"Morning, Brenda."
Her expression changed.
"Arthur!"
He stood.
"Something wrong?"
Brenda pointed toward the SUV.
"What is this?"
Arthur looked toward the yard.
"My landscaping."
"Your what?"
"Landscaping."
Brenda stared at him.
Then at the mulch.
Then back at him.
"Why is there so much of it?"
Arthur walked down the porch steps.
"I'm putting in a new garden bed."
Brenda's mouth opened.
Then closed.
She looked at the SUV again.
"Well, my car is stuck!"
Arthur stopped a comfortable distance away.
"I can see that."
"You should have warned me!"
Arthur glanced toward the curb.
"Warned you that I was landscaping my lawn?"
Brenda's face tightened.
"You knew I parked here!"
Arthur looked at her for a moment.
Then he looked at the tire tracks disappearing beneath the mulch.
"Yes," he said calmly. "That's why I needed to repair the area."
Brenda stared at him.
The conversation was not going the way she expected.
For weeks, she had treated Arthur's requests as minor inconveniences.
She had moved his decorative stones.
Ignored his sign.
Dismissed the damage.
And continued parking wherever she found it most convenient.
Now the corner had changed.
And the SUV was trapped in the middle of it.
Brenda stepped toward him.
"You can't just turn this into a construction zone!"
Arthur glanced around.
There were no machines operating.
No open trenches.
No workers blocking the street.
Only a garden bed covered with fresh mulch.
"I'm improving my landscaping," he replied.
"Without telling anyone?"
"It's my yard."
Brenda folded her arms.
"Well, the HOA has rules about landscaping."
Arthur nodded.
"I'm aware."
"Then you should have submitted a request!"
Arthur looked toward the new bed.
He had planned shrubs, flowers, and decorative stones.
The work was ordinary landscaping on private property.
Nothing about it changed the street or interfered with the neighboring homes.
He turned back toward Brenda.
"I'm happy to follow any legitimate landscaping requirements. But that doesn't give anyone permission to park on my grass."
Brenda's expression hardened.
"That's not the issue!"
Arthur looked toward the SUV.
"Then what's the issue?"