The neighbor stood in my front yard, waving his arms wildly whenever he saw me. I thought he was just being weird. Then I realized he was saving my life.

The neighbor stood in my front yard, waving his arms wildly whenever he saw me. I thought he was just being weird. Then I realized he was saving my life.<br><br>Our neighborhoods were built back in the 60s and were a bunch of little ranches that were all connected to each other in each cul-de-sac. My house faced east and it’s where the driveway, garage and front door were located. My kitchen looked at the street and the neighbors across from me. My living room and backyard looked into the neighbors’ houses to the north and south. I didn’t really get much afternoon sun because of the large trees on the South side that shaded me until about 4pm when the line would finally pass my house and find my neighbor. They were real showy trees with bright red leaves and they always seemed to be taking my sunlight. I’ve lived there for about 3 years. Before moving there, I had always lived in apartments.<br><br>My mom had recently died so I bought a house. I was tired of living in apartments in the city and thought owning a home - and being away from the hustle and bustle - would be best for me. I loved it on my street. They had been very welcoming and I had met some of them. Before my mom died, I was at my parents house a lot and took care of her. I would leave early in the morning to come home and grab something to eat, and then go back to my parents before my dad got home from work. <br><br>I had recently stopped working, so I began noticing a lot of weird things about my neighbors. There’s the man who waves his arms. There’s the man who stands in the window and watches me every time I’m in my backyard. And finally there’s the man who checks his camera whenever I’m out.<br><br>The arm waver stood in my yard every time I came out. If he didn’t see me, he’d step into my yard and wave his arms really quick. It was annoying at first, but I had learned to ignore it. Just a weird guy, I thought. <br><br>The man who stands in the window is from the house to my south. There’s a lot of windows on that side of the house and whenever I’m out, he’s watching. I don’t see him doing it very often with the rest of the people out, so I assume he’s watching me. I feel this way because I once spent an entire afternoon in my front yard, just to see if I had finally gone crazy and was overthinking it. I sat on my front yard and watched my south side neighbor. When he was done with his dinner and smoking his evening cigarette, he went to his bedroom window and looked out at me. I felt so weird. Like, I’m just sitting in my yard. That doesn’t make sense. But I know he was looking at me because he’s done it plenty of times. <br><br>The man who checks his camera is to my North. I call him that because every time I step out onto my porch - whether it’s the front or the back - he goes onto his back porch to check his camera. I have no clue why he’s doing it, but that camera points directly into my house and it’s just weird.<br><br>One day, I went onto my back patio to smoke a cigarette. First, I notice the neighbor to my south standing at his window, looking at me. That’s normal, so I just acknowledge that he’s there and will be watching. As I step out, I see my north neighbor checking his camera. Again, I expected it. But when I looked over at my front yard, the arm waver was there - waving his arms wildly at me. I had never seen him do that before. He clearly could see me, so why was he waving his arms? It was embarrassing to watch. I figured I’d just go inside and wait for him to go away.<br><br>But then I didn’t think it was so weird. He’s waving at me inside my house. That’s not weird. Maybe he wants to say something, I thought. So I walked to the front of the house, to my kitchen, and that’s when I saw it. There was a red dot on his shirt. I knew immediately what it was. Someone was pointing a laser at him. I ran to my back door and pulled the blinds. Sure enough, the laser was hitting my window from a tree behind my house. I had to call the police. <br><br>I didn’t want to call the police from my house, because whoever was behind the tree would see me talking to them. I ran out to my front yard and waved at the arm waver. I think he was surprised to see me, but when I beckoned him over, I made my way to his house. I walked in and called 911.<br><br>“911, what’s your emergency?”<br><br>“There’s a laser on my house, I think someone is going to shoot at it.”<br><br>“Okay, where are you at?”<br><br>I gave them my address and the police were en route. I was instructed not to go back to my house until they said it was safe. I told them that I was at my neighbor’s house. The arm waver, Mr. Thompson. <br><br>The police were so funny. They kept trying to go down the list of things that they were supposed to say, but Mr. Thompson kept interrupting them. <br><br>“Is everyone at the address okay?”<br><br>“Yes. I need to get some more coffee.”<br><br>“Sir, can you confirm that you’re okay?”<br><br>“Yes, I need to get some more coffee.”<br><br>“Sir, is there anyone else at your house?”<br><br>“Yes, my neighbor is here. She’s very nice. I need to get some more coffee.”<br><br>“Sir, we’ll send someone over. Just sit tight.”<br><br>“Okay, thanks. I need to get some more coffee.”<br><br>The cops got there and they talked to me for a while in Mr. Thompson’s house. They said my neighbor saw someone in a tree behind my house. They had a rifle with a laser sight. Whoever it was, they were waiting for me to come into my house. The police went in and turned the lights out, but I’m still staying at a hotel. <br><br>I would’ve never noticed any of that if I still had a job. Thank God I was unemployed.<br><br>I guess all my neighbors were convinced that someone was going to shoot into my house because they’ve been trying to warn me. I wish they would’ve said something. I might have been able to stop it before it happened. Now I don’t know if I can ever go back to that house.