Neighborhood Beautification

Petunia gives Norbert what for. 300 words

Neighborhood Beutification

Petunia was taking her daily constitutional around her neighborhood. She considered herself to be an upstanding member of it. So, keeping an eye on her neighbors was something she prided herself on.

“So far, everything seems to fit my standards,” she said to herself, notebook and tiny golf pencil clutched in one fist.

When she got to the other side of the street, she saw Norbert doing something to a tree near the sidewalk. She watched from a short distance and took notes. The tree had a very low branch which she thought he might be removing for safety's sake.

To her horror, she watched him drive a nail in the thickest end of said limb. He then pulled a plastic sack out of his pocket and hung it by the handles over the nail.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she huffed.

“Well, if it isn’t Ms. Neighborhood Watch!”

“That is so unsightly! What ‘s it for?”

“You know that suggestion I made in town council last month?”

“Garbage cans at the top and bottom of every street in town?”

“That’s the one! You and your fussy cronies shot it down.”

“What does that have to do with a bag hung on a nail?”

“It’s my alternative to the garbage can idea. My neighbors on this side of the street are all doing the same thing, to keep litter off the streets and sidewalks.”

“We’ll see about that!”

“I hear your grandchildren take art at school. Before you and your fellow fuddy-duddies shot down my idea, I was going to suggest a contest to decorate the cans by the students in the local schools, with prizes from local merchants. But you never did hear the whole idea out beforehand.”

Petunia was flummocked and left the discussion abruptly.