A Little Bit More

Thursday has arrived again. Right after Wednesday which is the way things are supposed to happen. So , ready or not, it is time for another elf tale.

Once upon a time , not very long ago and not very far away, there lived two neighbors. They had lived side by side for a very long time. In fact nobody in the area could remember a time when these two families had not lived in those houses side by side. They both owned their houses free and clear and both made a good living running little businesses in the mall. In fact their businesses in the mall where just three stores apart.  One would think that given such  conditions both families would be living very happy lives . One would be wrong.

Fred, the man who lived with his family in the house on the left was not happy. He had not been happy for a long time. It was all Roger’s fault. Roger lives in the house on the right.

It seems that Roger’s house is just a little bigger than Fred’s. Roger’s car is just a little bigger than Fred’s. Roger’s lawn is just a little bit bigger than Fred’s. Roger has four kids and Fred has three. Are you begging to see the problem. Fred’s oldest son had an almost perfect record and was Salutatorian of his class. But that year Roger’s son had a perfect A average and was Valedictorian.

Fred resented Roger. The resentment was eating him up. Just once he wanted to be the one that was a little bit better. But it never happened. The ride a mower that Fred bought was a little smaller than Roger’s. The pop up camper was the same. He could not win.

Not that Roger called attention to these things. He didn’t even seem to notice. He was always friendly to Fred. Always had a “Hi Neighbor “ for him when he saw him in the yard. He even invited Fred aned family to dinner but Fred turned him down. He knew that everything in Roger’s house would be just a little better than what was in his house. So the invitation just ticked him off.

Aside from that both men were a good part of the community. Both gave to local charities, of course Roger gave a little more than Fred. Both volunteered time to help local organizations with Roger giving a little more time.

And so it went day after day and week after week.

Until one week when Fred was coming home from donating new gloves to