{"id":7566,"date":"2026-07-29T21:55:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=7566"},"modified":"2026-07-30T05:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:08:26","slug":"bad-neighbour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=7566","title":{"rendered":"BAD NEIGHBOUR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 I didn’t want to write a new blahg until I finished the new short story I had been working on.\u00a0 I had the gist of an idea after writing HOWARD’S SIXTEEN CHAIRS<\/a> back in May.\u00a0 The properties box of the file for “Bad Neighbour” states that I started writing the story on July 21st.\u00a0 That tracks because I posted my last blahg, TFCON TORONTO 2026<\/a> on July 19th while I was still on holidays.\u00a0 So, today is July 29th and that makes it eight days since I started “Bad Neighbour.”\u00a0 My record is four days on “Howard’s Sixteen Chairs.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I’m not sure where the inspiration for “Bad Neighbour” came from.\u00a0 It popped into my head one day and then finally eight days ago I started writing on it.\u00a0 This one did not come as fluidly as previous short stories.\u00a0 I usually write from start to finish and then do an edit and add and adjust.\u00a0 This time I wrote a fair chunk and then wrote a piece for later on and then went back to edit both pieces with a connection.\u00a0 I think that happened a couple of times.\u00a0 Today, I was able to piece everything together and then move it forward toward the ending.\u00a0 I like it.\u00a0 The end came out how I had envisioned it and connects it back to the beginning and other parts of the story.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

BAD NEIGHBOUR<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

BY<\/strong><\/h4>\n

SCOTT HENDERSON<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

Bad Neighbour.\u00a0 Kurt Jenkins knew what that was like.\u00a0 He should.\u00a0 He had one.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Of course, if you asked anyone else, they would say they had no problems with Kurt\u2019s neighbour Ted.\u00a0 Even Kurt\u2019s partner Dana would declare that she never experienced anything amiss about the person who lived next door.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat about that time he borrowed my lawnmower?\u201d Kurt railed to Dana one evening when trying to prove his point about Ted.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

“What about your mower?” Dana asked.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t add her thought that Kurt\u2019s mower was actually \u2018their\u2019 mower.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t have helped.\u00a0 \u201cHe returned it, didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it exactly.\u00a0 He returned it.\u00a0 He returned it in better shape than he had found it.\u00a0 It had been cleaned and oiled and the blade had been sharpened!\u00a0 He even put fresh gas in it!\u201d\u00a0 Kurt was on a roll.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the sign of a bad neighbour, how?\u201d Dana couldn\u2019t understand Kurt\u2019s line of thought.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHe thinks I don\u2019t care for my belongings.\u00a0 He has to return things better than he found them because he thinks he\u2019s better than me!\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cTed doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s better than you.\u00a0 He probably felt obliged to do all that because you loaned him the mower in the first place.\u201d\u00a0 Dana rubbed her temples.\u00a0 She\u2019d been down this road before with Kurt; different scenario but same squabble.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cExactly, he came to me,\u201d Kurt continued.\u00a0 \u201cHis mower broke down and then he asks for the loan of mine.\u00a0 Some nerve.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t borrowed it since,\u201d Dana offered.\u00a0 As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cOf course not!\u00a0 He goes out and acquires a cordless model that\u2019s better than mine.\u00a0 Just to show off.\u00a0 It\u2019s so quiet he even cuts our grass the next day as a favour, so he says.\u00a0 Early morning, before I even get up.\u00a0 “What a sneaky ba\u2014”<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t say it Kurt,\u201d she said, cutting him off.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not true and it\u2019s not nice.\u00a0 His mower had died.\u00a0 What was Ted to do?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat a sneaky bad neighbour, is what I was going to say.\u00a0 You never take my side.\u201d\u00a0 He threw up his arms and walked out of the room.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana wasn’t buying it.\u00a0 When Kurt was fired up he always resorted to profanity.\u00a0 Even his exit from the conversation was deliberate.\u00a0 Everything with Kurt was staged for dramatic effect.