Pete Across the Street

Yesterday I felt like I got on everybody’s nerves. So when I woke up this morning I knew I just had to do a good deed for somebody today. It had to be somebody I really don’t spend a lot of time with. So I thought about the perfect person I could do the good deed to. The first thing I saw when I stepped outside was an old man across the street taking out his garbage. He was struggling with the big green trashcan that smelled like rotten fish. He was going to be my good deed of the day. So I quickly ran over to the poor struggling man and asked him if he needed any help. He gave me a strange look like a look you would give a stranger. "I'm your neighbor from across the street, I saw you having trouble and I thought I'd come help you." "Okay", the man said. I got the trashcan to the side of the road and glanced at the man for the first time. The horizontal stripes across his shirt were really thin around his big belly. “My name is Pete from across the street” the old man said. I smiled and he smiled back. He told me he had to go to something really important and he would be right back. I saw him run to the door of his refrigerator and get out a tub of ice cream from a big basket and scoop up spoonful of ice cream with his big spoon that looked like belonged to a giant. I felt awkward looking through his window, and walked back home.