Old Habits Die Hard

Prologue

The gardeners let out a scream of terror at the sight of their pristine yards both dismantled into a pile of dirt and broken wood.

Almost out of instinct, they began hurling insults at one another. Both had jumped to the presumption that the other was responsible.

"If I had done this," cried Mr. Capulet, "why would I have wrecked my own yard as well!" That's when it hit them: Why would either of them destroy their own yard?

After a moment of silence, the elderly gentleman asked the question he was almost scared to hear the answer to. "You really didn't do this, did you?"

"I would never dream of it." Responded Miss Montague.

For once, they didn't have each other to blame but instead had to face an unknown evil... together.

Roughly an hour later, when police had arrived and began a search of the property, Miss Montague sat on her porch holding her oldest gnome, whom she'd named Lady Blueberry. She'd found the gnome at her favorite garden shop in a matching set. Miss Montague had always pictured the other of the set, Lord Blueberry, as Lady Blueberry's husband. She'd even gone as far as to buy another gnome, a few years later, whom she'd imagined being their son. Perhaps she was a bit too invested in her gnomes, but she couldn't help it. Her garden was her most prized earthy possession.

"Poor Lady Blueberry." The elderly woman said, dusting a bit of dirt from the gnome's hat. "First you lose your husband, and now you lose your home."

Mr. Capulet, who had been standing within earshot wearily approached his sworn enemy and took a seat beside her. The silence was awkward but eventually, he gathered enough courage to speak.

"I'm sorry about your garden."

"I'm sorry about your garden," Miss Montague responded.

The gentleman continued: "I can see you care about your garden almost as much as I care about mine."

The last line was delivered with a sense of humor that thankfully caused his neighbor to laugh.

"Sometimes I wonder why we're still fighting after all these years," Miss Montague confessed, "but I can never come up with a real reason."

Mr. Capulet tried to find a reason to justify his behavior (which he was just now recognizing as childish) but couldn't.

Suddenly self-aware, the old man decided to take the first step in reconciling their feud. "From now on, my garden is your garden."

"And my garden," the old woman joyfully responded, "is your garden."

Note: Chapter one should be out very soon, so stay tuned!