At first, nobody on the street thought much of it. A few old tires in someone’s yard didn’t exactly seem like the kind of thing worth talking about. Most neighbors assumed Darren Cole was working on his car, clearing out his garage, or just storing something temporarily. In a quiet neighborhood where not much usually happened, it barely registered.
Still, if anyone was going to notice when it started getting strange, it was Mark Reynolds. Mark lived right next door. From his side of the fence, he had the clearest view of Darren’s backyard out of anyone on the street. So when Darren first dragged a few worn-out tires past the side gate one Saturday morning, Mark saw it happen.
He just didn’t think it meant anything. Not then, anyway. A few tires became a stack. Then another stack. Then another. By the end of the week, Mark had noticed something Darren’s other neighbors hadn’t yet — this didn’t look temporary anymore.
And the oddest part was that Darren never once offered an explanation. He just kept bringing in more.
