Neighbors

Tori walked outside and blinked rapidly when the sun hit her eyes.  She took a deep breath and glanced around her yard.  Ever since Covid-19 had shut down everything a few months ago, she had been working indoors.  Therefore, she had been stuck indoors most of the time, and she finally got a day off.  Tori’s eyes fell on her garden, now overran with weeds.  She cringed at the sight and sighed, “Well, I know what I’m doing today.”  Tori went back inside and snagged her gardening equipment.  She stood in front of her weed-infested garden and glared at it.  “You think you can take over my garden and get away with it?  Behold, weeds, your impending doom!”  She grasped her rake menacingly as she said it.  The weeds, of course, said nothing.  Tori immediately felt a little foolish for saying that out loud and quickly glanced around to make sure that nobody was around.  To her relief, there was no one in sight.

She knelt down and began to work.  After an hour, she stopped for a moment to rest.  As Tori looked up, she saw Mr. Jamin and his dogs walking across the street.  She smiled and waved at the elderly man, as she called, “Hi, Pete!  How are you doing today?”  Pete turned her way and smiled, then crossed the street, and leaned on her fence.  “I’m feeling pretty good today.  How about you?”  Tori stood up, brushed the dirt off her gloves, and replied, “I’m doing fine.  May I?”  She gestured toward the dogs.  He grinned and nodded.  Tori patted the dogs and commented, “I see that you have gotten a new dog during the whole Covid-19 thing.  What’s her name?”  His smile grew bigger as he said, “Her name is Leena.”

Tori froze, a smile tugging at lips, and for a moment, she didn’t know whether to collapse in laughter or die from horror.  She cleared her throat and said in a choked voice, “Uh, I’m sorry, what did you name your dog?”  “I named her Leena.”  “You named the dog after the crazy dog lady?”  “Yep.”  Tori did not dare speak for fear that she would die from laughter.  She leaned on the fence, shaking with suppressed laughter.  At that moment, Mrs. Lin came outside, and noticed Pete and Terry.  “Hello Pete.  Hello Tori… what’s wrong?  Why are you crying?”  Tori gasped, tears running down her face, and replied in a choked voice, “Ask Pete what he named his dog.”  When Mrs. Lin heard what Pete named his dog, there was dead silence.  Tori could no longer contain herself and began to howl with laughter.

Mrs. Lin was a little shocked, but she and Pete joined in laughing.  “You shouldn’t have done that,”  Tori said, wiping the tears off her face.  Pete said, still chuckling, “You should have seen her face when I called that dog in for the first time.  Her face turned purple.”  Tori couldn’t help but laugh harder at that.  “You know, that’s probably not really funny for her, though.” Tori glanced at Ms. Leena’s house, and chuckled helplessly.  “I hope she didn’t hear us,” she added.  Mrs. Lin groaned, “You know how many times Ms. Leena called Animal Protection Agency on me, because I have an outdoor dog.  She literally has sicked Animal Protection Agency on you, Pete, and other neighbors.  The trouble is, she doesn’t have a shred of evidence that we are abusing our dogs.”  Tori nodded her head in agreement and commented, “I’ve been praying that this nonsense would stop.”  “Well, He’d better hurry, because I’m about fed up with Ms. Leena calling Animal Protection Agency on me and my husband!”  Mrs. Lin snapped back.  Tori shrugged, “Maybe God will soften her heart and make her not so bitter.  I’m sure that there is a reason why she’s being so nasty to people.”

A few days later, she saw Pete.  “Hi Pete, how’s your day going?”  His back was turned away from her, and when he heard her, he turned around, and strode toward her.  His face was red, and Tori could almost see smoke coming from his ears.  “What’s wrong, Pete?”  “Ms. Leena salted my lawn this morning.  I caught her right in the act.  Unfortunately, by the time I had caught her, she had salted almost my entire lawn!”  Tori’s mouth dropped open in shock and she gasped, “But, why in the world did she do that for?  Did she do it because you named the dog after her?”  “I suspect so.”  Tori was furious!  Her ears and cheeks turned bright red.  Why, she thought angrily, would she do such a mean and underhanded thing like that to such a nice elderly man.  Anger about the deed and pity compelled her to ask, “Did she get your beautiful flower garden too?”  “Yep.”  “Did you call the authorities?”  “I called the authorities immediately when I caught her.”  “So what are you going to do?”  “I talked with some other neighbors, and they agreed with what I was thinking.  Everyone is completely fed up with her calling Animal Protection Agency on them, and now she has purposefully destroyed property, specifically land.  So I decided to press charges against her.”  Tori nodded in agreement, and said, “Well, I wish you the best of luck on this.  I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to get back to work.  Goodbye.”  Tori went back inside.

A week later, Tori was working again on her garden.  “These weeds,” she grumbled, “seem to never stop growing.”  “Howdy,” called a voice, breaking her concentration on the destruction of vegetation.  Tori looked up, and saw Pete.  “Why, hi, Pete, didn’t see you there.  How are you doing?”  “Better than the last time I talked to you.”  Tori rubbed her hands together, trying to get the dirt off her hands, and sent crumbled pieces of dirt onto the ground.  Tori grinned, and asked, “Why, what do you mean by that, Pete?”  “Well, to make a long story short, apparently, they have quite a file on Ms. Leena.”  “Okay…”  “Apparently, she has quite a history of turning people into Animal Protection Agency for no reason.”  Tori chuckled, “That’s common knowledge Pete.  Believe me, I know.  I’ve felt the wrath of Ms. Leena before.”  “Well, the law sided with me and the other neighbors who filed a complaint against her.  The judge gave Ms. Leena a stern warning, and I quote, ‘You’re lucky that you’re just paying for the replacement of Mr. Jamin’s lawn.  If you ever, and I mean ever, call Animal Protection Agency with another false report, I will fine you.  You have disturbed your neighbors long enough.’  Unquote.  So now I can repair my lawn and flower bed.”  “Congrats on winning.  I really do hope that Ms. Leena has learned her lesson,”  Tori said cheerfully.  Apparently she had, as Tori and her neighbors never had a call from Animal Protection Agency ever again.

