Gary was a lonely man. He lived by himself in his large cottage that he had built years ago. Gary had come to live in this small village, hoping to start a new life. 

    The neighbors had heard Gary was moving here, and they were excited. 

    "He must be nice," one neighbor said.

 "Yes," said another. The neighbors decided they would bake cookies for Gary to welcome him to the town. They baked the freshest, most delicious cookies that had ever been made. 

    One day, Gary heard a knock on the door. "Hello," he said. But the neighbors dropped their cookies and ran away.  Gary stood there, wondering what had happened. And from that day on, he was known as Hairy Gary.

    After Hairy Gary had moved there, Kally, the town bully, started to boss around all of the other kids.

    "Listen to me!" she would say. The kids did what she said, and that day, she ordered them to go find Hairy Gary. They showed up at Hairy Gary's doorstep.

    "Hello kids," he said kindly to them with a wave. Kally was perplexed.

    "Don't you know who I am?" she yelled, "I always speak first." But after taking a closer look at him, Kally screamed, "Ah! He's a monster, run!"

    Word of Hairy Gary spread throughout the village like a virus. Children were hiding because of what they heard. What was so wrong with Hairy Gary?

    "Sweetie, it's okay," one mom told her kid after being frightened by the stories of Hairy Gary.

    All of the townspeople stayed away from the street that he lived on. But Hairy Gary kept trying. 

    Hairy Gary did everything he could to make the other neighbors like him. But nothing worked. He dressed like the neighbors, gave notes to the neighbors, and even tried to have conversations with the neighbors. 

    Nothing Hairy Gary did helped him fit in. Soon, he started to accept his fate. No one would ever like him.

    Hairy Gary sat alone in his cottage, the lights grew dim, and dark clouds formed over Hairy Gary's house. Crash! Boom! Rain poured down in his yard, and Hairy Gary couldn't stop thinking that he was going to be alone forever. 

    The neighbors were relieved that Hairy Gary hadn't come out of his house for a while, and they had no regrets about what they did to him. 

    "His hair! Oh, his hair was terrible," said Kally, "He looked like he was a monster. That's why we call him Hairy Gary."

     Katrina and her mom were just moving to the neighborhood, and just like Hairy Gary, they were welcomed with cookies. Katrina was 6 years old, and her mom had always longed to have a candy shop. So, they moved to this small village, to give children the candy of their dreams.

    Katrina quickly made friends with other kids in the neighborhood, and they liked her even more when she showed them her mom's candy shop.

    "I didn't know you had a candy shop!" Elena exclaimed. Katrina handed Elena her favorite peppermints. "Let's go for a walk through the town," Elena offered, "I can show you around."

    The girls headed off through the neighborhood, seeing the sights of the village.