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana thought back to the beginning when she and Kurt had first moved into the neighbourhood.\u00a0 They had bought the house as a quick sale from a husband and wife going through a messy divorce.\u00a0 Everyone in the neighbourhood had been surprised.\u00a0 They\u2019d seemed like a lovely young couple.\u00a0 Bitter arguments and suspicions some said.\u00a0 Others commented that the husband had become unhinged.\u00a0 The purchase seemed perfect timing for Kurt and Dana who had been together for five years and thought buying the house was the first step towards expanding into a family.\u00a0 Dana often wondered what had happened to that dream?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted was the first person they had met when they moved in.\u00a0 He\u2019d knocked on the door and introduced himself right away.\u00a0 He said if there was anything he could do to help out then he was just a shout away.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHe seems pleasant,\u201d Dana had recalled saying.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cUntil he isn\u2019t,\u201d Kurt had responded.\u00a0 \u201cGetting used to neighbours is going to be an adjustment.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat are you talking about, Kurt?\u00a0 We had neighbours in the apartment building we lived in.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cYes, and they were on the other side of a wall or a ceiling or a floor.\u00a0 Here it\u2019s all open.\u00a0 The only thing separating us from the overly friendly guy next door is a hedge.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana couldn\u2019t follow Kurt\u2019s logic.\u00a0 Their new neighbour was more than fifty feet away.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like Ted was an invading army sizing them up with intent to steal their land.\u00a0 Kurt would soon see that.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

But Kurt didn\u2019t soon see that.\u00a0 He was constantly suspicious of Ted.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

There was always the cheery greeting from Ted whenever he saw Kurt or Dana outside.\u00a0 The friendly wave seemed to put Kurt off.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Then there was the lawn mower incident and Ted\u2019s thoughtfulness.\u00a0 It certainly wasn\u2019t the way Kurt saw it.\u00a0 In his mind, everything that Ted did seemed a game to engage Kurt in one-upmanship.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

That first Christmas when Kurt\u2019s light display paled to Ted\u2019s holiday extravaganza, as Kurt called it, only made Kurt feel inferior.\u00a0 The next year, Kurt went all out and sunk a small fortune in lights and yuletide inflatables.\u00a0 Ted scaled his back accordingly.\u00a0 It was clear he was respecting Kurt\u2019s moment to shine.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt didn\u2019t take it that way.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cLook at that Dana!\u00a0 He\u2019s challenging me by not flaunting. That\u2019s not how this is played.\u00a0 He goes bigger and I go bigger.\u00a0 He\u2019s showing off by not showing off.\u00a0 That, right there, is the tactic of a bad neighbour!\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt kept it up for the next few years.\u00a0 He taunted Ted with his ever-expanding outdoor spectacle.\u00a0 Ted remained demure.\u00a0 He marvelled at how much Kurt must really like Christmas.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana held her tongue as she always had to do when it came to Kurt\u2019s Ted fixation.\u00a0 She knew better than to speak up.\u00a0 Kurt would always have the last word.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt re-entered the room and picked up the thread from his lawn mower conversation.\u00a0 \u201cAnd then there\u2019s the hedge,\u201d Kurt started in again.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana had thought the conversation was over.\u00a0 She should have known better.\u00a0 It was never one and done with Kurt.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat about the hedge?\u201d\u00a0 Dana thought it was a valid question.\u00a0 The hedge ran between the two driveways and Ted did a good job of maintaining it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cFor starters, Ted\u2019s always trimming it.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s keeping it from becoming overgrown,\u201d Dana tried to explain.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, it\u2019s on his property.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIs it?\u00a0 I have half a mind to find out where the property line really is.\u00a0 It might just run up the middle.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThen we\u2019d be responsible for trimming our half,\u201d Dana pointed out.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cSo what?\u00a0 Then Ted wouldn\u2019t have to come over to our side and trim it all the time.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t even own hedge trimmers, Kurt.