Flashback: A moving truck. A young couple— Mark and Lisa —unpacking boxes labeled “KITCHEN” and “LIVING ROOM.” They smile at John Persons, who is watching from his porch. He gives a small, almost invisible nod.
Mark approaches John Persons at the mailbox. Mark is holding a casserole dish covered in foil. “Hey, we’re new. Just wanted to say hi.” John Persons takes the casserole, looks inside (tuna noodle), hands it back. “No.” He walks inside. Mark stands there, confused.
Here’s a short story based on the fictional comic series The Neighbors John Persons Comics . The Unspoken Agreement
“The neighbors come and go. But John Persons remains. Always watching. Always waiting. Always… neighborly.”
“They moved in on a Tuesday. That was the first mistake.”
The next morning: Lisa’s car has four flat tires. No punctures. Just… flat. On her windshield, a single playing card: the Ace of Spades. Mark calls the police. Officer replies, “John Persons? Yeah, we don’t go there. Read the neighborhood charter, sir.”
Saturday morning. Mark wakes up. His lawn is gone. Not dead—gone. In its place: dark, wet soil. And written in the dirt in six-foot letters: “NO.”
