Brenda stopped.
Then tried again.
The wheels spun.
Dark material shifted around the tires.
The vehicle rocked slightly.
But it did not climb out.
Arthur watched quietly.
He had expected the new garden bed to discourage parking.
He had not expected Brenda to drive into it as though nothing had changed.
Inside the SUV, Brenda leaned forward over the steering wheel.
She looked down through the windshield.
Then toward the curb.
She shifted into reverse.
The engine rose again.
The wheels turned.
The SUV rocked backward a few inches.
Then stopped.
Brenda pressed the accelerator harder.
The tires spun.
More mulch gathered around them.
The vehicle sank deeper into the loose material.
Arthur set his coffee on the porch railing.
He could see Brenda's hands moving sharply across the steering wheel.
She tried another angle.
Then another.
The SUV barely moved.
Finally, the driver's door opened.
Brenda stepped out.
She looked down at the ground.
Then at the front tires.
Then at the broad expanse of dark mulch surrounding the vehicle.
For several seconds, she appeared unable to understand what had happened.
The silver SUV was sitting in the middle of Arthur's new landscaping bed.
Its front wheels were buried in loose mulch.
The rear wheels were pressed against the uneven edge of the bed.
And the vehicle was stuck.
Brenda turned toward Arthur's house.
He was still sitting on the porch.
She stared at him.
Arthur lifted his coffee cup slightly in greeting.
"Morning, Brenda."
Her expression changed.
"Arthur!"
He stood.
"Something wrong?"
Brenda pointed toward the SUV.
"What is this?"
Arthur looked toward the yard.
"My landscaping."
"Your what?"
"Landscaping."
Brenda stared at him.
Then at the mulch.
Then back at him.
"Why is there so much of it?"
Arthur walked down the porch steps.
"I'm putting in a new garden bed."
Brenda's mouth opened.
Then closed.
She looked at the SUV again.
"Well, my car is stuck!"
Arthur stopped a comfortable distance away.
"I can see that."
"You should have warned me!"
Arthur glanced toward the curb.
"Warned you that I was landscaping my lawn?"
Brenda's face tightened.
"You knew I parked here!"
Arthur looked at her for a moment.
Then he looked at the tire tracks disappearing beneath the mulch.
"Yes," he said calmly. "That's why I needed to repair the area."