NEIGHBOURS

It was months of stress and heartbreak and phone calls, but finally it was over and you’d moved into your new house at No. 12, the house that you hoped would be your forever home.
Over a week, the boxes empty and the shelves and the cupboards filled, and it started to look like you had seen it in your dreams. You were exhausted though, by the move, by the unpacking, and at the end of the week you took some time out just to rest because you were that tired you kept seeing flickering in your peripheral vision, and once thought you heard someone talking, even though you were the only person there.
At the end of the week, the doorbell rang and when you opened the door a man was standing there, who looked surprised to see you.
“Hi,” you said.

“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t think - I was looking for 12a.”
“This is number 12,” you said. “I…” You look left and right. “I’ve only been here a few days, so I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t a 12a. Look, if you step back you can see that next door that way is 10, and that way 14, and over the road they’re all odds, so…”
The man frowned, but at himself, not at you. “I mustn’t have my directions right. I’ll try again. Sorry.”
You tell him it’s not a problem, and close the door and go back to what you were doing.
A few days later your doorbell rings again, and when you open it there’s a middle-aged woman there, looking anxious.
“Hi,” you say, worried that something’s up.
“No, it’s definitely here,” the woman said. “Why won’t you let me in?”
“I’m really sorry,” you say, because you’re polite and kind. “But this is definitely number 12. Look, there’s the number on the wall. There’s no 12a. I think there must be some kind of mix-up or misprinted map, because you’re not the first…”
She wasn’t the first, and neither will she be the last.
There is a number 12a, and it occupies exactly the same place and time as your house. Sometimes people will forget their way there, and will call at your door. Be kind to them, explain that they have just missed the way, and they need to read their directions again.
You’ll never stop seeing the flickers again, in your peripheral vision, but you’ll get used to them. Think of them as your very near neighbours.