When Tom had enough of the noise coming from his new neighbor Edward’s garage, he decided to end it. He grabbed his baseball bat and smashed Edward’s vintage car. But a few months later, Tom found his pregnant wife missing and Edward’s house locked.
Edward lived a thrifty life until he saved enough money to buy a house. When he saw the ad for the sale of an old, time-worn building, he fixed his mind on getting it.
“So, the house is yours,” the realtor said and handed the house keys to Edward. Since the building’s former owner passed on with no relatives attending his funeral, not many people turned up to buy the old mansion.
Problems sparked after Edward moved in and locked horns with Tom, a short-tempered neighbor who hated disturbance. So when Tom heard Edward constantly making noise in his garage fixing his car, he decided to put an end to it with his baseball bat.
Edward bought an old house nobody was interested in buying. | Source: Unsplash
Edward hailed from a low-income family of laborers. He took a job as a mechanic straight after graduating from school to provide for his wife and newborn baby.
He dreamed of buying a house and soon moving his family from their rented home. He worked hard day and night, and because of this, he usually came home late and never spent time with his family.
He found his wife’s phone ringing on the floor. The living room was a mess, the books had fallen off the shelves, and the ceramic vase was broken.
“If you don’t have time for us, then there’s no us anymore…suit yourself and your poor life,” were precisely the last few hurtful words his wife told him when she took their daughter and left.
They divorced shortly, but Edward was determined to be a good father to his little girl. He was planning a surprise for her and quickly moved into his new house.
Edward didn’t have much to take with him, just a few pieces of furniture from his old rented house and clothes. And then, his favorite old Ford his dad gifted him when Amy was born.
Since it was passed on as an heirloom, the car needed a lot of fixing. Luckily, it still ran. So when Edward moved into his new house, he decided to refurbish his Ford. But his neighbors weren’t pleased with his arrival.
“That old building is stealing the beauty of our street,” suggested one of the neighbors discussing a petition to demolish Edward’s house. “Yeah, it’s so ugly and old. And to top it, those loud noises at night are so annoying,” said another.
Edward had no time to fix his Ford during the day due to work, and he mostly stayed up until late at night repairing it. Although the folks next door overlooked the noises, Tom, Edward’s immediate neighbor, was often furious due to the constant disturbance from the garage.
“You irritating piece of…wait until what I’m gonna do to you now,” Tom angrily murmured as he picked up his phone and dialed 911.
Tom called the cops on Edward.
The following night, Tom was lying on the couch when he was awakened by a loud noise. He thought it was from the TV that was still on, so he went back to sleep. A couple of minutes later, he got up angrily.
“Messing with me, huh? Now you’ll know why you shouldn’t….” Tom got up and stormed to Edward’s garage with a baseball bat in his hand.
On seeing Tom approaching, Edward ran out and pleaded with him to stop. “N-no, please. Please, I’m s-sorry, Tom, please don’t do this… It means a lot to me, please,” Edward begged. “Please, let me explain why I’m fixing it.”
But Tom barged into the garage, pushing Edward aside. He swung his bat up in the air and smashed the Ford with all the force he had. In five minutes, the vintage heirloom was destroyed.
Edward stood aside with tears gushing down his cheeks. He scratched his chin and looked up at the roof as his childhood memories of the car hounded him.
“Here, now fix this trash,” Tom mocked and left.
Edward walked over and stared at his ruined Ford. He cleaned the mess and abandoned the car inside for the next several months. He couldn’t afford to fix it as he’d used all his money on refurbishing the house. Luckily, the car engine still ignited.
Tom checked every morning and was pleased to see the garage locked. “It takes courage to show such annoying people their place,” he bragged. But one day, things took a different turn after his wife called him.
Tom was at work several miles away when his phone rang. Since he was at a meeting, he couldn’t pick it up on time. Around an hour later, he checked the missed calls on his phone and was shocked.
