February 11th
148 Festive Lane
Martha’s Birthday
3:35 p.m.
Several months passed, and despite numerous showings and a half dozen Realtors representing the property, Martha was still without a buyer for the house.
Over thirty interested and potential buyers inspected the house. Many made generous offers of over $4.3 million for the prime location of the four-acre estate. Martha was not concerned with the money. She only wanted to sell the house to someone that would live in it and love it. Unfortunately, none of the serious buyers was interested in living in the house, much less loving it. They were only interested in demolishing the structure and rebuilding on the property. Martha ran out of potential buyers as well as willing Realtors. After the first open house, every Realtor she signed to represent the house quickly canceled their listing agreement. They assumed that Martha was senile and unstable due to refusing offer after offer regardless of how generous the amount was. She would make each Realtor very uncomfortable when she would ask a potential buyer about their personal family history and the status of living relatives and friends. Time after time, the buyers would respond to how big and caring their family was, but Martha would dismiss their offer.
Today was Martha’s birthday, and she only had a few months remaining to sell the magical old house to a deserving family. Having scared off every available Realtor in the area, Martha was forced to sell the house on her own.
It was an unusually warm day for February, and traffic in the area was more congested than in several months. Martha was working down in her basement, trying to clean up some of the mess accumulated over the years. The dark, damp basement was dimly lit by the shadow of a bare incandescent bulb hanging from a black frayed electrical cord casting its light. Martha rummaged through the effects of corrugated boxes when she came across newspapers dated 1936 that shouted headlines about a new Zeppelin being introduced in Germany. She found an old ten-ounce soda bottle that bottlers hadn’t used for over 20 years. The more memories she uncovered, the more depressed she became. Every item brought back a memory that made her think fondly of better days.
As she moved throughout the cellar, she passed in front of a ground-level basement window that looked out to the front yard. She could see the “For Sale by Owner” sign she had placed there two days earlier.
She moved away from the window, and as a beam of light shined past her. It cast a natural spotlight on a mouse gnawing at a box that sat on the floor. Martha screamed! The mouse was just as startled and scampered off in a flash. Martha regained her composure and grabbed a nearby broom. She quietly and slowly moved toward where she last saw the mouse runoff and slowly raised the broom over her head. She turned the corner to a stack of boxes ready to pounce on the furry rodent, and the doorbell rang. She screamed again! Jumping back and dropping the broom, she tried to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding a thousand beats per minute. She slowly made her way up the basement stairs to the kitchen area when the doorbell rang again.
“Just a moment; I’m coming,” she shouted.
When Martha opened the front entry door, a young man, a younger woman, and a small ten-year-old boy greeted her.
In his thirties, the handsome young man asked, “Excuse me, but is this house still for sale?”
“Why, yes, it is. Would you like to come in and look around?” Martha asked.
“Well, if it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition, yes, that would be fine,” the young man replied.
Martha opened the door wide, and the three guests entered the house. Now in full view, a young woman was pregnant and carrying high.
“It’s going to be a girl,” said Martha.
“Well, we hope so, but we will be happy no matter what it is,” replied the woman.
“No matter what it is, honey, it’s going to be either a boy or a girl, not a no matter what it is,” said the young man.
The young pregnant mother raised her voice slightly and said, “Michael, please, no jokes. You don’t even know this woman; how embarrassing.”
“I see your husband is a bit of a joker,” Martha said as she smiled.
The young mother responded sarcastically, “Yes, he can be, but I still love him regardless.”
The young man was very handsome. Tall with a muscular build, he was obviously a weightlifter or worked as a tradesman. His boyish face was bright and cheery as he chomped away on a wad of bubble gum stuck deep inside his cheek. A lumberjack shirt neatly tucked into snug-fitting jeans confirmed his blue-collar status.
As they walked into the dining room, the young man said, “Oh, I’m sorry, let me introduce my family. This is my son David.”
Martha shook the young boy’s hand and said, “Hello there, David.”
“Hello,” replied the young boy.
David was the spitting image of his father. Dressed alike, they resembled a poorly cast advertisement for the great outdoorsman. Chewing gum, David was only a fraction of his father’s height. Dark hair and bright blue eyes glistened effortlessly as he blew pink bubbles from his mouth.
“This is my wife Arianna, and this is our soon-to-be offspring (as he pats her stomach) whatchamacallit,” the young man said.
“Michael!” said his wife.
Arianna, although very pregnant, was extremely attractive. Golden blonde hair tied back in a ponytail let her stunning facial features shine. A model’s profile featured a button nose and small, gentle mouth. Big wide eyes that were crystal blue sparkled as she smiled at her husband.
“And if you didn’t catch that, my name is Michael, but my friends sometimes call me Mike or Mickey.”
“Oh, like the mouse that just scared the bejesus out of me downstairs. Nice to meet all of you,” said Martha.
“Please come in and look around.”
“You have mice?” Arianna asked Martha.
Martha realized her mistake and said, “No, dear. Mouse as in singular; he is harmless and down in the basement.”
Arianna let out a sigh of relief as Michael added, “Well, if he’s staying in the house, he will have to pay rent, right, David?”
