He tried to be a good neighbor but the guy next door was a challenge. His own yard was pristine, weed free, bark dusted. But at the fence a blackberry intruded, snaking its prickly way into his suburban paradise. He cut it back, it returned. Again and again. Finally, hoe in hand, he walked next door requesting access to remove the briar at its source. Permission granted, smirkingly. A ten minute search at the property line yielded a leafless thread of vine. The full glory of the pest only manifested itself on his side of the fence.
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