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll buy some.\u00a0 If it\u2019s on my side then I\u2019ll do my own trimming, thank you very much.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAnd seethe about that,\u201d Dana tried to say under her breath.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that Dana?\u201d his tone suggested he was suspicious that her thinking was not in line with his.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I see that\u2019\u2026that you\u2019re upset about it, I mean.\u201d\u00a0 Dana hoped she\u2019d covered herself without reprisal.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cDamn straight I\u2019m upset about it.\u00a0 That\u2019s another check mark in the bad neighbour column.\u201d\u00a0 He walked out of the room again.\u00a0 Dana hoped there wouldn\u2019t be a repeat performance.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Of course Kurt checked out exactly where the hedge lay on his and Ted\u2019s property.\u00a0 He was angered to learn that the entirety of the hedge was not only on Ted\u2019s side but a fourteen inch grassy section running parallel was also not Kurt\u2019s.\u00a0 Ted continued to trim the shrubbery and the green strip bordering it.\u00a0 Dana had been right, Kurt did seethe about it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThere he is again,\u201d Kurt had started in again about Ted one evening after having watched Ted outside busy with his landscaping.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t stand to look at him anymore.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSo why do you?\u201d Dana thought to herself.\u00a0 Kurt couldn\u2019t let anything go when it came to Ted.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAnd he looks like one of those AI generated images of a fit older man from those Tai Chi Chair Exercises ads from that golf game I play on my phone.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana knew that game well.\u00a0 Kurt was always playing it.\u00a0 He\u2019d average three games during breakfast.\u00a0 He\u2019d get in a couple more when he was getting dressed and then would be out the door with phone in hand trying to complete a course before he got into his car.\u00a0 He\u2019d be playing when he came home and on and off throughout the evening.\u00a0 Dinner was a device free zone.\u00a0 Dana insisted.\u00a0 After eating, however, Kurt couldn\u2019t wait to get back to the game.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s Ted\u2019s secret?\u00a0 He must be doing his chair aerobics fifty times a day.\u00a0 Nobody looks that good at sixty-seven.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana thought about Ted.\u00a0 He was a good looking man for his age and he kept himself fit.\u00a0 It must have been all that lawn-mowing and hedge trimming and other outdoor activities keeping him young.\u00a0 He also was an ardent speed walker.\u00a0 He\u2019d pass Dana when she went walking early in the day or in the cooler part of the evening.\u00a0 He always turned to acknowledge her and walked backwards a pace while conversing and then would turn and be gone quickly up the street or around a corner.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThrow in a spray-on tan,\u201d Kurt continued, \u201cand he\u2019d be an embarrassing mock-up of a neighbourhood lothario.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana tried not listening.\u00a0 She hadn’t finished her mental comparison of Kurt and Ted.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted was fit.\u00a0 Kurt?\u00a0 Not so much.\u00a0 He\u2019d started to develop a paunch.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t as active as Ted.\u00a0 He did fancy himself a golfer though, outside of his game app, but when he did play, mostly with better golfers, he\u2019d traverse the course from the safety of a cart\u2026getting out only to three or four putt his ball into the hole.\u00a0 If Kurt had to spend energy looking for his ball he\u2019d often drop a new one and exclaim loudly he\u2019d finally found where it had been allegedly hit.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted was quiet.\u00a0 Kurt was the opposite; especially when he was on the topic of his bad neighbour.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted was considerate.\u00a0 He always talked to Dana over the hedge.\u00a0 He listened to what she had to say.\u00a0 Kurt would go off on weekend golf trips with his buddies.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t call.\u00a0 Dana never even got a text.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know he was on his way home until he actually opened the front door.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One time, Kurt came home to find that Dana wasn\u2019t there waiting for him to unexpectedly return.\u00a0 It was the only time he had picked up his phone to call her and chastise her for not being home when he finally showed up.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

