First and Foremost

So, I will try to keep these posts short and sweet because I know the more I have to read, the more I skim. And I want you to fully enjoy your experience here.
And so it begins...

April 2007.
I am living with my parents. We live in a moderate neighborhood in Nassau County. The neighborhood is quiet and low key. If you see 2 people walking their dogs at the same time, it's considered traffic. We've live here for over 15 years and the neighborhood hasn't changed much aside from the kids have all grown up and moved on.
Then the people across the street from us move. Their kids went to my high school, and they are gone, so the parents decide to move to their vacation home in Florida.
This makes my dad sad, he and Al used to talk about cars alot.
New people move in across the street.
They seem nice enough, very quiet and most definetly keeping to themselves. This is fine by me, since I can't stand anyone who is having more fun than I am :)
There is a father, a mother, their grown son and his wife. They move in while I am at work, so I guess it's rather quick.

My dad is relatively prejudiced, though he hides it well in mixed company. He sees that they are Korean and immediately begins on tirades of neighborhood cats going missing. Oh dad! He is hysterically funny, if not offensive at times.

Over the next week, they begin their pattern. They leave extremely early for the city where they have a dry cleaning business and don't come home until much later in the evening.
At the end of the week, I come home to the father putting up a blue and red fence. Something that looks like a gate to a horse pen. I haven't a clue why they are putting it up, and why one so gawdy but whatever it's their house.

Then we hear it.

At around 11p.m. the family is still not home, but there is an unmistakeable whining coming from their house. In my pjs, with the family dog Mackenna at my side, I go outside to see what's going on. I see him. A white and tan cocker spaniel sitting at the fence making this distressful whining sound. I guess they have a doggy door or something and he got lonely inside.
So, Mack and I head back inside.
I tell my mom about the dog, she agrees that he's probably just lonely in that house.
(We both have soft spots for cockers though, ever since our first dog Chuckles who was the sweetest, cuddlebug girl. )
Soon enough the cars pull in, and we are sure he'll be ok for the night.