Neighbours

                                by Tim Wi

The story presents the life in multilingual and multicultural neighborhood. It presents cultural and linguistic barriers cannot stop someone from love and compassion.

The young couple was anxious about the neighborhood when they migrated to new land. They feel like they were temporary dwellers of the place. The place was full of European migrants. Thought their house was small it was spacious enough for them. They planted the tree and kept a sheepdog.

They had lived in the place where they hardly saw good neighbors. The next-door neighbor, Macedonian family used to make unnecessary noise. Later, the couple realized that they were talking with each other.

The polish man used to hammer the nail throughout the day to pull them out again.  He wanted to repair the salvaged lumber. They was not relations to their neighbors. The husbands find their disapproval being stayed at home to write his thesis and the wife going to work. He disliked the neighbors’ boy urinating in the street. The boy was caught spraying the cat and shaved regularly, probably for, getting thick hair grow.  The husband used to be nervous looking the boy’s slivery white eyes.

In autumn, they cleared the yard and planted onion, cabbage. The neighbors came near and advised them about plantation. They even gave the sapling and seeds for plantation. They made a coop for hen. The polish widower mended it as he saw it fall down.

In the winter season, the couple slowly had a cardinal relation with their neighbors. They received many presents. They slowly adjusted in the society. They can walk proudly. They were taught many domestic chores.

The future planning of the family they have not made yet. However, the wife became pregnant and decided to take maternity leave. The couple was and in rest and felt like being disturbed by the sound, the polish widower made. They thought it was deliberately done.  Gradually the neighbors knew the news of pregnancy. They turned with presents. They even helped them to get the name of the baby. One of the neighbors, the Italian woman declared that there would be a boy baby. The young woman became so happy, as she noticed their care and help.  Finally the time of waited arrived, the day of pregnancy. The neighbors were standing at the fence. They were there to express their best wishes.

Analysis of the story:

The plot structure of the story is straight forwards. It presents the transition of individuals in new places and social context. It confronts individual stereotypes through exploring the multicultural context. The characters do not have proper name that presents the the differences in between individuals in cultural differences. It creates the challenges questioning question their individual perspective upon society's moral truths and forces the revaluation of the values of social friendship. It puts the insights to individuals to reconsider their upheld values in the social context in which they are placed.