Loveday Writing

The only weed in the garden**

Neighbourhood Watch

She moved into the street six weeks ago and ruined everything.

Our street was open – everyone was friendly, we all went to each other’s houses, we all borrowed things from each other, we all know everything about each other and we don’t mind. We’re like a family.

She made it clear after meeting us all at the welcoming barbecue that she didn’t feel the same way.

The week after the barbecue, she made it a habit to keep her blinds closed and her gate locked. I can still see her though, through my binoculars, out the window from my home office, every day.

She says hi when she has to, but doesn’t make small talk when she comes home from work, gets out of her car, and enters her alarm code, 56930. Why did she pick that code? Why does she even have a home alarm system, what is she trying to hide?

She’s also giving others on the street ideas, like keeping family matters private for a while before letting everyone find out about it, locking sheds at night, and saying ‘no’ for requests of cups of sugar.

Ever since she moved in she’s been nothing but a cold wind on a sunny day, a fly in a glass of milk, a weed in the garden. We have to get rid of her…and I’ll keep watching her until I figure out how we do that.

Here she comes, pulling up in her driveway, like clockwork.

**Reference: Marsden J 1998, Everything I Know About Writing, Pan Macmillan, Australia.