She hated to have to explain to Kurt that she was with Ted.\u00a0 Their neighbour hadn\u2019t been feeling well and she had made him a casserole and a pie and had taken it over to him.\u00a0 Dana had lingered longer enjoying playing the part of a good neighbour.\u00a0 She explained it to Kurt and then added she\u2019d be home shortly.\u00a0 She disengaged quickly before Kurt could serve up his displeasure.\u00a0 She still got it from him however when she returned.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cSick my ass,\u201d was his reply.\u00a0 \u201cI told you, \u2018neighbourhood lothario\u2019.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAnd I told you,\u201d she retorted, \u201cwasn’t feeling well so I made him a casserole.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAnd a pie!\u201d Kurt was seething again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t like pie, Kurt.\u201d\u00a0 Dana tried to say it calmly and matter-of-fact so it wouldn\u2019t feed into Kurt.\u00a0 It was true, he preferred cake.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t like anything with a fruit filling.\u00a0 It verged on being too healthy.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHow was your golfing weekend?\u201d Dana tried tactfully to change the subject.\u00a0 Usually Kurt would come in bragging about the amazing weekend and how well he had played.\u00a0 Dana would smile and nod attentively.\u00a0 She only believed a quarter of what he said.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cRuined now, thanks for asking.\u00a0 Is it too much for you to be here so I can share with you in my pastime?\u00a0 The pleasure of it all is gone now, thanks to you and Ted.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana didn\u2019t bite.\u00a0 She thought to ask Kurt if he could name even one of her pastimes but gave it up.\u00a0 She would probably find herself saying that one of her favourite distractions was the times when Kurt went away.\u00a0 Saying that would have provided too much ammunition for his speculation of what went on with Dana and Ted when Kurt wasn\u2019t around.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIf you must know, I shot the best game of my life,\u201d he began; obviously ignoring the pain it was causing him in having to discuss it at all.\u00a0 \u201cThere was this one hole where I took a seven iron and\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Dana\u2019s smiling and nodding came again as if second nature.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana tried to call up the dream of a family again.\u00a0 It had seemed attainable once.\u00a0 She and Kurt had been on that journey but then came the suburbs and Ted.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana didn\u2019t understand it.\u00a0 When it was just her and Kurt in their one-bedroom apartment they seemed more in sync.\u00a0 What was it about neighbours and a hedge that brought out the worst in her partner?\u00a0 It was if, when their world had widened so had Kurt\u2019s distrust of other people.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t he have family to take care of him when he\u2019s sick?\u00a0 Haven\u2019t I seen a bunch of kids running around his driveway once in a while?\u00a0 Who are their parents?\u201d\u00a0 Kurt was back on the Ted talk again.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re his grandchildren, I think,\u201d Dana responded; tuning back into the conversation.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t really know.\u00a0 That\u2019s it exactly.\u00a0 No one really knows anything about Ted.\u00a0 I\u2019m an open book for crying out loud.\u00a0 What\u2019s that guy hiding?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The bait of Ted being an open book wasn\u2019t something Dana was going to pounce on.\u00a0 Still, Kurt had a point.\u00a0 What did they really know about Ted?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Some neighbours gossiped in passing and said he was a widower.\u00a0 Others said he was divorced.\u00a0 Kurt surmised once that Ted\u2019s wife had mysteriously disappeared.\u00a0 He\u2019d had no proof.\u00a0 Kurt had just let his imagination fill in the gaps on what he didn\u2019t know.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana hadn\u2019t bothered to snoop when she\u2019d gone to comfort Ted earlier that evening.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t her nature.\u00a0 She did see some photos of young children on a side table so her mind did what Kurt\u2019s had done, she\u2019d applied guesswork.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWell, he better keep those little brats in his own yard if he knows what\u2019s good for him.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need a bunch of hooligans running up and down the street causing all kinds of trouble.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Where did that come from?\u00a0 Dana imagined a cartoon bubble over her head of her and Kurt and their own children.\u00a0 Kurt\u2019s spiel had burst that to shreds.