When we moved into our new house, we thought we’d found the perfect neighbors in the Johnsons. But after returning from vacation to find our property trashed, I discovered a hidden note that would change everything and force us to question who we could really trust.
We moved into our new house a year ago, and everything seemed perfect. The neighborhood was quiet, the house was beautiful, and we were excited to settle in. Our neighbors, the Johnsons, seemed cool too. They welcomed us with a pie and friendly smiles.
“Welcome to the neighborhood!” Jane beamed, holding out a steaming apple pie. Her husband, Tom, stood behind her, grinning and waving.
“Thanks so much,” I said, taking the pie. “I’m Emma, and this is my husband Mike.”
Mike stepped forward, shaking their hands. “Great to meet you both. We’re really looking forward to living here.”
We chatted for a while, and they seemed nice enough. Their house was somewhat run-down, but that didn’t bother us. Over the next few months, we got to know them better. We had barbecues, swam in our pool, and generally got along well.
But three months later, I found a note from the previous owner tucked inside a kitchen drawer. It read: “Beware of the Johnsons. They’ll make your life hell. Don’t put them too close.”
I showed it to Mike that evening. “What do you think about this?” I asked, handing him the note.
He read it and frowned. “Seems a bit dramatic, don’t you think? They’ve been nothing but nice to us.”
I nodded, but something nagged at me. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s probably nothing.”
“Maybe the previous owner had a personal beef with them,” Mike suggested. “People can be petty sometimes.”
We decided to ignore it. After all, we’d been getting along great with Jane and Tom. Every weekend, we invited them over for pool parties and barbecues. We exchanged recipes, borrowed books, and even asked for their advice about garden design.
“Your tomatoes look amazing, Tom,” I complimented Tom one day when he came over to look at my fledgling vegetable patch. “Any tips?” I asked.
Tom puffed up with pride. “Well, it’s all in the soil preparation…”
Jane and I swapped book recommendations regularly. “Oh, Emma, you have to read this one,” she’d say, pressing a novel into my hands. “It’s absolutely gripping.”
We gave them permission to use our garden and pool any time they wanted — we were set for our annual family vacation, so it felt good leaving the place for our new neighbors to enjoy.
Fast forward to last week. Mike and I returned from our vacation, and what we found left us livid. Our beautiful garden was trampled, the pool was filthy with debris, and there was garbage strewn all over the driveway. It was a complete nightmare.
“What the heck happened here?” Mike exclaimed, his face red with anger.
I clenched my fists. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
We marched over to the Johnsons’ house. I knocked on the door, my jaw set with determination. Jane answered with a smile that seemed a bit too wide.
“Hey, neighbors! How was your trip?” she chirped.
“What happened to our property?” Mike demanded to know, not standing for any small talk.
Tom stepped out to meet us on the porch, his face a mask of innocence. “That wasn’t us. You can’t prove anything,” he snapped.
I raised an eyebrow. “Why did you think we’d accuse you? Do you know who did this?”
Jane’s eyes darted nervously. “Oh, maybe it was the neighbors across the road? Ethan and his girlfriend — they’re a weird couple, bunch of hippies, if you ask me.”
“Right,” I said, not believing a word. “We’ll go check with them.”
We decided to check it out. Ethan answered the door, looking confused at our aggressive tone. His girlfriend, Olivia, stood next to him, equally bewildered.
“Look, we’re sorry to bother you,” I started, “but our property was vandalized while we were away. The Johnsons suggested it might have been you.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “What? No way! We’ve barely left the house since moving in. We’ve been renovating.”
Olivia stepped forward. “Actually, we might be able to help. We installed security cameras last week. They cover part of your property too.”
“Really?” Mike perked up. “Would you mind if we took a look?”
Ethan nodded. “Of course, come on in.”
We watched the footage in disbelief. The Johnsons had thrown multiple parties at our house while we were away. Their guests had no respect for our property, and Jane and Tom did nothing to stop them.
“I can’t believe this,” I muttered, watching Jane laugh as her kid spray-painted our fence.
Mike’s fists were clenched. “Those lying, two-faced —”
“I’m so sorry,” Ethan said. “We had no idea this was happening.”
Olivia nodded. “Yeah, if we’d known, we would have said something.”
We thanked them for their help and left, fury building with each step back to the Johnsons’ house. This time, we didn’t bother knocking.
“Hey, Tom,” I called out. “Let’s talk again about the trash that mysteriously appeared on our property.”
