New Neighbors (Short Story)

[Mythykinz]

. . .
Matthew had been watering his garden like usual and humming a little tune. Suddenly, a door slammed and he heard a quiet voice say "Oops!". He looked up to see a beautiful white-and-black Border Collie coming out of the house next to him. The previous owners had moved out only a week ago and he was surprised to see anyone so soon.
She was wearing a ruffly pink dress with a matching flower on her ear and her bracelets jingled a little as she trotted across the grass. She didn't notice him at first, but she looked around the yard as if searching for something and noticed him staring at her. Whoops! He hadn't meant to stare.
"Hello," Matthew called cheerily. "You must be my new neighbor."
The girl was slightly surprised but then smiled. "I guess I am! Have you lived here long?" she asked.
"Yes, about five years." Matthew answered.
She nodded. "I'm Irene, by the way."
"I'm Matthew."
There was a short pause as neither one of them knew what to say next.
"What were you looking for?" Matthew asked curiously, hoping to be helpful.
"A place to take a good picture... I want to tell my followers about my new house." Irene answered, looking around her small yard again. Matthew didn't understand that at all. He didn't have any social media and barely even used the internet; but he knew that everyone has different hobbies and he was okay if that was what she liked (even if he thought it was a little weird). She turned back to him. "What are you doing?" she asked suddenly.
"I just got this new Kimberly Queen fern yesterday. I'm so excited about it. I've been wanting one for months! Isn't it cool?" he said and held it up for her to see.
Irene laughed. "If you like that sort of thing." She didn't want to hurt his feelings so she added quickly; "It's one of the nicest ferns I've ever seen."
"Thank you." Matthew smiled happily. He didn't mind that she didn't like plants as much as he did.
"Well, it was nice meeting you! I hope you have a good day." Irene smiled and then turned to go.
"Wait!" Matthew said suddenly. Irene stopped. "Um..." he started nervously. "I have some coupons to the new restaurant down the street. Would you maybe like to go with me sometime? I heard they have a great Caesar salad!" he added, ending with a grin.
Irene smiled. "Yeah, that'd be nice." she replied kindly. After a short pause, she looked up at him again. "Hey, would you like to take a picture with me?"
. . .