Confessions Of A NIMBY

by Christine Eskilson

About the Author: Christine Eskilson writes short mystery fiction. Her stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, including Best New England Crime Stories and Malice Domestic. She received awards in the Al Blanchard Short Crime Fiction Contest, the Women’s National Book Association Annual Writing Contest, and the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Contest.

Excerpt

After six months of living in the quiet village of Willingham, Massachusetts, I had accumulated no friends and few acquaintances. Don’t pity me; that was precisely my vision when I chose to retire here after a long and brutal career in Manhattan real estate. Instead of running for president like one of my former competitors, I putter in the garden or in my basement workshop, stroll to the town common and enjoy the occasional late afternoon cocktail—all unencumbered by the demands of human companionship. In early December, however, my solitary bliss was disturbed by a resolute knock on my front door.  

My first instinct was, as always, to ignore it. The odds were that the rapping noise presaged a gaggle of sniveling children peddling waxy chocolate to fund some rough and tumble sport the school system could no longer afford. When the sound persisted in disturbing my perusal of several back issues of This Old House (on a quest for the perfect handle for the downstairs commode), I strode to the door and flung it open.  

“Yes?” I barked. The tall gray-haired woman on my front steps appeared unmoved by my terse greeting.  

“Mr. Reed?” she inquired, pulling a piece of paper from her boiled wool jacket. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. My name is Ivy Faircloth. You might be interested in this.” She thrust the paper at me.

Story Comments