"I'll send one."
"Good. Also, Amanda?"
"Yes?"
"Do not damage the vehicle."
"I wasn't planning to."
That was mostly true.
By evening, Sheldon had not moved the SUV.
He came outside twice.
The first time, he took something from the back seat.
The second time, he stood on his porch talking to another neighbor while occasionally glancing at my house.
He wanted a reaction.
I gave him none.
Around nine, I went to my garage and pulled out four portable sprinklers.
I had bought them during the summer when I reseeded the lawn.
They were the small rotating kind attached to garden hoses.
I also had two hose splitters and a timer that allowed separate watering cycles.
The plan was simple.
I would not touch his vehicle.
I would not block it with anything solid.
I would water my own lawn.
The ground was already soft from the rain.
I knew more water would make it worse, but Sheldon had chosen to park there after three wet days.
That was his decision.
At 11:30, most of the lights on the street were off.
I went outside quietly.
I positioned one sprinkler near the front tires and another near the rear.
The other two covered the ruts along each side.
I aimed them low so the water would hit the soil rather than spray directly into the SUV.
Then I connected the timer.
Twenty minutes on.
Forty minutes off.
Repeated through the night.
I turned on the timer and returned to my house.
The first cycle started at midnight.
From my bedroom window, I watched the sprinklers sweep across the lawn.
The water darkened the soil around the tires.
Small puddles formed in the ruts.
