They Avoided Him for Years; Then They Read His Will! 

Judith Johnston stared at the faded envelope in her hands, her thumb tracing the block letters that spelled out her family’s name. A knot formed in her stomach as she remembered all the times she had warned her children to avoid their neighbor, the elderly Mr. Kendrick. “This can’t be good,” she murmured anxiously.

Weeks after his passing, she now held a letter from his attorney, requesting her family’s presence at the reading of Mr. Kendrick’s will. What could he possibly have left them? She had always considered the man to be nothing but trouble. “I have a bad feeling about how this will end”, she whispered underneath her breath. 

Judith turned the envelope over in her hands, her mind racing. She pictured Mr. Kendrick’s permanent scowl and cold eyes. What secrets might this envelope hold? Her palms grew sweaty as her imagination ran wild with possibilities. What if this were all some cruel prank to punish her family for avoiding him? Or worse, a way to tarnish their name as a final act of bitterness? Judith’s heart pounded as she debated whether she even wanted to know what was inside.

However, curiosity triumphed over fear. With trembling hands, she made a small tear in the top of the envelope…

Judith’s breath caught in her throat as she feverishly scanned the letter. Time seemed to slow as the words penetrated her soul. For a moment, everything felt blurry. Then, as the words sank in, she reached out to the back of the chair, needing its support. “JOHN!” she called out loudly, her voice shaking. She wanted him to read it, to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. Could this really be true? A rush of feelings hit her—shock, sadness, fear. More than anything, she was scared.

Judith thought back to the day they had moved into their new neighborhood. She recalled watching Mr. Kendrick sitting silently on his front porch, his eyes tracking their every move. What had he known then that she was only discovering now? 

The first few weeks, she had tried to connect with Mr. Kendrick but that quickly changed. She remembered baking a pie to introduce themselves to him as their new neighbors. But when she knocked on his door, he only glared and muttered “No need” before shutting the door abruptly. His coldness had stung.

Over time, Judith stopped trying to reach out. Even on Halloween, when their children went door-to-door trick-or-treating, his windows stayed dark, in stark contrast to the joyful laughter and flickering lights that emanated from other homes. Slowly but surely, Judith started to believe what the neighbors whispered about him – that he was better left alone.