The next morning, after a long sleep, Mr. Someone rolled out of bed to find the whole house still fast asleep. His two oldest sons were definitely studying from home today, which explained why they hadn’t left for school. His younger daughter and son had, as usual, fallen asleep in front of the TV in the living room. However, his three school-aged daughters were nowhere to be found—they must have woken up bright and early, like little angels, and headed off to their classes. As for Mrs. Someone, she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.
Mr. Someone thought to himself, “I’d better brew our usual coffee with cloves and cocoa, sit down, and watch the daily painting show on TV. I’ll turn the volume way up to wake everyone.”
He picked up his little boy, tucked him into his bed, switched the TV—which had been left on since last night—to the painting tutorial channel, and cranked up the volume. But their house was far too massive for anyone to be woken up by that; even their own bedroom, which was closest to the living room, was still a vast distance from the TV. Eventually, Mrs. Someone dragged herself out of bed.
– “Where’s my coffee?” she asked.
– “I left some for you in the pot,” Mr. Someone replied.
Still in her pajamas, her messy brown hair wildly out of place, Mrs. Someone reheated the now-cold coffee, poured it into a mug, sat beside Mr. Someone, and asked:
– “What’s your plan for today?”
– “It’s a happy one!” Mr. Someone replied with a smile on his face.
It was obvious he had absolutely no plan. So, Mrs. Someone said:
– “Once the nanny arrives, let’s head to the neighboring farm. Since we’re without a car for a few days, we can rent two horses and go shopping.”
“Nowhere Land” was not a big city, and almost everyone knew each other. Whenever an outsider arrived, they stuck out like a sore thumb. On their way back that day, Mr. Someone’s eyes caught a massive car—sleek, modern, and clearly highly advanced. As they drew closer, he realized the woman driving was not from around here. With sheer excitement and a giant grin, Mrs. Someone stretched her arms to the sky and waved enthusiastically at the driver.
– “Do you know her?” Mr. Someone asked.
– “Yes, they’re the folks from ‘Beyond the Hill.’ Her, her husband, and their teenage son,” she replied.
– “Oh? That’s great! A new friend for the kids. Do they only have one child?”
– “Yeah, they aren’t like us! Plus, they don’t actually live here. They bought a summer villa to relax in during the nice seasons. One of the local ladies invited her over, and ‘Mrs. Beyond-the-Hill’ replied, ‘Sorry, we are incredibly busy; we only have free time on weekends, and even then, not always.’“
This was highly bizarre to the residents of Nowhere Land, as they always had time for one another and were never too busy to gather. Mrs. Someone continued:
– “Did you see their car?”
– “Yeah, it practically blocked the entire street.”
– “If we had one of those, we wouldn’t have to drag ourselves around on buses anymore just because the kids can’t fit into a normal car.”
– “Yeah, that’d be great. We could go on road trips in it—comfortable and hassle-free.”
– “Oh, that’s nothing! You should see their house,” Mrs. Someone added. “The neighborhood ladies say they have a massive wall-mounted TV and a pool with blue floor tiles. Their son carries around a giant tablet, and Mr. Beyond-the-Hill always wears a suit.”
– “Strange that they don’t want to socialize much, isn’t it?”
– “No, they’re not like that. They’re actually very hospitable people, but they work through the week—even when they’re on vacation! That’s why they only show up on weekends.”
– “Ah, I see. Well, let’s arrange to meet them this weekend.”
– “Sure! I’d love to see how these ‘Beyond-the-Hill’ folks live.”
As Mr. and Mrs. Someone were unloading the groceries from the horse’s saddlebags, they saw their daughters returning from school. They called them over to help carry the bags into the kitchen. When they opened the front door, the boys and the two youngest kids ran over, asking:
– “What did you buy?” (meaning, did they get any chocolate).
That same day, Mrs. Someone took a homemade cake—which the nanny had baked, though Mrs. Someone hadn’t let anyone else touch it—and walked over to the Beyond-the-Hills’ front door, which was quite a distance away, requiring her to take a bus. She knocked, held out the cake with a warm smile, and said joyfully:
– “Hello! Welcome to our town. I’m Mrs. Someone, your neighbor from next to the farm. I’d love for us to get together sometime if you’re free, and have you meet our family.”
Mr. Beyond-the-Hill, completely taken aback because he wasn’t used to such spontaneous friendliness, stammered:
– “Oh… yes, yes, absolutely! Make yourself at home here. We’d be delighted to see you whenever you have time. How about this weekend?”
– “Wonderful, we will come over and trouble you then!” Mrs. Someone replied, grabbing the opportunity (meaning, they would visit them).