Tom came to the door, opened it, and looked at me for a few moments, then he shrugged and offered lamely, “You’re blowing this out of proportion. It’s just some trash and a bit of paint. Kids will be kids, right?”
“Just some trash?” Mike exploded. “Our pool is filthy, our garden is destroyed, and there’s garbage all over our property!”
“And let’s not forget the multiple parties you threw at our house,” I added. “We saw the security footage.”
Jane’s face paled. “What footage?”
“Ethan and Olivia’s security cameras caught everything,” I explained, enjoying the look of panic on their faces.
Their smug attitudes fueled my anger. I knew it was time to teach them a lesson they wouldn’t forget.
That night, after the Johnsons had gone to bed, Mike and I put our plan into action. We gathered up all the garbage they’d left at our house, plus a few extra “presents” from our trash.
At midnight, we crept over to their yard. “Ready?” I whispered to Mike.
He nodded, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Let’s do this.”
We spread the trash all over their lawn and garden, making sure it was a complete mess. As a final touch, we let our kids paint whatever they wanted on the Johnsons’ front fence.
“Remember, kids,” I whispered, “be as creative as you want.”
Our daughter grinned, wielding her paintbrush like a weapon. “This is gonna be fun!”
The next morning, we woke up early to watch the show. Jane’s scream of disgust was music to my ears.
“Tom! Tom! Look at this!” she shrieked.
Tom stumbled out, and his jaw dropped at the sight. “What is this?”
We casually strolled over, coffee mugs in hand. “Everything okay?” I asked innocently.
Jane turned to us, her face red with anger. “Did you do this?”
I shrugged, mimicking Tom’s gesture from yesterday. “You’re blowing this out of proportion. It’s just some trash and a bit of paint.”
Mike chimed in, “Kids will be kids, right?”
The look on their faces was priceless. They knew they’d been caught, and there was nothing they could do about it.
“This is unacceptable!” Tom blustered. “We’ll report you to the homeowners’ association!”
I smiled sweetly. “Go ahead. I’m sure they’d love to see the footage of you vandalizing our property too.”
Jane’s face crumpled. “Why would you do this?”
“Why would we do this?” Mike repeated incredulously. “Are you serious? You trashed our house, threw parties without our permission, and let your guests destroy our property!”
“And then you lied about it,” I added. “You even tried to blame Ethan and Olivia.”
Tom had the decency to look ashamed. “We… we didn’t think you’d find out.”
“Well, we did,” I said firmly. “And now you know how it feels.”
Word spread quickly through the neighborhood. When Jane tried to complain to other neighbors, we simply showed them the footage of what the Johnsons had done to our property.
“I can’t believe they would do that,” our neighbor Mrs. Peterson said, shaking her head after watching the video. “And they seemed like such nice people.”
Another neighbor, Mr. Garcia, was equally disgusted. “That’s just not right. You can’t treat people’s property like that.”
Within days, the neighborhood had turned against them. They had no choice but to clean up their mess and change their ways.
As I watched them picking up trash from their lawn, I couldn’t help but think about that warning note. Sometimes, you need to stand up for yourself and teach people a lesson in respect. The Johnsons learned the hard way that treating others badly can come back to bite you.
“You know,” Mike said, putting his arm around me, “I’m glad we found that note, even if it was a little late.”
I nodded, leaning into him. “Me too. And next time, we’ll listen to warnings like that a lot sooner.”
We stood there, watching the Johnsons work, feeling satisfied that justice had been served. It wasn’t the welcome to the neighborhood we’d expected, but it sure made for one hell of a story.
As we turned to go back inside, I saw Ethan and Olivia walking down the street. They waved, and we waved back.
“You know,” I said to Mike, “I think we might have found some real friends in this neighborhood after all.”
What would you have done?
Woman Follows Little Boy Who Takes Leftovers from Her Restaurant Every Day — Story of the Day
Alice was suspicious that the boy who often collected leftovers from her restaurant was hiding something, so she decided to follow him one day. But what she discovered along the way astounded her.
“You got lucky, kid. We have plenty of leftovers today, and you can take all of it home,” said Steve. He was the head chef at Alice’s restaurant and would frequently keep the leftovers for Christopher, the little child who often dropped by their restaurant for food.
“Oh really? Is it actually so much food? Do I have enough to share with my friends?” Christopher’s eyes lit up.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash
“Yes, Chris,” Steve replied with a huge smile. “Just wait here; I’ll get the packets for you.”
Christopher was delighted after receiving the food packets. He thanked Steve with a huge smile, waved goodbye, and walked away happily.