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI thought you liked children, Kurt.\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t we always talked about having a few of our own?\u201d\u00a0 Maybe reminding him of that fantasy would spark some honest conversation.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAre you kidding, Dana?\u00a0 We can\u2019t bring an infant up in this kind of neighbourhood.\u00a0 Can\u2019t you just see Ted yelling at us from his front porch to keep that baby quiet?\u00a0 That\u2019s what bad neighbours do, Dana.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cEnd of discussion, Kurt?\u00a0 Don\u2019t I get a say in this?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt came up to her and put his arm around her.\u00a0 It felt like a gesture he\u2019d probably made to a golf friend after the friend had chipped a shot into the woods.\u00a0 There was no tenderness in it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cListen babe, it\u2019s not the end of the world if we don\u2019t have kids.\u00a0 You and I have really got something special together.\u00a0 Why spoil it now?\u00a0 Maybe later on, like after Ted moves away or dies, we can talk about it again.\u00a0 It\u2019s only the end of the discussion for now.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana speculated that the discussion would never be revisited.\u00a0 The unseemly allusion to Ted\u2019s death before they could talk about children again only managed to drive a wedge deeper between them.\u00a0 Kurt\u2019s obsession with Ted was quickly becoming Kurt\u2019s only focus.\u00a0 Dana started to wonder if she and Kurt really were still compatible.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For Kurt\u2019s part he became determined to ramp up his animosity toward Ted.\u00a0 His thoughts were more often on his neighbour than on Dana.\u00a0 In his mind, all the problems between he and Dana were tensions caused by his bad neighbour.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt was also determined to win the battle of the hedge.\u00a0 He erected a wire fence the length of the leafy barrier that separated the two plots.\u00a0 It was ramshackle.\u00a0 He told himself he could have done a better job if he\u2019d had the right tools but there was no way he was going to ask Ted for a loan of the correct equipment.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted didn\u2019t retaliate.\u00a0 He trimmed the half of the hedge that he could access from his side.\u00a0 Kurt let his side grow wild.\u00a0 His makeshift fence also prevented Kurt from being able to cut the grassy strip on his side that technically belonged to Ted.\u00a0 It suffered as a result and soon became unsightly.\u00a0 Dana could talk no sense into Kurt.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt began tracking Ted\u2019s movements.\u00a0 He kept a journal of everything Ted did.\u00a0 When Ted left his house, Kurt followed him from a safe distance.\u00a0 Even though Kurt could find nothing untoward in Ted\u2019s actions, his speculation ran rampant.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHave you ever watched him Dana, I mean truly watched him?\u201d Kurt began again one evening.\u00a0 \u201cWhere does he go on all these walks?\u00a0 What\u2019s the purpose?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kurt had shadowed Ted as best he could but couldn\u2019t perceive any patterns in Ted\u2019s movements.\u00a0 Kurt convinced himself the pattern was there because it was oh so obvious that Ted was being oh so coy in his actions in an effort to throw Kurt off Ted\u2019s true intentions.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cExercise?\u201d Dana offered up as rationale.\u00a0 \u201cHe likes to walk.\u00a0 I like to walk, too.\u00a0 Where\u2019s the harm in it?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not natural.\u00a0 He\u2019s up to something.\u00a0 I told you there\u2019s too many unanswered questions about him.\u00a0 What happened to his wife?\u00a0 Why did the previous owners of our house decide to up and sell?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIncompatibility?\u00a0 Divorce?\u201d Dana knew as much as Kurt when it came to the previous residents of their home.\u00a0 She wanted to add \u2018the maniacal lunacy of a husband\u2019s overactive imagination\u2019 but she knew that wouldn\u2019t go down well.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThis is no joking matter Dana!\u00a0 Do you want what happened to them to happen to us?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In the end, that\u2019s exactly what happened to Kurt and Dana.\u00a0 He continued his quiet campaign against Ted, only verbalising his inane ramblings when he was alone with Dana.\u00a0 Morning, noon, and night it was Ted this or Ted that.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana had no one she could talk to about how Kurt felt about Ted.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t dare talk to Ted about it.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want to hurt him.