neighborhood watch

a person leaves the house he lives in and notices another person standing on the drivers side of a van parked in front of the house to the east of  his, talking to someone inside of it. about five minutes earlier the person by the van had knocked on the door of the first persons house asking for directions  and giving him a puzzled whats going on here look when directed to the street he asked for, as though that was not the answer he expected.

 as the first person passes the van on the passengers side he recognizes the third person inside the van, who notices him looking, as the neighbor from the house to the west of his, the first person looks over his shoulder at the balcony above the porch of the westside house where he often saw the third person standing, watching the neighborhood, and wonders to himself if this is why he gets so many people knocking on the door and asking for directions to nearby streets.

several months after this incident the neighbor from the house to the west moves and the first person begins to notice a varied collection of strange people, seemingly standing in wait for him at various places, on the subway, in office tower halls, and cafes, along the path of his daily wanderings around the city.