When Mrs. Johnson moved into the neighborhood, she kept to herself, always dressed impeccably and never engaging with the neighbors. One day, she asked 12-year-old Ethan to mow her large lawn, promising to pay him twenty dollars. Ethan worked hard for two days under the hot sun, dreaming of using the money to buy a gift for his grandmother.
But after finishing the job, Mrs. Johnson refused to pay, telling Ethan that the “lesson of hard work” was payment enough. Ethan’s mother soon noticed her son’s disappointment and learned about Mrs. Johnson’s refusal to pay. Outraged, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She called her friend who ran a landscaping business and asked him to trim Mrs. Johnson’s prized hedges into funny, uneven shapes.
Then, she secretly arranged for several large truckloads of mulch to be dumped on Mrs. Johnson’s driveway, blocking her car in and drawing attention from the whole neighborhood. When Mrs. Johnson returned home, she was shocked to find her perfectly manicured hedges ruined and her driveway piled with mulch. Surrounded by curious neighbors, she confronted Ethan’s mother, who calmly reminded her that stiffing a hardworking kid wasn’t right.
Realizing she had been caught, Mrs. Johnson grudgingly paid Ethan the twenty dollars, but the message was clear—honesty and fairness matter, especially when dealing with a determined mother protecting her son. From that day on, Mrs. Johnson never asked Ethan for help again, and the story of how a mother’s clever justice taught a neighbor a valuable lesson spread through the community. It was a reminder that standing up for what’s right can make even the quietest voices heard.