In that quarter fences were substituted by groomed hedges, weekly-cut lawns were of emerald green, gardens were spotted with swimming pools of various shapes and sizes, two-storey houses were repainted frequently and the general aura of modest richness was felt every-where. Families living there were raising two or three kids, with caring mothers introducing their daughters to household tricks, while fathers went on to instruct their sons about the chal-lenges of manhood so they could set fire to the grill or chase cars from a rather early age, and even change tyres with the minimum of efforts. Saturday nights found the teenagers heading for a disco, while adults went over for a grill session with the neighbours.

In that quarter we had little to do, since those who were living there were keen to see the law being abode – they even kept a watch for themselves, informing all aliens about it with a tri-angular sign, which depicted a jovial policeman, supporting old ladies, gents and infants, un-der which the epithet ‘Neighbourhood watch’ was printed. Car thieves, burglars, sneakers and flashers avoided the neighbourhood, while in-house violation of the law was strictly kept in-the-house, with adults looking in the other direction while their offsprings were delirious from drugs at times, and with offsprings keeping questions to themselves as why their parents were fluttered for most of the times.

This place was a fairly functional model of what we call society. The male horde was working like dogs on their careers to buy whatever TV commercials depicted as essentials and to rest at ease over the weekend. Females were waiting for loved ones all day long, and once all was septic clean, adequately fried or smoothly flavoured they sat by the pool with their favourite female magazines, seeking for the right answers for their most pressing concerns about life, family, love, sex and harmony.

The surface was bright though shallow, with certain depths of silence.

No two people living there was the same, but, since their education induced them to be con-formists, they constantly raped their ego, which was always on the look to break free. This caused a number of mostly invisible conflicts, which were busily healed and doctored by soul-searching books. Some of these books went as far in unorthodoxy as stating ‘Be who you are!’

‘I would, if I could, but circumstances do not allow’ sighed mothers and teenaging bodies to the walls of their rooms – men were less preoccupied with such thoughts since they concen-trated more on money-making.

So the devil was not completely asleep even there, and his insomnia kept him tinkering with new treacheries. From time to time he managed to spark some unusual episodes, which gave ground for rumours for the locals for weeks. Sometimes a husband packed up and left with set determination, his chest filled with grand hopes and his taboos shed for his secretary; some-times a respectable wife parted with her syrupy happiness and set sail on an endless limousine of some greasy-haired pop star; sometimes a teenage girl just never came back, enlightened to be living in a Spartan commune on rat and water; and sometimes drug pastilles convinced bright guys that speed is what makes one macho – just to end up with his remains fitting in a jug.

Even police took some at certain times, to be followed immediately by TV crews, who kept asking the neighbours why they did not realise that their next-door was so weird and carried a black rubbish bag to a freshly dug pit at each full moon. Once a figure appeared out of thin air, commanding an otherwise gentleman to liquidate his offsprings, since God-knows-which of them was the Antichrist itself. The visited man posted colourful signs about the upcoming day of his cleaning mission within the Satan-infected precinct. His mind is being treated now, and he is expected to recover soon.

A self-proclaimed 300-year-old veteran, conserved in alcohol and resembling a prune has been telling and retelling the history of the neighbourhood in various boozers. His favourite memories were of those ages when time had flown by in a more relaxed manner and seasons changed in a more disciplined way – winter brought snow, spring brought singing birds, peo-ple were riding carriages, womenfolk were baking bread at home, while men folk hailed or downed rulers, and the bookshop was the centre of social life, while apothecaries were shielded with the herbal know-how for all sickness. Sweet summer nights found comedians comedying in the park, while the small folk was enchanted by the singing carousel and with all the magnificent, sheepish carousel horses neighing longingly at pitch black, birdsung mid-nights.