“Right, Dad!” responded the young boy.
As they toured the house, Michael turned to Martha and said, “Listen, Mrs...?”
“Call me Martha.”
“Okay, Martha… I have to be honest with you. We really love this old house. We have been driving past it for the last few weeks but never had the nerve to ring your bell. You see, we can fix it up really nice, but we don’t have very much money to spend.”
Martha paused a minute and said, “Tell me about your family. Are they excited about the new baby?”
“Neither of us has any family. Michael’s parents and brother died in a car accident about ten years ago, and both of my parents passed away when I was 12. I am an only child,” Arianna replied.
“Oh, how sad,” Martha said and continued. “Well, what about grandparents, aunts, uncles...”
“No, we have no other family. It’s just the three of us and the (patting her stomach) unnamed addition on the way,” Arianna responded as she smiled.
“But I would take it you have many friends, right, Michael?” asked Martha.
“No, not really. We just relocated to this area from Las Vegas, where I was a contractor. Due to expansion, I got an offer to move here with my company, so we took advantage of the opportunity. Unfortunately, we left all of our friends behind,” Michael said.
“Well, I am sure your closest friends will still visit when they get a chance,” Martha replied.
“Not unless they are supernatural,” said Arianna.
“Our two best friends were our best man and maid of honor at our wedding 11 years ago. They finally married a few years ago and then perished in a house fire last fall. It was so sad. It’s one of the reasons we decided to relocate. A fresh start, if you know what I mean.”
“Have we depressed you enough yet, Martha?” Michael asked.
He turned to Arianna and said, “Why did you tell her all that stuff? Now she probably thinks we’re bad luck or something.”
He turned to Martha and said, “Don’t worry, Martha, you won’t die or anything in the next couple of months.”
Martha nearly spits out the coffee she was sipping at the time of Michael’s statement and starts to cough.
“Damn you, Michael, you are always screwing around!” shouted Arianna.
Michael patted Martha on the back and started to apologize profusely.
“I’m sorry, Martha, that was just a joke. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No problem, dear (as she coughs and gasps for air), I’m not going anywhere just yet,” Martha replied.
Once Martha caught her breath, she asked the couple, “So you would like to take my house tour, yes?”
They both nodded their heads.
As Michael and his family followed Martha from room to room, upstairs and down, they marveled at the story she told of each room. Ironically each story was centered around Christmas. Even though the house needed major renovation, Michael and Arianna felt a sense of love built on the old mansion's memories. As they returned to the foyer area where the tour had begun, Martha asked, “So Michael and Arianna… are you still interested in buying this run-down house? It needs quite a bit of fixing up.”
“We are still very interested, but as I mentioned, we don’t have the kind of money you are probably asking for the house,” Michael said.
He spotted a listing sheet setting on the table. As he reached for it, he asked, “Just how much “are” you asking for this property?”
Martha snatched the sheet from his hand before he could read the asking price.
“Well, how much can you afford to pay Michael?” she asked.
Michael looked at Arianna and then down at her large stomach, which reminded him he would soon have another mouth to feed.
He stuttered and stalled, then professed, “Well, Martha, we can only afford a $200,000.00 mortgage, but I’m sure this house is worth 20 times that amount. We don’t have very much money to put down either. I am very sorry for wasting your time.”
“Michael… Arianna?” asked Martha. “I think we can work something out if you can promise three things. You must never tear down this house. You must love it with all your heart and must never resell it to anyone else unless they promise to do the same. Does that sound reasonable?”
In a state of disbelief, Michael said, “Martha, I promise you we will never tear down this beautiful old house. I am really excellent at my job. I have been a carpenter for many years. I can fix this house to look brand new again.”
“And do you have any money to do that, Michael? I mean, once the mortgage payments start?” Martha asked.
Michael shrugged his shoulders and said, “It will take time, but we can make this house a home for the four of us.”
Martha smiled, extended her hand to Michael, and said, “You are very fortunate, Michael. The house was just recently reduced to $199,999.00. Congratulations!”
Arianna started to cry as she hugged Michael and said, “I can’t believe it, Michael. Oh, my God. We’ve got a house! Martha, how can we ever thank you?”
“You can thank me by doing two things: first, keeping your promises as discussed, and secondly, always being open-minded and welcoming visitors into this home with open arms. That’s all you need to do,” Martha responded.
They both looked at Martha and readily agreed to her conditions. Michael and Arianna could not believe their luck. They talked with Martha about the closing details and the down payment. Martha called her attorney and asked him to prepare for a closing date that would take place on April 10th. Everything seemed to be in order for the sale of the house at 148 Festive Lane.
Michael, Arianna, and David left and walked back to their car less than an hour later. Martha waved goodbye to them from the front door. She stopped short as she closed the door and peeked out to watch the family. She saw Michael hug his wife so hard that she pushed him away not to hurt the baby. He was very excited as he walked up and down the front sidewalk and smiled at the house that would soon be theirs forever.
Martha smiled to herself and shut the door completely. She walked back toward the kitchen but stopped in the middle of the dining room. She looked up at the ceiling and said aloud, “I did it, Father.”