Peter needed storage space. His neighbour offered him half a garage for twenty pounds a month, once a few tools had been moved.
Peter went round to look. He recognised the ladder, then the drill, then the lawnmower.
His neighbour asked whether he wanted to pay the first month in cash….
Peter’s spare room had to become a bedroom again. His daughter was coming home, and she had made it clear she preferred a bed to six boxes of old cables.
Peter mentioned the problem to his neighbour, Dennis.
Dennis had a solution. Half his garage was available for twenty pounds a month.
Dry roof, Dennis said. Good lock. Easy access.
Peter asked why it was so cheap.
A few bits to shift first. Nothing serious.
That evening they lifted the garage door. Peter stopped in the entrance.
His ladder leaned against the wall. He knew it by the red paint on the bottom step.
Dennis followed his eyes.
Very useful, that. I’ll move it over.
Peter looked at the bench. His cordless drill was sitting beside its charger. Dennis had borrowed the drill for one shelf last spring.
The shelf had apparently required a full summer.
Further back stood Peter’s mower. A bag of grass cuttings hung from the handle.
Dennis said the garage was kept tidy. Everything had a place.
Peter agreed. He’d spent months looking for those places.
Dennis pulled out a tape measure and showed him where his boxes would fit.
Peter recognised the tape measure too.
There would be no written contract, Dennis explained. They were neighbours. He trusted him.
Peter asked whether the tools would all be gone before he moved in.
Of course. Dennis could put them in his shed.
Peter stood very still.
Dennis held out his hand.
Shall we say twenty for the first month? Cash?
Can I pay you with the drill you borrowed?
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