After a week of sun, sand, and rest, Kendall was stunned to find her new neighbor Seth had built a huge fence on her property. As a single mom, she couldn’t let it go. What did she do to make him learn a lesson?
Life as a single mom isn’t easy, but I’ve been getting by. I’m Kendall, 40 years old, and I’ve been raising my two boys, Dwight (10) and Mitch (8), all by myself for the past year.
Their father and I split up when I found him cheating with another woman. Well, that’s a story for another time.
About two months ago, I bought a new house and moved in with my kids. It’s in a quiet neighborhood with a lovely forest nearby.
Everything about our new neighborhood seemed perfect until I met my next-door neighbor, Seth. We had been clashing from the start.
I’ll never forget our first interaction.
It had been a day since we moved in when I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and saw him standing at my doorstep with a folder in his hand.
“Hello there, neighbor!” he said, offering his hand. “I’m Seth. Welcome to the neighborhood!”
I shook his hand.
How nice! I thought. If only I knew what was coming in the days ahead.
“I wanted to discuss something important with you,” he continued, opening his folder.
“The previous owners signed this contract allowing me to build a fence on the property line.”
I arched a brow. “Okay…?”
“So, I’ll be starting construction next week,” he said flatly.
I was stunned. “Excuse me? You’re not even asking for my permission?”
“Well, I have the contract right here—”
“That contract was with the previous owners,” I interrupted. “I’m the owner now, and I don’t want a fence blocking my view and sunlight.”
That’s when his face flushed.
“But I need this fence for privacy!” he yelled. “I’ve been planning this for months!”
“Why should I care about what the FORMER owner said?” I asked, but I never got a straight answer.
I just saw Seth storm out of my house.
Since that day, he’s been arguing with me almost every week about this fence. Apparently, he wants to host posh garden parties without his guests seeing into my yard.
Well, excuse me for existing!
I couldn’t let him build that fence. I didn’t buy this house to stare at wooden planks instead of the beautiful sky and trees.
Little did I know, things were about to get much worse.
A few weeks ago, I decided to take my boys on a much-needed vacation. Dwight and Mitch were bursting with excitement.
“Mom, can we go to the beach?” Dwight asked.
Mitch chimed in, “Yeah! And can we build a huge sandcastle?”
“Of course, boys!” I said as I hugged them. “We’ll do all that and more!”
We left for a week, looking forward to sun, sand, and rest. If only I’d known what was waiting for us when we got back.
As we pulled into our driveway, I noticed something odd. My stomach dropped as I realized what had happened.
“Boys, stay in the car for a minute,” I said as I got out.
My blood heated with each step I took toward our house.
As I peeked to the right, I realized what had happened. There, right in front of our windows, stood a tall wooden fence. On our property. One foot from my windows!
“What the hell?!” I shouted, not caring who listened.
Dwight and Mitch came running up behind me.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Mitch asked in a worried voice.
I took a deep breath. I had to keep cool for them. “Nothing, sweetie. Just a little… surprise from our neighbor.”
“But Mom,” Dwight said, frowning, “we can’t see the trees anymore.”
My heart ached.
Seth’s awful fence had replaced the beautiful view from our windows that my boys loved so much. Now, we couldn’t even see the sky!
I couldn’t let it go. I had to make Seth learn a lesson.
I had two options. Either take the legal route and wait for the authorities to take action or handle it myself.
I chose the second one because my boys and I didn’t have enough time to take the legal route.
Later that night, I went to the pet store. I had a plan that I knew would work.
“Can I help you find anything?” the clerk asked.
I smiled brightly. “Yes, I’m looking for an animal lure spray. The strongest you have.”
After returning home, I waited until the neighborhood was asleep. Then, I went up to his precious fence and used a whole bottle of the lure liquid.
The pheromone scent was strong. It was designed to attract dogs for training purposes. But I had a feeling it might attract more than just dogs.
I did this for several nights in a row, ensuring the solution covered every inch of the fence.
Then, I waited.
It didn’t take long for results to show.
One night, as I was taking out the trash, I saw a stray dog lift its leg against the fence. I had to hold back a laugh.
“Good boy,” I whispered.
Over the next few days, more and more animals started visiting the fence. Foxes, raccoons, even a moose once! They all seemed to think Seth’s fence was the perfect place to do their business.
I watched from my window as Seth discovered the mess one morning. His face turned a bright shade of purple as he realized what was happening.
But to my surprise, he didn’t take down the fence.
He started cleaning it.
Every morning, Seth would come out with a bucket and scrub brush, grumbling under his breath as he cleaned off the nightly deposits.
But no matter how much he cleaned, he couldn’t get rid of the pheromone scent. The animals kept coming back, night after night.
Soon, the smell became awful. Even my boys started to notice.
“Mom,” Mitch said one day, pinching his nose, “it stinks outside!”
Dwight nodded in agreement. “Yeah, can we play inside today?”
“I know it smells bad, boys,” I said. “Just give it a few more days, okay?”
They nodded, but I could see they were disappointed. I hoped my plan would work soon.
The next day, I was coming back from a grocery run when I saw one of our other neighbors, Nate, knocking on Seth’s door.
I slowed down, acting like I was checking my mail as I eavesdropped.
“Seth,” Nate began, “what on earth is that smell coming from your yard? It’s awful!”
Seth seemed so embarrassed.
“I… I’m working on it, Nate. There’s been a bit of an animal problem.”
“Well, work faster!” Nate snapped. “It’s affecting the whole neighborhood!”
As Nate marched off, Seth caught my eye. He had this sorry look on his face that I had never seen before. I smiled at him and quickly walked into my house.
That evening, I watched from my other window as Seth tackled the fence with every cleaning product known to man.
He scrubbed and sprayed for hours, but the smell lingered. Finally, he tossed down his brush in defeat and trudged back to his house.
The next morning, I was awakened by a big noise outside. I peeked through my curtains and had to blink twice to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I could see Seth overseeing a team of workers as they took down the fence.
I couldn’t believe my plan had actually worked!
I woke up the boys with the good news. “Dwight! Mitch! Come look outside!”
They raced to the window, their eyes growing wide as they saw the fence coming down.
“Mom, we can see the trees again!” Mitch exclaimed.
Dwight squeezed me tight. “You’re the best, Mom!”
And with that, our view was restored, and Seth had learned his lesson. However, the story doesn’t end there.
Later that day, Seth approached me while I was gardening in the front yard.
“Kendall,” he started, clearing his throat, “I, uh… I want to apologize.”
“Oh?” I pretended to act surprised.
He nodded. “I shouldn’t have put up that fence without your permission. It was wrong of me.”
“Yes, it was,” I agreed, crossing my arms.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” he continued. “From now on, I’ll respect your property and your rights as a neighbor.”
“Apology accepted, Seth,” I smiled. “Let’s start over, shall we?”
“I’d like that.”
As Seth walked away, I couldn’t help but feel proud. I had fought for myself and my boys, and in the end, everything worked out.
That incident taught me that life sometimes puts you in situations where you have to think outside the box to find a solution, just like I had to come up with a plan to make Seth learn a lesson.
Do you think I did the right thing?