“Why did she call me so many times? I hope everything is alright,” Tom exclaimed and called his wife, Anne. But she didn’t pick up the phone. He then checked the voicemail she’d left.
Since Tom hadn’t picked up her call, Anne left him a voicemail explaining an emergency. | Source: Unsplash
“H-hon-honey… I’m not able to walk, and I think it’s time…Please come quickly. I’m not able to move, and it’s painful,” the voicemail said.
Anne was heavily pregnant and in labor. Tom immediately took off from work and sprinted to his car. “I hope she’s alright. Just hold on, honey… I’m coming,” he bawled.
But when Tom reached home, he found his front door open. “Honey, I’m back!” he shouted as he raced to his bedroom. Tom stood frozen because Anne wasn’t home. He searched for her everywhere but couldn’t find her.
“Oh my God, where are you, honey?” he cried, dialing her number. He found his wife’s phone ringing on the floor. The living room was a mess, the books had fallen off the shelves, and the ceramic vase was broken. “No, it can’t be,” Tom mumbled as he sprinted outside.
Tom crossed Edward’s house and was confused seeing it locked. He hadn’t seen him around for a long time and suspected if he had anything to do with Anne’s disappearance.
“H-hey hey hey…Do you know where my wife has gone?” he asked one of the neighbors. The guy informed Tom about seeing Anne being driven to the hospital.
Tom jumped into his car and sped to the spot. He saw an old, ruined Ford parked at the side as he reached the entrance. “Edward? What the hell is he doing here?”
He rushed to the maternity ward, and through the round see-through glass, Tom saw Anne holding their newborn baby in her arms. “Good gracious, thank goodness!” he exclaimed and entered the room.
Tom looked at his newborn baby girl and kissed Anne on the forehead. “How did you get here?” he asked her. Anne looked at him, and after a brief pause, she revealed something Tom never dared to dream.
“I almost fell when our good neighbor Edward heard me screaming for help,” Anne explained. “He helped me into his car…it broke down at least twice on the way, but he managed to bring me on time.”
Tom’s eyes gushed with tears as Anne then said, “I wonder what ruined Edward’s car. It’s damaged beyond repair, but luckily, it helped save our baby’s and my life.”
After listening to Anne’s revelation, Tom rushed outside and saw Edward seated in the hallway. He walked over to him and held his hand. “Edward, please forgive me, buddy,” he apologized.
Edward patted Tom on his shoulder and said that his wife once birthed their daughter in this hospital. “But after we divorced, they moved out of state. Since then, I’ve been trying to fix my car so that I can surprise my girl on weekends…I was planning to bring her on vacation this summer.”
Tom was crushed and speechless. The hallway remained silent while his consciousness guilted him. “I need to do something,” Tom thought to himself and decided to mend his mistake the next day.
The following morning, Edward woke up earlier than his alarm set off. He got ready to go to work, and as he stepped outside, he stood frozen.
“A new car? What…no way!” he exclaimed and walked over to the car parked outside his house. He found the keys and a note on the glass: “I hope your little girl has a wonderful holiday!”
Edward saw Tom and Anne standing on their balcony, holding their baby. “Go on, Edward!” Tom shouted from above. The couple waved at him as Edward’s eyes filled with tears. But this time, they were tears of joy!
He got into his brand-new car and drove past the street, imagining how beautifully his daughter would smile and jump seeing him.
Tom surprised Edward with a new car & wished him an amazing vacation with his daughter. | Source: Pexels
What can we learn from this story?
- It doesn’t make a person terrible just because you don’t like them. When Edward moved into the old house, his neighbors on the street didn’t like him due to the noise he made fixing his car at night. His immediate neighbor, Tom, ruined Edward’s car because of this, but he later realized it was Edward who saved his pregnant wife and baby and regretted his mistake.
- Sometimes, it’s better to know the reasons before you do something. Tom destroyed Edward’s Ford without knowing Edward was fixing it so that he could bring his daughter on vacation. But after he realized the truth, he apologized and gifted Edward a new car.
This piece is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.
