HB Challenge #18

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Horror Bites Challenge #18

From the Office Mango website:

So we are in May and summer is fast approaching. Not only does this mean the sun is out for longer but the gardens are needing a lot of tender care. I’m not a gardener, not even close. I don’t even like sitting in them truth be told, its dull. Our garden is a complete nightmare most of the time, but over the summer months we have to at least cut the grass. We have a garage full of gardening equipment that rarely gets used, and all manner of weed killers and other products designed (in the right hands) to help you get the best looking garden you can

So this week I’m putting these products to a better use. Bring me your gardening tales of darkness and death – I just know you guys can.

1:  Tales can be posted on your blogs & then just add to the wee linky tool, or add as a comment if you don’t have a blog.

2:  A word count of 200-350.

3:  Try to scare me, or at the very least create a little bit of darkness.

4:  This will be a fortnightly (two weeks) challenge from when the post goes live, so you’ve got plenty thinking time.

So come on what are you waiting for, go find your inner demons and get your scare on!

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Good fences make good neighbors (and for good reason...)

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The Good Neighbor

    All I wanted was a little advice, mind you. He really shouldn't have taken matters into his own hands.
    I had this spot in the yard, you see, where grass simply wouldn't grow. Though not terribly large, it was noticeable, with sort of an oblong shape. The blemished area was in the back, by the fence where an elderly wisteria grows. It was a place few would see, but the ugly patch of withered fescue made it unsightly nonetheless. I do so love a lush, green lawn.
    My neighbor, Mr. Harding, has an immaculate lawn. He is always working on it—weeding, fertilizing, or cutting crisp edges along the walkway. Neither a wayward violet nor stray dandelion would dare trespass onto his verdant expanse. With whom, I thought, could it possibly be better to inquire?
    Indeed, he was eager to offer up his wisdom, which I followed to the letter. And yet the spot persisted.
    As it turns out, Mr. Harding is a bit of a perfectionist. When my actions failed to produce the desired results, he took it upon himself to solve the problem while I was away visiting friends. Serendipitously, an irritable stomach forced my early return.
    I found my dear neighbor, complete with an assortment of shovels and rakes, at the edge of the spot where a freshly excavated hole, not more than knee-deep, pierced the troubled sod. He was quite pale and shaking uncontrollably, his eyes fixated on the bottom of that shallow pit.
    All I wanted was a little advice.
    Now I have two spots.

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260 words without the title... 

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Previous Horror Bites challenges: 

Bad Hair Day Part III (#15) *
Bad Hair Day Part II (#13) *
Lemonade (#12)
Bad Hair Day (#11) *
Cross Words (#10)
The Door (#9)
Wrapped in a Mystery (#8)
If The Shoe Fits (#7)
You Won't Feel A Thing (#6)
The Wings of Death (#5)

* These were the first three parts of Bad Hair Day, a continuing story I have yet to finish

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