Jenny dreamed of trains

Chapter 1 - Dan moves next door

Jenny was 7 years old. She lived with her grandma in a prim little cottage just outside town. She was a darling little thing, and if you asked her what she liked best, she’d say, “Chocolates, cheese cakes and bunny rabbits”. Jenny didn’t have any brothers or sisters and she wasn’t allowed to keep a real rabbit so she made do with a stuffed rabbit called Buttons whom she carried just about everywhere.

One evening, as she was playing with Buttons in the yard, a big truck stopped right in front of the house next door and a bunch of people started carrying boxes and furniture into the house. “Looks like new neighbours are moving in,” said granny when Jenny told her about it at dinner.

“Perhaps they’ll have a dog that I can play with,” thought Jenny to herself as she went to bed that night, “Or a kitten. Or a rabbit! Ooh, I so love rabbits”. That night, she dreamt of rabbits playing with her in her backyard.

She had school the following day and when she returned, she found a small boy about her age, peeping through a break in the hedge that ran between the houses. “Hi there,” said Jenny, “Are you new here? I’m Jenny. What’s your name?”

“I’m Dan,” went the boy a little shyly.