\u00a0 In her mind, Ted was a good neighbour.\u00a0 So, she talked to him instead about the further expanding gulf between Kurt and herself.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t explain how Ted factored into it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For Ted\u2019s part, he was a good listener.\u00a0 He never offered her advice.\u00a0 He just let her thinking take her where she needed to go.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t understand how Kurt could treat a beautiful person such as Dana in that way.\u00a0 Kurt had seemed such a normal type person when he\u2019d first moved into the neighbourhood.\u00a0 Ted had also thought the same of the previous male in the house before Kurt.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It all came to a head when Kurt came home from another golfing weekend and Dana wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 He called her cell phone.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t pick up. He stormed over to Ted\u2019s and asked if she was there.\u00a0 Ted told him she wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 So Kurt made another call.\u00a0 He telephoned the police.\u00a0 He reported Dana as missing.\u00a0 He rambled about Ted and offered up accusations about Dana\u2019s fate and that of Ted\u2019s previous wife.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted was calm and answered all of the questions posed by the police.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know where Dana had gone but he\u2019d known she was going.\u00a0 Kurt would have realized that, too, if he\u2019d looked in the bedroom and the closets.\u00a0 All of her clothing and things important to her were no longer there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The police took Kurt away babbling and screaming about the machinations of a bad neighbour and the disappearance of Dana.\u00a0 Kurt never saw her again.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dana would finally reach out to Kurt\u2026through her lawyer.\u00a0 The house was half hers.\u00a0 She insisted on a private listing.\u00a0 The house was offered up again as another quick sale.\u00a0 Others in the community remarked on how the dwelling seemed to be a curse for couples.\u00a0 None of them mentioned Ted.\u00a0 The thought that Ted had anything to do with it, never crossed their minds.\u00a0 For his part, Ted said nothing either.\u00a0 He was not one to gossip.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A divorc\u00e9e with a teenaged son became the new residents.\u00a0 Ted was out to greet them the day they moved in.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s anything I can do to help out then I\u2019m just a shout away.\u201d\u00a0 Ted remembered saying something similar to Dana and Kurt.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s so sweet,\u201d the woman replied.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re so happy to be part of the neighbourhood.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI hope you got a good deal on the house,\u201d Ted mused.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s too bad the original occupants couldn\u2019t make a go of it.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a shame.\u00a0 Did you know them well?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cAs good as anyone, I guess.\u00a0 She was nice,\u201d Ted commented.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cShe? \u00a0I thought you said there had been a couple?\u201d the woman asked inquisitively.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cOh, there was.\u00a0 She was nice but he was a\u2026\u201d Ted let his voice trail off.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cHe was a what?\u00a0 You can tell me.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to be living next to each other after all.\u201d\u00a0 It was clear that curiosity was getting the better of her.\u00a0 \u201cGo ahead, I can keep a secret.\u00a0 He was a what?\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted thought about it for a moment.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like he was betraying a trust.\u00a0 Kurt and Dana had separated and moved away.\u00a0 Where was the harm?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ted leaned in to the woman and whispered into her ear.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cBad neighbour.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE END<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I didn’t want to write a new blahg until I finished the new short story I had been working on.\u00a0 I had the gist of an idea after writing HOWARD’S SIXTEEN CHAIRS back in May.\u00a0 The properties box of the file for “Bad Neighbour” states that I started writing the story on July […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[352,4,3,309],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7569,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566\/revisions\/7569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}