She returned home thrilled and announced to the kids and Mr. Someone that they were invited to the Beyond-the-Hills’ house this weekend. She immediately went to her wardrobe and pulled out a few polka-dot skirts—not that she had many, and they were all quite faded, though clean and neatly ironed. She held them up against herself in front of the mirror, excitedly trying them on one by one.
Mr. Someone didn’t mind either; he had exactly one suit, which was clean, though he hadn’t worn it in years. As for the kids, the local tailor had sewn matching denim shorts for the boys from a single roll of fabric, along with cream-colored collared shirts in various sizes. The girls had previously insisted on buying a set of New Year dresses from the clothing store; they were practically the same style with only minor pattern differences.
When the weekend arrived, they all boarded the bus together and got off on the other side of town, near the villa. Mr. and Mrs. Someone carried the two youngest kids to subtly signal to the bus driver that these two didn’t need tickets. So, Mr. Someone paid the fare for himself, his wife, and five of the children. The driver couldn’t have cared less; he didn’t even look to count how many boarded, just smiled, shut the doors, and drove off.
Before reaching the villa, Mrs. Someone turned to the kids and warned them:
– “Behave like civilized humans! They are classy people, and you shouldn’t touch anything without permission. You will all greet them politely and sit nicely on the sofa until the party is over.”
The children, clearly not listening, just nodded and kept walking. At the front door, Mrs. Someone smoothed her hair, checked herself in a small pocket mirror, brushed a speck of dust off Mr. Someone’s suit, and tightened his tie. She lined the kids up in a neat row, patted down their messy hair, and knocked on the door with her signature wide grin.
A few moments later, Mrs. Beyond-the-Hill—a tall, slender woman in casual loungewear and slightly messy hair—opened the door. At first, she looked shocked, wondering if this small army was indeed Mrs. Someone’s family or if they were there for some other business. Mrs. Someone instantly greeted her with her huge smile:
– “Hellooo! I’m Mrs. Someone, and this is Mr. Someone.”
– “Please, come inside,” Mrs. Beyond-the-Hill offered with a gentle smile, not expecting such a crowd.
Mr. and Mrs. Someone, each carrying a child with five more in tow behind them, shook hands and stepped into the yard that led up to the villa. Mr. Beyond-the-Hill, completely startled by the sight, welcomed them in simple, everyday home clothes.
This visit was initially planned just to catch a glimpse of how big-city folks lived, but the children quickly befriended the Beyond-the-Hills’ son. They had a blast in the yard, enjoying the outdoor play equipment, sports gear, and video games, secretly wishing they could come play here every single day.
Contrary to expectations, Mr. and Mrs. Beyond-the-Hill dressed very simply and weren’t trying to show off at all. Yet, Mrs. Someone’s eyes caught so many wondrous things that she had never even seen before. After some light refreshments, Mr. Someone broke the ice by asking about Mr. Beyond-the-Hill’s job. When Mr. Someone described his own laid-back work style, Mr. Beyond-the-Hill was stunned—wondering how anyone could have so much free time and still support such a massive family! You see, Mr. Beyond-the-Hill, like many of you, is used to waking up at 6:30 AM every day and working 8 to 12 hours until evening, not to mention his wife, who works nearly as much throughout the week.
After a few hours, Mr. and Mrs. Someone said their goodbyes. They dragged away two of their kids, who had soaked themselves in the pool, and carried another under their arm as they headed to catch the bus back home.
On the ride back, inside the bus, Mrs. Someone turned to her husband:
– “How was it?”
– “I loved it,” Mr. Someone said. “A truly luxurious and wonderful life.”
– “Do you think they disrespected us by dressing so casually?”
– “Not at all. People from the city are always like that. We were the ones who overdressed for a simple get-together.”
– “It feels like we’re living a hundred years behind them,” she sighed.
– “How so?”
– “Their car, their TV, their house… and that sofa where all of us could easily sit together!“
– “We have all of those things too.”
– “Yes, but none of them can fit us!“
– “But our house is bigger.”
– “Are you seriously comparing our house to their summer villa?”
– “So What?”
– “For starters, you need to get a bigger car so we don’t have to suffer on the bus like this.”
– “I asked Mr. Beyond-the-Hill; that car is incredibly expensive.”
– “Well, then take fewer vacation days.”
– “Alright, let’s see. I suppose I’ll have to start working fixed hours every week so we can buy one.”
– “Yes, that would be amazing!”
– “And we should buy one of those sofas too.”
– “Oh, it was so comfortable. What else?“
– “A lot of things…”
Mr. and Mrs. Someone fell deep into thought, planning changes, and spent the entire ride home talking about it. When they arrived, the nanny—who had breathed a massive sigh of relief during their absence—welcomed them back, tucked the kids in, and left. This day, which counted as an incredibly busy one for this otherwise carefree family, ended with a few minutes of reading in bed.
