The Misjudged Neighbor

This neighborhood man everyone avoided lived three houses down. Parents whispered

he'd burned down his school decades ago. We crossed the street when he sat on his

porch. One winter my little sister got lost during a snowstorm. We searched everywhere

panicking. Then his door opened. She was wrapped in blankets drinking hot chocolate.

He'd found her crying in the cold and brought her inside. His walls were covered in teaching awards

and photos of smiling students. Turns out the school fire was an electrical accident while he

was saving kids inside. He became a beloved teacher for forty years.

When he died he left his entire estate to children's education. Sometimes the monsters