Lost For Words
Laura can feel the panic building like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of her stomach. She stares at the trap her new neighbor had made. How was this possible? This was supposed to be a perfect neighborhood. Where the kids play on the street and the neighbors gossip over coffee and brunch. Something like this never happens in a neighborhood like this.
But no amount of white picket fences and perfectly trimmed lawns could stop Laura from feeling sick to the stomach. She takes another look, and again, she’s left lost for words. She knew she had to do something. Her new neighbor will be getting back anytime soon and she would be caught. She had to be quick. Time was running out.
She Loved Her Neighbourhood
Laura Applewhite loved her neighborhood. She had lived there for 10 years and although she saw people come and go, she had always stayed. Whether it was the friendly faces or the white picket fences, something about this neighborhood appealed to Laura. There was nowhere else she would rather live.
Then one dark night, something happened in this once idyllic neighborhood. And nothing was ever the same again.
A Noise In The Night
It was 3:05 am when Laura was woken up by the sound of a large van speeding past on the street. She instantly got up. There was never any noise at this time in this neighborhood.
She rubbed her tired eyes and peered outside her window, and what she saw left a chill up her spine.
Moving In
You see Laura lived next door to a house that had been empty for years. Until now.
Laura peered out her window and it seemed somebody was moving into the house next door. But why would someone move into their home, in the middle of the night? Something didn’t sit right with Laura.
Introducing Herself
The following morning, armed with freshly baked muffins and a smile plastered on her face, Laura went over to her new neighbor to introduce herself.
She took a deep breath before knocking on the front door, but before she could step back and wait, the front door swung wide open and she was greeted to her neighbor’s face. And a terrible feeling hit the pit of her stomach.
Something Didn’t Sit Right
Just as Laura was about to say hello to her new neighbor, a terrible smell lingered the air. Laura’s face scrunched up and her neighbor quickly shut the front door and stepped outside to Laura.
Her new neighbor was called Dan and she tried to get as much information she could from him, but he was being pretty tight-lipped. And all the time Laura spoke to him, he kept his front door shut. What was inside his house? What was he hiding? Something was going on in that house. And Laura was determined to find out what.
Looking For Answers
For a few days find to find out as much information about Dan as she could. But she was left stumped.
Then one warm sunny afternoon, with the bright blue sky and glorious sunshine, Laura saw something outside her window. And it left a shiver up her spine.
Building A Trap
It seemed Dan was building something. She watched as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, hammering nails and putting parts together on his green lawn.
Laura has no idea what he was building, but it left a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.
A Terrible Smell
A few weeks later, Laura was out in her backyard cutting the lawn when a smell crept up her nostrils. It was a smell so bad it made her retch. She covered her mouth with her hand and tried hard to hold back her disgust.
Where was it coming from? She looked up and started to follow the smell, and it eventually led her to Dan’s backyard.
Had To Get A Closer Look
Laura made her way to the fence and peered through a crack. She couldn’t see Dan in the backyard, just the trap he made. She had to get a better view.
She made her to the back of her garden and sneakily crept into Dan’s garden. She didn’t think he was home, and she knew she had to take a closer look at his disgusting trap. But the smell was too much. She knew she had to call the cops.
911, What’s Your Emergency?
After dialing 911 Laura waited to be put through to an officer. Was she overreacting? Should she just hang up? Laura pondered what to do. But it was better to be safe than sorry, right? Her thoughts were soon shattered by an officer’s voice on the phone. Laura told him what she had seen and the officer promised he’d come round to check it out.
But Laura didn’t have time to sit and wait. She had to find it out for herself.
Sneaking In His Garden
Laura sneakily made her way to the trap. And what she saw left her lost for words.
It seemed the trap had hundreds of insects inside of it. Still, Laura didn’t understand the whole logic behind it but her thoughts were soon shattered by a voice echoing behind her. She softly turned around. It was Dan. He was home and Laura had been caught.
Truth Is Explained
After quickly explaining herself, Dan came clean about the trap.
It turned out that after years of dealing with horseflies each summer, Dan devised a simple contraption that takes the pesky bugs out of the picture - permanently.
An Amazing Device
You see, Horseflies are visual hunters so they’ll spot the black garbage bag, think that it’s something they’d like to bite and fly over. They inevitably hit the plexiglass panes and then fall into the soapy water where they drown.
Laura was amazed by this trap. It wasn’t at all what she thought. When she left Dan’s house she knew her new neighbor was something special.