– The Wilsons”I laughed to myself thinking of their response, but I wasn’t finished yet. Everything depended on timing. I watched with patience the following day as Mrs. Thompson left, perhaps to run one of her regular errands. When it was safe to do so, I scurried across our lawns and crept the cookie tin onto their porch. I went back to my house after that and stood close to the window to watch what happened. It was not long before chaos broke out. I was tending my garden that evening when I heard a disturbance come from the Thompson home. The dogs’ loud, deep barks could be heard throughout the peaceful neighborhood. I could clearly hear Mr. Thompson yelling, “What the hell is wrong with these cookies?!” over the din.I couldn’t help but smile as it came across my face. This exceeded my expectations. I had expected that they would find out that something was wrong, but I had not counted on how fast it would all happen. I heard the Thompsons arguing angrily in their backyard one evening while I was watering my flowers. Despite their quiet whispers, they were audible across the fence. “Those Wilsons gave us some kind of sick prank cookies!” Mrs. Thompson growled, embarrassed and enraged at the same time. Mr. Thompson shot back, sounding both guilty and frustrated. “They must’ve known about the poop,” he said. “What are we going to do?” With a strong voice, she urged, “Just keep quiet.” “We don’t want the whole neighborhood knowing we’ve been throwing dog crap over the fence.” I almost knocked over my watering container. The confirmation I had been hoping for was right there. They were aware of their guilt. They now realized that I was also aware of it. The best part, though, is that something amazing occurred a few days later. I stopped seeing dog excrement in my yard. It appeared to be magical. I was overjoyed that my tiny retaliation had been successful. However, the tale did not finish there. A few weeks later, the Thompsons showed up for the BBQ that our neighborhood sponsored. They avoided making eye contact with me and appeared to be reserved. However, I wasn’t going to let them off the hook so lightly.“John, hello! Sarah!” I waved them over, a tray of fresh cookies in hand, and shouted out joyfully. “I have additional cookies for the celebration. Would you like to give one a try?” When they saw the cookies, their faces became pale. Muttering something about being full, they excused themselves fast and were off, almost running. As I watched them duck away, I laughed to myself. Unaware of the inner joke between the Thompsons and me, the other neighbors cheerfully gobbled up the cookies. I heard several of the neighbors talking about the Thompsons as the evening went on.\One neighbor said, “Have you noticed how quiet their dogs have been lately?”Another said, “Yeah, and their yard’s been spotless.” It seems that my small act of inventive retaliation had not only resolved my issue but also changed the Thompsons’ conduct. Because of their boldness and a little creativity, they were now the model neighbors.