Sour Mr Cox

Once, there was a very sour old man who lived next door to Kate. She made sure never to bother him because if she did, she was scared of what he'd do. There were rumours circulating around the street of what he'd done to people who annoyed him in the past. There was one rumour that he'd cooked someone, another that he'd enslaved a little girl who accidentally kicked a ball over his fence.

But Kate was the kind of person who, if faced with a problem, wouldn't run away but instead try to solve it. So she sat in her house thinking for days of what she could do. Maybe she could try and befriend the man, Mr. Cox they called him.

Kate was a school teacher and so one Wednesday afternoon after work, she made some muffins. Once they'd finished cooking, she put them all into a basket and went on over to Mr Cox's house next door. "I don't think thats a good idea Kate!" Called Mrs Lucas from next door to Kate on the other side. "He's not a very nice man. I wouldn't do that if I were you. He's not a very nice man!" Kate gulped down her fears and nerves and knocked on the door.

A moment later, Mr Cox opened the door. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice gruffly. "Good afternoon Mr Cox. I made you some muffins." Kate offered him the basket. He took it from her and for a second, Kate let herself think that things were finally getting better instead of worse. "I don't want none of your stinkin' muffins!" He screamed, pelting the muffins back at Kate's face. "Now got off my property!" Kate stood her ground, but not for long. "Go on! Get!"

Well Kate's attempt had failed and she decided that Mrs Lucas had been right. It hadn't been a very good idea at all. Kate heaved a sigh of frustration and realised that Mr Cox would always be grumpy. All she could do was be nice to him and hope that eventually, he might change his ways, if he did at all. But there was one last trick left in Kate's book that she wanted to try.

That weekend, Kate made more muffins and then put them in another little basket, leaving a note on top which read 'You've been nasty to everyone on the street. As they say, what goes around comes around. If you dish out bad to people bad will come back to you. So now its time for you to endure the bad karma you deserve.' Kate took the basket over to Mr Cox's house and left on the front porch,racing back to her house and hiding behind the fence seperating her and Mr Cox's properties. She peered over the top and watched the scene unfold.

Mr Cox came out and found the basket. He picked it up and took one of the muffins, biting hungrily into it. Kate clapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing so hard that Mr Cox would notice and continued watching. The minute her finished reading the note, he dropped the basket which fell with a loud thumping sound as it hit the ground. Then he spat the muffin he had in his mouth right out and started screaming. Kate watched as one by one, her neighbours all came racing out of their houses to see what on earth had possesed Mr Cox to scream so loud.

Suddenly, Mr Cox noticed Kate peering over the fence. "You!" He screamed, pointing his finger at Kate. "Me? What about me. I was just tening to my hedges. When I heard your scream, I just peered over the fence to see what was wrong. I didn't do anything." Kate lied, smiling at Mr Cox as he stared accusingly at her, still pointing his finger at her and growling at her like a dog does when they spot another dog on their territory.

For Kate, that scream had been one of triumph and of sweet revenge. The minute, Mr Cox disappeared inside his house, all of her neighbours put both their thumbs up at Kate and did a little cheer, celebrating with her on her revenge of Mr Cox. "Told you it would work." Kate smiled at Mrs Lucas from next door.