The Picket Fence

"Damn kids," Dominic grumbled. He put up signs. He spoke to parents. Yet every weekend, he ended up out here fixing the damn holes the damn kids put in his damn fence, and cleaning up the trash they left around the pit he used to burn brush every spring. He didn't care why they did it; everyone had excuses for doing anything. He was tired of the excuses. He was tired of having to waste his Saturdays fixing the gap in his fence where the damn kids pried off two of the boards to slip in, and every Sunday cleaning up beer bottles and food wrappers they left on his property.

He was tired of it. All his hard work, all his wasted time - and the parents refused to discipline. They were all a bunch of worthless good for nothings. Yet they called him the bitter old man for being disgruntled over having to clean this shit up all the time. He didn't work hard to get this nice house to have to clean up after someone else - especially now that his kids were all out of the house.

Today, he wasn't going to just fix the damage. No, today he wasn't going to be out in his yard muttering curses as he only repaired his fence. Today, he was setting up a nice special treat for the damn kids. This would teach them a lesson their parents obviously wouldn't.

He tested the wire one last time, just to make sure it was tense enough. There had to be enough tension to spring when needed, otherwise the lesson wouldn't sink in. He needed the lesson to sink in. Those damn kids would learn the hard way he was through with their stupid antics. Let them go pollute elsewhere.

One a.m Wednesday morning, he heard a scream. At first, it tore him from sleep like a splash of cold water on his face. The next scream brought a soft, content smile to his face. He heard the floodlights snap on thanks to the motion detector he set up Saturday, and panicked shouts of the damn kids sneaking into his yard.

Good, he thought. He rolled out of bed, and stepped into his slippers. It was about time those damn kids learned their lesson. The smile at the thought of those kids no longer coming into his yard remained as he headed out the door and trudged along the grass. His hands settled into the pockets of his robe, clenched around the tools he felt would be appropriate for the lesson.

The spotlight lit up the area just enough from where he mounted it for him to see two people take off running. That left the damn kid that triggered the trap there to learn his lesson. With his back to the light, he knew the kid couldn't see his smile, but he still fought to suppress it anyways. "Looks like a bit of trouble you got yourself into, eh?"

The kid kept on whimpering, clawing to get the bear trap off his ankle. Tears streamed down his face, gaze shifting between the trap and Dominic. "I'm sorry, mister. I didn't mean - "

"Of course you meant to come in here, kid," Dominic said in the same upbeat tone. His grip shifted on the tool hidden in his pocket. "Now I've asked you nicely to stay out of my yard, but you just don't listen. Do you know what happens to kids that don't listen to polite requests?"

The boy let out a whimper. He stopped struggling, tears continued to bubble forth. Rather than speak, he shook his head.

"Kids that don't listen learn the lesson the hard way." The kind tone left for a rather flat one. He closed in on the kid with the boy only able to sit and whimper. A knife caught the light when he brandished it. His gaze fell on the boy's face; the kid couldn't have been older than eighteen. Such a pity a young mind wasn't brighter.

"Now be mindful of the neighbors..." He grabbed hold of the young man so he couldn't struggle. When the kid opened his mouth to scream, he shifted his grip to grab hold of the boy's jaw. He almost wished the boy actually listened to directions. 

He set to work, the arduous task of implementing his lesson upon the boy. Messy, time consuming work but it had to be done. No one would discover the parts where he hid them - in the freezer he kept in his hunting supply shed. Cleaning up the mess near the fence was the hardest part - to make sure the evidence was gone without making it look like there was anything to have been cleaned.

The next morning the cops came to investigate the tales several teenagers told of a trap catching one of their friends. Dominic feigned concern, and lack of knowledge. He even ventured so far as to graciously show the cops the area the kids claimed it happened. The proof was there - that the kids broke into his yard - as a few boards of the picket fence lay on the ground next to it. He demanded the vandals be prosecuted - damage of property, he cried, trespassing on private land!

It didn't get very far in court - kids being kids was the judge's feeling - as no harm was done to the property. Slaps on the wrist all around, except for the one boy now on a milk carton. But they never went into his yard again, and that spring the brush fire pile had a little more substance to it than just some bushes.