Alice, on the other hand, had no idea this was common practice at her restaurant until she saw Christopher leave one night. However, she wasn’t convinced that he was the type to eat leftovers to keep his stomach full. “I should find out what happened to this kid. After all, he doesn’t look homeless,” she thought to herself as she watched him walk away.
For the next few days, she waited for him to come back, and when he did the third day, she met him at the restaurant. “Hi, there. Are you here for the leftovers?” she asked him gently.
“Yes!” Chris replied cheerfully. “Can you please call the cook? He must have kept those packets for me.”
Alice gave him a warm smile. “Well, there’s no need for that. I’ve prepared some fresh food for you so that you don’t eat the leftovers. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Oh, that’s really sweet of you, thank you,” Christopher replied. “My full name is Christopher, but you may call me Chris.”
“So, why don’t you eat at home, Chris?” Alice asked. “Is your mom sick?”
For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash
Christopher’s expression changed. “Well, actually … I live at an orphanage, and they don’t feed me well. Every time I come here, your employees help me. I’m grateful to you for that. Anyway, I’ll leave now,” he said and hurried away.
Alice had a sneaking suspicion that the boy had been hiding something all along. So that day, she decided to follow him. And what she saw next left her stunned.
Instead of stopping at an orphanage, Chris went to a house, left the bag of food on the porch, and ran away. Soon, an older woman came out; she looked around in puzzlement, took the bag, and went back inside.
Alice was about to knock on the door and ask that lady who she was and how she knew Christopher, but before she could, she got an urgent call from the restaurant and had to leave.
The next day when Christopher came to the restaurant again, she was already waiting for him. “There’s something you need to explain to me, Chris. I know you’ve been taking the food for somebody else. Be honest, who is she?”
“I’m sorry, I lied to you,” Chris instantly admitted. “But I’ve been taking food for my granny. She’s the only family I have now.”
Alice was stunned. “Then why do you stay in an orphanage?”
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels
Chris frowned. “When my parents passed away, my grandmother didn’t get custody because she wasn’t financially stable. She can’t even afford food, so every day, I collect food from here and drop it off at her house.”
Alice was proud of how Chris was looking after his old grandmother, but at the same time, she felt terrible for their situation. So that day, she went to his grandmother and told her everything. Christopher’s grandmother Edith was taken aback when she realized it was her grandson who had been placing food packs on her doorstep all along.
“Is it really my grandson?” Edith almost broke into tears. “Oh, my God. I miss him terribly! I’m sorry I couldn’t be of assistance to him.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Alice assured her. “There’s a way I can help you and your grandson.”
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels
That day, Alice went to the orphanage where Christopher stayed and applied for the boy’s custody. Fortunately, the formalities were quickly completed, and Christopher was able to return to his grandmother’s home.
“I don’t know how to repay you for what you’ve done Alice,” Edith thanked her. “I’ve always wanted to be with my grandson, but the circumstances were such that—” Edith began crying.
“There’s no need to thank me, ma’am,” Alice replied. “I was more than happy to help. Since I lost both of my parents when I was young, I understand the value of being surrounded by loved ones.”
Edith took Alice’s hands in hers. “I can’t make up for it, but you’re welcome to come to see us whenever you want. After all, you’re like family to us.”
For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash
“That’s sweet of you, ma’am,” Alice said, almost tear-eyed. “I would love to do that. I already like Chris a lot. He’s a nice boy.”
“Oh yes, he is,” Edith agreed. “Now, I just need the means to support him.”
“Oh, in that case, I have something to offer you…”
Edith had thought that Alice would offer her a job at the restaurant, but when she heard what it was, she burst into tears again.
“I know it might be a bit too much to ask for, but ever since I lost my parents, I have had no one to look after me,” Alice said. “So, I’m looking for someone who will love me like a mother. I’m hoping you’ll accept the position. As far as Chris’ education is concerned, it’s my responsibility because I’m his guardian.”
For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash
“Of course, honey,” Edith replied as he embraced her. “I’ll never be able to repay your generosity. You literally appeared in our lives like an angel.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” Alice said. “I have a family now because of you, and I think that’s the greatest wealth I can ever have.”
What can we learn from this story?
- Not all heroes wear capes. Alice saved Christopher and his grandmother from misery and played the role of a hero in their lives.
- Learn to be compassionate and kind to others. Just how Alice was to Christopher and his grandmother Edith.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who gave a jaw-dropping gift to his fiancé.
This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story
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