Free A Modern Day Sense and Sensibility: An Adaptation of Jane Austen's Classic by Kaitlin Saunders

Marianne was ready to compare to the “projects.”
    “Hello there!” a voice startled them from behind.
    Turning quickly, they saw an elderly woman peering at them from behind the manager’s door. They watched as she quickly turned back to speak with someone inside, and then a moment later, a man in his early sixties joined the woman. His eyes lit up with recognition at the sight of Diane.
    “Diane!” he exclaimed.
    “Don?” Diane questioned, looking to Ellie with confusion. Ellie shrugged. She had never met her mother’s cousin and couldn’t confirm whether the man was Don or not. All Diane could surmise was that if it was indeed her cousin, Don Middleton, he was barely recognizable—but then again, she hadn’t seen him in over twenty years.
    The elderly pair emerged from the manager’s building and hurried across the lawn toward Diane and her daughters who were still glued to the cement next to their vehicle.
    “Oh! My! Mr. Middleton!” the elderly woman exclaimed, “You never mentioned how beautiful the girls were!”
    “This is my mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings,” Mr. Middleton explained. “Mrs. Jennings, my cousin, Diane Dashwood, and her three daughters.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” Diane replied, smiling as she shook the outgoing woman’s hand. “This is Ellie, Marianne, and Margaret.”
    The girls smiled and as Mrs. Jennings began to chatter away, Ellie took the opportunity to observe the odd pair.
    Mr. Middleton was a thin man with light silvery hair which Ellie couldn’t help but notice was a little greasy-looking. Next to him stood Mrs. Jennings, who, in her late seventies, had short, curly hair of alabaster white and wore large “bug-eye” glasses. She was sporting a multi-colored moo-moo which she thought disguised her large, womanly figure.
    “I bet you’re all exhausted!” Mrs. Jennings observed, “Mr. Middleton, will you lead the way?”
    “Come on! Come on!” Mr. Middleton tried to rouse some excitement from them as he turned to guide themto the apartment. “I’ll introduce you to your new home!” he winked at Margaret conspiratorially as she kept up with him.
    Mrs. Jennings joined his enthusiasm by pointing out every detail along the way. She was a bundle of excitement at having such lovely ladies move in within such close proximity to her. Life was no doubt rather dull and uneventful with only her son-in-law to keep her company.
    As they neared apartment 4J, Mr. Middleton unclipped the large ring of keys from his belt loop and began to fumble for the correct one to open the door. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said while placing the key in the lock, “but when some of your items arrived I took the liberty of placing them inside for you.”
    He opened the door, revealing a dimly lit, forlorn apartment filled with the boxes and mattresses Mr. Middleton had been referring to. What little carpet they could see underneath the mess was outdated, and the kitchen contained vintage countertops and cabinets. As they walked inside, Marianne darted ahead to explore the whole apartment, which didn’t take long—from the doorway you could see the dinette, kitchen and living room all at once.
    “This apartment’s been vacant for a year now,” began Mrs. Jennings as she attempted to lift their gloomy faces. “It has two bedrooms and one bath. I do hope you’ll like it.”
    Diane turned to her and saw the hope etched on the elderly woman’s face. Trying her hardest to hide the disappointment welling up inside her, she answered, “We are so grateful.” It was all she could think of to say.
    Marianne came out from the bedroom she would soon be sharing with Ellie and glanced to Diane, the dismay unashamedly apparent on her face. In an attempt to soften its effect, Diane walked to Mr. Middleton and Mrs. Jennings and took their hands. “We really can’t thank you enough,” she tried to reassure.
    Mr. Middleton and Mrs. Jennings smiled, feeling placated.
    After nearly an hour of