Thoughts on 2020

The years that I have lived,

Changed by the people I loved,

Memories of both good and bad,

But this year is something new!

The terror of 2020 is upon me and you!

Meteors, riots, Covid-19, and much more!

The biggest forest fire in history is there too!

What next, Yellowstone erupting?!

Staying at home is such a chore,

And people are incredibly bored.

But while we’re in shutdown,

And deal with the repercussions from it,

Let’s draw closer to God,

Let’s not worry or panic,

Give thanks for these days,

And spend your time wisely,

For the End is near.

God’s Judgement will come,

In that day, give thanks,

Be thankful,

Be ready.

Draw Closer

A world changed so quickly,

Fear and Hatred seems to spread,

It feels like love’s dead,

Lives changed,

Hearts broken,

People seem to shake their fists at God,

But listen, Christian,

Listen loud,

Whether end of the world or not,

God’s with you,

Don’t go with the crowd!

Go to God,

Although they may mock and threaten you,

Remember the One who saved you!

Go closer to Him,

And do not sin!

Even through this time in life,

Follow Jesus,

It’s worth the trouble and the time.

So when disease, division, fear, and hatred seem to reign,

Remember and draw closer to Him,

Because He is worth it,

Walk with Him to the very end.

            A shiver of fear skittered down my spine.  My heart began to pound, and my mouth became as dry as sawdust.  A ghostly figure lurked menacingly near the edge of the dark woods.  I couldn’t see its face, but it was green and appeared to have a green cloak.  My legs turned to jelly.  I didn’t know what it was– it might be human… or not– I couldn’t tell.  I watched in horror as it whirled around, and the cloak—or whatever it was—billowed out behind it as it disappeared into the darkness of the woods. 

            I finally found my voice, and let out an ear-splitting shriek, fleeing back to the pavilion.  I was trembling like a leaf.  My friends wanted to know why I was shrieking, and my voice trembled as I gasped out my story.  The team leaders, after hearing the story, walked out to the edge of the darkness, with some of the teens trailing behind.  I pointed to where I had seen the mysterious figure. 

            We stood tensely, waiting and watching as their flashlights danced eerily along the edge of the dark woods.  When they came back, Mark, my team leader, said, “You guys, there is nothing there.” 

            “But there was something there!”  I gasped out.

             “It was probably a bush,” he replied, rolling his eyes. 

            I burst out, “Bushes aren’t that color of green, and they definitely don’t move!” 

            “Well, we’ve looked all around, and we didn’t see anything!” one of the other team leaders replied. 

            Just then, something caught my eye right behind them. 

            “There it is again!  It’s behind you by the woods!” I screeched, pointing at the ghostly figure. 

            Almost all of the team leaders whirled around, while Mark stood still, looking unconvinced. 

            “Turn around!  He is right there!” we yelled.

             This time the others had seen the ghostly object, as well. By the time Mark turned around, the figure was gone. 

            “There is nothing there.  Are you pulling our legs?” Mark retorted.

             I shot back, “If you had turned around when we had first said something, you would have seen it!”

             We felt terrified—our game of glow-in-the-dark capture-the-flag was ruined.  Some of the girls were even crying.  I felt a mixture of excitement and fear.  Some of the teens who had not seen the ghostly apparition continued to play, but the thought of a mysterious figure lurking in the woods, made the thought of going out into the darkness terrifying. I sat in the pavilion with the other girls who didn’t want to play either.  We talked in anxious whispers, about the possibilities.  Was it a kidnapper? A homeless person lurking in the woods?  Or what if wasn’t human at all?

            After everyone finished with their capture-the-flag game, someone suggested we play another game inside the pavilion. Everyone agreed that staying inside the pavilion, in the light, was a good idea, figuring that we’d be safer there. Soon I was in the heat of the game, sweat pouring from every pore, my heart racing, enjoying every moment. 

            Suddenly, we were engulfed in blackness as the lights flipped off.  We all shrieked in surprise and terror.  Was the mysterious figure the one who had turned off the lights? After a few seconds, the lights came back on, blinding us temporarily. When our eyes got used to the lights, there, standing outside the pavilion, was a creepy-looking figure wearing a green sleeping bag over its head.  We all shrieked again in terror, and everyone took off for their cabins, slamming and locking the doors.  We discussed in terrified whispers whether we should call the police.  What could we use for a weapon if the creep tried to break into our cabin? One of the girls had a pocket knife, and we all decided we would throw our suitcases at the intruder.

            We didn’t sleep much that night, and every little noise made us jump. When morning came, we were all exhausted.  We dragged ourselves to the cafeteria to get some coffee and breakfast, then back to the cabins to pack our suitcases to go home that afternoon.  As we were heading back to our cabin, one of our team leaders came out of his cabin, carrying a green sleeping bag.  All the pieces clicked into place, and we realized we were the victims of a huge practical joke! We all felt stupid and quite irritated as we had been awake most of the night. 

            While we were angry then, we now look back on that night and laugh.  We chuckle at our gullibility, and talk excitedly about this year’s youth retreat, hoping to come up with an even better prank to get them back. I can’t wait to see what will happen at this next youth retreat!

Thanks to my friends for giving me the idea for the story and to my mom for helping me to edit it.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton