Dear Old Mr. Scrivner Dogs didnt bark in Mr. Scrivners neighborhood.

Every night at quarter to twelve, he opened his blinds for precisely three minutes. For these minutes, every dog in every kennel, porch, and pen on Xerxes street dwelt in complete and utter silence- I wrote a sort of limerick-thing about it: Golden retrievers shuddered nervously. Huskies shook and huddled hurriedly. In short, the dogs were still, held enthralled, knowing well that one could soon be called. Just before he closed the blinds, Mr. Scrivner sang in ancient rhymes, in sets of moans and lilting lines, to semitones in standard time. Keeping time with tapping feet, dogs swayed slow on Xerxes Street- until one canine left to roam, and found itself in Scrivners home. Living on Xerxes Street made me pretty fucking nervous, needless to say- dogs went missing with some regularity. My heart had fairly stopped dead the first time Id watched a little Welsh Corgi walk dumbly into Scrivners house. No one else seemed to even notice. Of course, I kept mostly to myself- I was probably known in the neighborhood as something of a recluse, if not worse. Probably something worse- no one likes a recluse. Quandary though it was, I didnt think any good would come of me going door-to-door; it seemed I was the only witness. Revealing him seemed like a mistake- what would I say? Sir, pardon me, yes, Im your neighbor from 725- the yellow house, yes. Today I watched one of our neighbors cast a spell on some of the neighborhood dogs- no, with a song. Very fucking funny. Ultimately, I hardly believed it myself. Who believes in that kind of occult garbage nowadays? Xerxes Street was full of bankers and realtors- people with little time and less imagination. You never know, I guess- dont judge a book by its cover, and all that, but I doubted my neighbors would go in for some sort of sorcery. Zero chance, really. All things considered, I figured I was better off breaking in. Barely old enough to drive, I figured Id scrape by if it came to court- boys will be boys, and all that. Color me optimistic.