the gas."

"That's gross, West," South says.

"Hey! Didn't you hear the Tim? He said I was getting my pipes replaced! I'll be good as new!"

"You'll still be a nervous ninny," East mutters.

The tiny one begins crying and Katie starts patting its back and shushing it automatically. Our ears wince.

"Can I?" Tim asks, holding his hands out.

"She's probably hungry. I'll feed her in the nursery."

"Okay. I'll finish bringing the stuff in."

The humans depart the room.

"Did you see that? He obviously wanted to hold it and she denied him!" East looks to me as if in confirmation.

South quickly comes to Katie's defense. "She did say the baby was hungry."

"Well if Tim doesn't get to hold his baby, then I will hate her forever," says East stubbornly.

"Who says that's Tim's baby?"

We all look at South in confusion. "Oh, twist!" squeals East. "Our main man, Tim, swoops in to save the damsel in distress who has been stranded by the baby's father, abandoned to raise the girl alone! He provides her a home and security that her own family refused to give!"

"You've been watching too much TV," I say in disgust.

"It's not my fault the TV has taken over most of your face."

West and South nod in agreement.

"Okay fine. Let's place bets."

They all murmur in excitement. South begins. "I want to bet that she's actually his sister and he's helping her with the new baby."

"Good one!" says East.

"I'll bet that Tim is the father and they had the baby out of wedlock but only recently got married to give the baby a stable home."

"Not bad, West," I say, "but kind of boring. Okay, I'll bet that Katie is under witness protection and Tim, being a secret agent, chose to take her and the baby in so they can make it alive for the trial."

"Now who's being ridiculous?" says East, mockingly.

"It's not my fault he watches those action movies in between the dramas. Besides, like you said, it's right on my face."

"Alright, bets are placed," says South. "Now we wait."

For a long while we sit quietly. I watch Tim finish up the trips to the car and West jumps as he enters the room to collapse onto the sofa. He fidgets with something on his hand and I see that it's a ring. He hadn't had one on before. I was sure of it. After a moment, Tim flicks the TV on and I watch the light from the screen dance across his face. He looks tired and sad. I want very much for him to be happy and I hold his TV with the hope that he will find his happiness there.

Katie enters the room a while later and motions to the TV. "Do you mind turning that off?"

"Sure." The TV turns off and I feel slight resentment at Katie.

She walks over and sits down next to Tim. Carefully, she places the sleeping baby in his arms. He holds her with such delicacy that I wonder what a baby could be made of to be held in that way. Something lights in his face as he looks down at her. "She's beautiful," he whispers.

Katie smiles. "I really am glad we can make a family here for her. Thank you for being there for me. And Lyla, of course."

"I know this isn't what you wanted, but I'll do everything I can to make sure I provide a good life for you both."

Katie looks at him for a while, then says, "I'm sorry that I didn't trust you sooner."

Tim gives a short laugh. "That's okay. I get it."

After a short moment of silence, Katie stands. "I'm going to go lie down for a bit. You got her?"

"Take your time. I'd love to spend this time with our daughter."

"Nailed it!" West roars in triumph.

"How did you know?" asks South in disbelief.

"There are some things that I am actually good at."

"Besides passing gas, you mean?" pokes East.

I ignore them. I'm still watching Tim because a trickle of worry has started to settle in me. This tiny human had thrown a wrench into Tim's world. Would he even watch his TV anymore? Would I just remain here, holding a useless item?

The days that passed didn't help to ease my fears. The pride and joy that was Tim's car was replaced with an SUV. Supposedly the baby's car seat didn't 'fit' in the back of the Pontiac Solstice. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to the black beauty before the hulking green metal junk arrived.

My annoyance increased when West got new pipes and wouldn't stop bragging about how non-sulfuric his fear smells. I almost lost it when Katie came into the room and started taking stuff off the walls, including the TV, with Tim's help, which only added to the betrayal. South had to calm me down so I wouldn't crack my drywall. When Katie returned with a gallon of paint, I began to finally relax.

East was giving me a strange look. "I don't know why you're all worked up. We're getting a makeover. I thought you'd be thrilled."

"He's not upset about the paint," says South lazily, eyeing the fresh white color with a blissful joy. "He's just jealous that the little thing took the attention away from North."

"Her name is Lyla," I grittily correct.

"We should be happy that things are finally changing around here! We've been this dull blue since we were built. I'm so over it."

"What have you done with South?" East asks.

"I don't know who you're talking about. I'm about to be South 2.0."

East snorts. "That's ridiculous."

"Whatever. I'm not going to talk to you until you're East 2.0."

"Oh just take a nap," East hisses.

West looks uncertainly at the paint. "Will it hurt?"

"You have about five nails and two screws in you." East rolls her eyes. "I tell you what, I don't care how much it hurts you, I hope your holes get plastered and you get a whole new...you."

"My eyes hurt from having to stare at your horrendousness for twelve years," West retorts.

South and I ignore the bickering duo. South watches Katie as if seeing an angel. I watch Katie, seeing a devil. My spirits don't lift when the traitor returns carrying the traitor spawn. Katie takes Lyla from Tim and leaves the room as he takes over her project. I don't realize it until a good while later that my spitefulness toward him had been fading. Here I am watching this human who I thought had betrayed me by taking the TV down, slowly and methodically plastering holes and painting in firm, even strokes. He is putting love and care into us. Hope is budding within me and a love that I'd never felt before. He doesn't need us because of what we can hold. He needs us because of what we can provide. We are a shelter for something more precious than a TV or a car. I think that makes us the most important thing of all.

My sour mood forgotten, I see Tim clearer for the first time since he stepped into our walls. He's happy. He's at peace. Perhaps it wasn't what he thought he wanted or how he intended to get it, but his new family is what he needed this whole time.

I burst with pride as the paint slowly overtakes the blue. I feel like I am brand new wall all over again. Katie decorates us all with simple art, setting furniture in an appealing way, cleaning surfaces and tidying to make the room unrecognizable in a good way. When Katie and Tim come in to remount the TV, I forget ever feeling so gloomy. We are bright and shiny again! All of us are returned to our original glory.

When Katie moves to stand before South, South embraces the clean trim of the window and exudes so much confidence that I can't help admiring how attractive she is.

West seems to find confidence as well and isn't nearly as jumpy when humans enter the room. East was the only one pretending to be unchanged by the whole experience. I did catch her admiring herself in the mirror Katie had hung on West, but I didn't say anything.

When I didn't think I could feel happier with our humans, Tim brought Lyla in one afternoon and sat with her on the sofa to show her a football game. Here he was, sharing a part of himself with his daughter. I am part of that! Integral, actually. Everything is perfect!

"Rise and shine, East," South says as we groggily wake. The morning light is still gray outside her window. "We still look amazing!" We groan at the daily mantra from South.

"Incoming," says East with a yawn.

Tim walks into the room. West doesn't even jump. I feel so proud of how far he's come. I watch Tim settle down with a coffee. 'This is so nice,' I think to myself. 'I could do this forever.'

"Here comes the Katie," East says.

Sure enough, Katie enters the room, a coffee in her hands as well. "That was a rough night for Lyla."

Tim and all four of us nod in agreement. "She's teething. I felt a tooth coming through. Want me to pick something up for her?"

"Would you mind? That would be great! Oh, and don't forget the listing agent is coming by to take pictures. We should make a decent profit on this house. It will be great to finally move into our forever home! Wouldn't you agree?"

The shock hits us at once.

West's new pipes burst, South shrivels into herself so much that the window cracks, and I drop the TV. East is the only one who didn't cause any damage. Instead, she begins making squeaking noises of a mouse.