The New Kid in Town

On his morning walk through Odyssey, John Avery Whittaker - Whit to everyone in town - discovers moving boxes piled in the driveway of the old McKay house. The McKays, it turns out, have moved away, and a friendly newcomer named Larry Walker has taken their place. Larry explains that he and his wife, Colleen, run a public relations company and have come to handle fundraising for Odyssey Community College. Their work keeps the family on the move, packing up every two or three years to go wherever the jobs are. As Whit pitches in with the boxes, the two men swap stories: Whit came to Odyssey seventeen years ago from Chicago, where he worked as an encyclopedia researcher, and his beloved wife Jenny passed away nine years back.

The friendly conversation is interrupted by a commotion. The Walkers' thirteen-year-old daughter, Shawn, has missed the school bus again - the fourth time that week. Colleen urges her to ride the bus and meet new friends, reminding her that if you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend, but Shawn snaps that she has heard that speech before. Rushing off to school, she barrels right into Whit without so much as a kind word. Her embarrassed parents explain that Shawn is a lovely, talented girl who sings and paints, but all the moving has worn her down. Every time she puts down roots, the family pulls up and leaves, so she has built a wall to keep from getting hurt. Whit agrees that no one can force her to make friends - but maybe someone can make it a little easier.

At school, things are no better. A classmate returns a math paper Shawn left behind, then hurries off to join his own friends, and Shawn is left imagining how much friendlier the moment might have been. Walking home alone with math homework in hand, she is stopped by a white-haired gentleman asking directions to a place called Whit's End. Shawn apologizes for her rudeness that morning and agrees to walk with him. He introduces himself simply as John, and to her surprise, the conversation flows easily. He teaches her the word "fortnight" and tells her about his boyhood in Scotland. She opens up about the many places she has lived - Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and her favorite, Crater Lake in Oregon - and discovers they both love to paint. Still, she admits that living out of the back seat of a car gets lonely, and that it would be nice to have more than a picture to remember a place by.

When they reach Whit's End, Shawn hangs back. Everyone comes there to talk, she says, and she is sure no one will talk to her - nobody ever talks to the new kid, and she is always the new kid. John points out that the two of them, complete strangers, have just had a fine conversation. Then an employee steps out with a phone message for "Mr. Whittaker," and the secret is out: her walking companion owns Whit's End and never needed directions at all. Stung, Shawn demands to know whether her parents put him up to it. Whit assures her no one did - he simply wanted to get to know her, and now that he has, he agrees with her parents that she is a really interesting person. Making friends is a risk every time, he tells her, and sometimes people let you down, but that beats counting yourself a loser before you start. When Shawn protests that the other kids are the ones who won't take the risk, Whit concedes the point: "Sometimes you gotta give a gentle little nudge." He admits with a twinkle that the best way to help her was to let her think she was helping him.

Right on cue, Roger - the very classmate who returned her math paper - arrives at Whit's End. Before Whit can even finish the introduction, Shawn greets him herself, confesses she missed the lesson on fractions, and asks if she could borrow his notes. The two head inside together, and Whit smiles: "Learns quick, doesn't she?" Left on the sidewalk, he reflects that for some folks, like Shawn, Odyssey is a start; for others, a finish; and for everyone, at least a stopping-off place - and that is a big part of what makes it so special.