‘What are you doing? That’s poison!’
He stopped. His mouth fell open and he slowly released the trigger on the spray unit.
She continued to berate him, finally concluding with, ‘Why don’t you go back to the city?’ then turned back to her house, entered and slammed the door. Hard.
What was that about? he wondered. His first meeting with his new neighbour and clearly it hadn’t gone well. He thought he was doing a great job clearing the overgrown yard. Puzzled, he put the sprayer away and went inside the house he’d recently inherited from Gran.
Previously, he lived in a high-rise city apartment, venturing to the outer suburbs to visit Gran in the Nursing Home every week but never really thinking about what lay beyond the suburban sprawl. After Gran passed away, and on the same day he became redundant at work, he discovered he’d inherited Gran’s old house in a small rural community north of the city. On a whim he decided to move there and work on the novel he’d long dreamed of writing.
Over coffee, he researched. Opinions were divided on the use of sprays. They removed the weeds but had a detrimental effect on beneficial plants and the insects depending on them. Especially bees. Those wooden structures in his neighbour’s yard… they were bee hives.
He called out to her the next morning to apologise but she scurried down the street in the opposite direction. The next day, and the next.
Show, don’t tell. He recalled the advice from his online writing group. It might work. He’d show her he was sorry.
Day after day he worked in the garden. Day after day she ignored him.
Finally, it was complete.
Cautiously, he knocked on her door. Cautiously, she opened it.
‘I’m sorry,’ they said in unison.
He took her hand and led her to his yard.
She gasped. ‘Peony roses!’
‘Are they okay?’
‘Oh, yes, they’re my favourite and the bees love them.’
On cue, one small bee flew over the dividing fence and disappeared into the fragrant pink petals.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleHi Sandra, welcome back and hope that all is well with you. What a lovely, heartwarming story. It sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship. I’m so glad your protagonist took the time to research the reason for his neighbour’s reaction — I do hope he still had time to write his novel. Very nicely done 🙂
Hi Carrie, and ‘thank you’. I’m well but my life just got a bit overloaded for a while. I had to put a some things aside. A few hiccups but not all bad. I also started a novel last November for NaNoWriMo and was determined to keep going, unlike previous years when I put my month’s effort aside and never really got going again. Seven months, writing something every day and I… Read more »
Congratulations, Sandra, that’s so awesome. You must be feeling so proud of your efforts. Well done ?
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThanks, Carrie. It feels very good to achieve what I set out to do. ?
What a lovely story, Sandra, so well written and such a different take on the prompt. The ending was quite emotional; your two characters apologising in unison. And that last line was brilliant. I loved it!
Thank you, Linda! Many years ago I had an older neighbour who was very grumpy on our first meeting. For years his wife waved but he always looked the other way. Sadly, his son died and a few weeks later I saw him at the shopping centre taxi rank. I offered him a ride home and he was so grateful. He said he was always sorry for his outburst but was too… Read more »
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleHello, Sandra. How are you? A unique take on the prompt. I love this. All that happened to your protagonist brings them into a more beautiful and deep friendship. That is wonderful. It is beautifully written. Excellent.
Hi Lotchie, I’m well and I hope you are, too! Thank you for your comments. I feel like I’m hearing about too much confrontation and hostility lately and I wanted to write something with a happy resolution. ?
I am fine too. You are welcome, Sandra.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleMy gran used to say that ignorance creates grief and your story is a classic example of how this could happen. I am so glad that your protagonist recognised that and found a remedy. I guess a new friendship was the result. Well done!
I think our grandmothers’ sayings mean more and more as we get older.
Thank you, Greene. Fortunately, this man was someone prepared to learn and a happy result for him, his neighbour and the bees ?