His neighbor had hedge clippers. Long sharp scissors that cut through leaves and branches. The neighbor’s yard was neatly kept. Trees trimmed, grass cut, flowers bloomed in the spring, grew throughout summer. It was as if he was showing off; a yard, house, beautiful.

And, in the winter time the neighbor’s driveway and sidewalk was cleared of snow and ice. Rock salt was poured out onto the concrete. People could walk on the strip in front of the neighbor’s house. The old man’s sidewalk was full of frozen snow and ice. Folks walked in his yard. Footprints in straight lines till they got to the neighbor’s.

The neighbor cleaned it all with a snow blowing machine. The old man had never seen anything like it. He was reduced to a shovel which he stopped using years ago. Same was true with the hedge clippers and the lawn mower. He just didn’t care anymore. Maybe he never did.

Every year the grass would grow. Weeds reached the clouds. And the neighbor’s yard would look immaculate. The old man would sit inside his house; waiting. Just waiting. For his turn to have a mansion in the sky.