A new neighbor moved in next door and quickly became… familiar. At first, it was harmless—he’d knock to borrow sugar, a tool, maybe a cup of flour. Normal neighbor stuff, right?
But then it kept happening. More often. Bigger things.
Eventually, he asked to borrow my vacuum. Not a cheap one either—around $300. I hesitated, but I didn’t want to seem rude, so I said yes.
Then he disappeared.
Days passed. Then a week. No answer to knocks, no sign of him. At that point, I was convinced I’d been played. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one—other neighbors started sharing similar stories about things he’d borrowed and never returned.
Then, just as suddenly as he vanished, he came back.
He returned the vacuum and said his apartment had flooded. According to him, everything was chaos, and he’d been scrambling to deal with the damage, moving things around, trying to save what he could. He claimed he didn’t have a proper place to store essentials, which is why he’d borrowed so much.
I stood there listening, not sure what to think.
Part of me felt bad. Another part couldn’t shake the feeling that something didn’t add up.
Now I’m left wondering—was it just bad luck… or something else entirely?
