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As I opened our door to answer the bell, I saw a man of small physical stature standing there. "Hi," said the older-looking black man "I'm Fred, your new next door neighbor. I just wanted to introduce myself and say nice to meet ya both." He became not only our next door neighbor, but one of our dearest, most cherished friends. We must have looked like a reverse … Read more »
On a sunny afternoon I was playing basketball on my driveway with my friend. We spotted my neighbor peeking at us through her living room window and when she saw us looking at her, she came outside to join us. After a few calm minutes of playing basketball, my friend and I turn around to see my neighbor rolling around in the middle of the street. "Marcy! What are you … Read more »
When we bought our house two years ago it was still being built. The builder took me into the house next door to show me the cabinets because our new neighbor was getting the same ones and I wanted to see what they looked like when they were finished. Before he opened the door he warned me, "When you see this, don't ask me what this woman was thinking!". We … Read more »
when living in a college town in texas, in a house split into four apartments, I had an upstairs neighbor with florid, untreated mental illness. His paranoia and delusions would lead him to do unusual things, such as 1) boring holes into my baseboard from the hallway at precise distances, one inch above the floor in order to "let the air out"; 2) emptying his freezer and leaving raw … Read more »
I was 20 when I moved into the duplex next to Alan. He was a part of my brother's group of friends. I thought he was kind of creepy, but harmless. He was 36 and I'm attracted to much older men, so in the back of my mind I knew something would happen between us. Apparently our friends knew something would happen too. They had a bet going on when … Read more »
It's scary when you're 3 years old and your parents are video taping through the peak hole on the door of our little out-grown apartment because of our neighbor. Of course I didn't know what was going on at the time but when I watch it now, its scary. The dog barking, locked outside of the door. She comes out with a steak knife and … Read more »
Whenever I say I grew up in the Bronx, people want to know about the summer of 1977: The Yankees, The Blackout, Son of Sam. But none of those compared to The Great Voodoo War of 1979.
My family had been the first Latin family to move into our apartment building. So when two other Latin families finally moved in on either side of us, we thought we'd have allies. … Read more »
It was our junior year of college. A classmate and I had moved into the second floor of an off-campus apartment house. Not the luxury loft of my fantasies, but it was fine for a rather thin student budget. Directly above us resided Dante and Raymond. Dante was a dapper man with a warm, dimply smile. He was never at a loss for a kind greeting or lively … Read more »
Every weekday morning at 8:00 AM for the past 3 years, the neighbors' kid shrieks in the hallway as the mom leaves for work. She shushes the kid loudly until the elevator arrives. The kid just keeps screaming. Always exactly the same.
Why haven't 783 repetitions of this failed attempt to shut the kid up taught the mother to try something different? I bet they've both forgotten why they do … Read more »
In the 70s, my energetic, handy husband and I were living the back-to-the-land, owner-built-home life, complete with toddlers (often naked), goats (milked daily), garden (fresh-picked strawberries!), and woodstove (burning our own wood). We cut and split the wood ourselves on our 40 acres of trees and cross-country trails in the Adirondack Park in very upstate New York. The life was difficult and grueling, but strangely satisfying.
It worked partly due to … Read more »
France, 1984. Matt wanted to have sex on the neighbor's couch so we did. They were his landlords and he wanted to desecrate their lordship with simple fucking. So one day when the coast was clear we crept in to their apartment and positioned ourselves on the couch. I felt something like a couch myself, hosting Matt’s fantasy. It was a silk, stuffy couch, a fussy house, … Read more »
Obsessive as she is, she does not want anyone to look at her while she is in her yard or on the back porch. She has tarps draped above the fences that surround her yard so that no one can see in the yard. She has the "somebody's watching me" syndrome. She speaks to me occasionally, but sometimes she runs in her house without looking my way at all, but … Read more »
The bubble man lives next door. He is pale and skinny with a long black ponytail; the same jet-black inks his arm with spades and skulls. His porch is filled with lawn chairs, trashcans, and cardboard crates. Some of the crates have been decorated with colorful, chalked graffiti. He is a stoner with a bubble wand.
I first noticed the bubble man while I was doing my laundry. I saw … Read more »
He was a kind creature, a little solitary like any man stranded by the waves of life on the shores of old age, yet courteous and discreet. A little curious of the outside world too, avid for movement, colours and light. He always sat in his living room, looking at life passing by in the street outside, rarely joining it but always rejoicing in its variety. A quiet next door … Read more »
Jakob was my surprise fortieth birthday gift--we were going to need a bigger house. We didn't know we were moving fifty years into the past to a county that celebrates its status as Maryland's home of the Ku Klux Klan. Appearances were deceiving.
Moving day, my husband felt the shock of a bolt of lightning when he closed the aluminum garage door. Minutes later, little Jakob fell and … Read more »
Spending a few nights at the Vegas hotel was a brief respite from our old lunatic downstairs neighbor Rita. Constantly screaming at the ceiling for the least infraction, including walking from the living room to the kitchen in our bare feet, she and her Igor-like roommate would also rustle about on their balcony at night, slipping off to the dumpster with mysterious plastic bags we suspected contained dead squirrels. There … Read more »
Growing up in Southern California, I spent every free minute at Marcia's house. She was my next door neighbor and my closest friend. Marcia was ten, and I was nine. Her mother worked at a nearby hospital while her stepfather stayed home and painted in his studio. His paintings were either blurry landscapes or naked women.
Southern California is a desert: the river and creek beds … Read more »
When I was six, my parents and I lived next door to a beautiful woman named Genevieve. She lived alone in a one-bedroom condo with satin pillows and she babysat me once a week. Genevieve made the tastiest macaroni and cheese. Genevieve's was the only house on the block with cable TV. I loved going over to Genevieve's house more than anything. One night, I overheard my mom speculating … Read more »
‘We were lying in bed.’
‘You should tell them that it was the first time we were lying in bed.’
‘It was the first time we were lying in bed and actually we weren’t lying in bed, we were on the futon.’
‘It was our first time on the uncomfortable futon and perhaps we were a little too loud.’
‘We were making out.’
‘ We were laughing! Don’t make it … Read more »
My one failure as a tenet of the basement is that I live under people. I guess my neighbors live above me. In fact, one of the girls who lives upstairs says, "Hey neighbor," anytime she sees me. So there is that, in the whole scheme of things, there will always be that. There will also be that one Saturday morning. The one where I woke up … Read more »
As part of our new webcomic, Next-Door Neighbor, we thought it appropriate to have a little contest. Tell us your best true next-door neighbor story, and the winning tale will be matched with an artist and transformed into a webcomic and included as the final installment of Next-Door Neighbor.
No matter how close or how far, we all live next to someone, and we all have a Next-Door Neighbor story. With that in mind, editor Dean Haspiel asked some of his favorite storytellers and cartoonists to create their favorite NDN stories so we could share them with you.
By submitting an entry, you are granting SMITH the right to reprint or republish that entry online or in print, as well as make any necessary edits. See SMITH's terms of service for complete details.
This contest ends September 1, 2008. Prizes are not redeemable for cash and must be accepted as awarded. Winners are decided at the discretion of SMITH judges and all decisions are final. SMITH reserves the right to change the contest rules. Enter as often as you want. SMITH reserves the right to reprint or republish all entries.
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