My Neighbor

A few months ago, a new neighbor moved in across the block. He rang the doorbell to my home, and, upon answering it, I heard him articulately say, "Hello, James! I'm Todd Ortonio, and I live across the street from you."

He was a young man with bright green eyes and very short, blonde hair. He was dressed so fancily, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was going to the White House to have dinner with the president.

Anyway, he chatted a while about the process of moving in as I listened intently. Eventually, he left.

It was at that precise moment when I realized that he knew my name.

At first, it was small stuff. For example, one day, as I was shaving in the mirror, I heard the doorbell ring once again. After finishing shaving, I opened the door to find Todd there, exclaiming, "Happy Birthday!"

I swore to myself that I never, ever told him about my birthday. However, I passed it off as my memory being odd, finished talking with him, and continued on with my day.

Then, things got stranger. I noticed that everyday when I returned home from whatever work I was doing that day, Todd would always be on his front lawn to give me a smile or a wave. Since I sometimes get caught in traffic or have to work overtime at the office, it always disturbed me to see Todd standing on his lawn when I returned home at almost 10:30 at night.

The worst of it came late at night a week ago. I had got home very late at work (not bothering to see if Todd was out there watching me) and collapsed on my bed. Right when I did that, I heard the phone ring out into the silence of my home. Nervously, I answered and heard Todd's voice sharply ask, "Are you alone?"

I hung up the phone immediately and called my mom. This had gone too far. I told her the whole situation, and she told me to report it to the police. I called them, telling them about this guy and all the weird things he did, and they sent an officer over to check on Todd.

What still puzzles me to this day was when the officer called me later that day, claiming that nobody was in the house and that it had been for sale for months.