Yael and the Grumpy Neighbor
Mr. Petrosky was the grumpiest man in a space station orbiting a distant planet. He never smiled. He yelled at kids who stepped on his lawn. His curtains were always drawn, and his mailbox was rusty. Everyone avoided him. Everyone except Yael.
It started when Yael noticed that Mr. Petrosky's newspaper sat on his porch until noon every day. That seemed odd for a man who got up at dawn — Yael could hear him coughing through the walls. One morning, Yael picked up the paper and knocked on the door.
Mr. Petrosky opened it a crack. "What do you want?" he growled. "I brought your newspaper," Yael said. "I figured maybe it's hard to bend down for it." The crack in the door widened slightly. "Hmph," said Mr. Petrosky. But he took the paper.
Yael came back the next day. And the next. Sometimes they brought cookies Mom had baked. Sometimes they just said good morning. Mr. Petrosky's "Hmph" gradually softened to a grunt, then a nod, then — after three weeks — an actual "Thank you."
One Saturday, Mr. Petrosky opened the door before Yael even knocked. "I made tea," he said gruffly, as if admitting to a crime. "Do you want some?" Inside, Yael discovered walls covered with beautiful oil paintings — landscapes, portraits, sunsets. "You painted these?" Yael gasped. Mr. Petrosky shrugged. "Used to. Before my wife passed. Haven't picked up a brush in five years."
By summer's end, Mr. Petrosky was painting again. His curtains were open. He waved at kids on the sidewalk. And every Saturday morning, he and Yael had tea and talked about art, and life, and how sometimes the loneliest people just need one person to knock on their door.
Talk about it
Yael saw what Mr. Petrosky needed and showed up, again and again.
Three questions for lights-out
- Why do you think Mr. Petrosky didn't pick up his newspaper himself?
- What do you notice changed about Mr. Petrosky by the end of the story?
- Have you ever helped someone feel less lonely, like Yael did?
Words worth knowing
- grumpy
- sad or angry on the outside, doesn't smile much
- orbit
- to travel in a circle around something, like the space station going around a planet
- gruffly
- speaking in a rough, unfriendly way even if you don't really mean it
- landscapes
- paintings or pictures of nature, like mountains, trees, and skies
- loneliest
- feeling the most sad and alone, with nobody to talk to
Is Mr. Petrosky really mean, or just sad?
He's lonely and hurting from losing his wife. Sometimes sadness comes out as grumpiness. Yael understood that and didn't give up on him.
Why does the story have a space station in it?
The space station makes it feel like a new world, but the real story is about something timeless: one person caring enough to show up for another.