Mischief Night

 Leslie returned home from work. She was tired as she lifted herself out of her 2008 Honda Civic and winced as she slammed the door a little too hard. The car was falling apart, just like her life, but she was doing her best to keep them both together.

Leslie used to enjoy the brisk fall winds blowing through the trees on her property when she and David lived here together. Since David passed, though, she has had to work 12-hour shifts to keep things together. She didn’t care about the fall or the winds. It all just added work that she had to do later. With no one to share the load, it always felt like too much.

A few of her friends and family had told her to rent out a room or get a roommate to help her pay the bills. Leslie had thought about it. The lonely hours in the house were almost worse than working from dawn til dusk. In the end, she decided that this was her home and she would take care of it like David would’ve if he was still there.

As she walked to the front door she noticed that the moon was full and shining bright illuminating her yard and walkway. This was nice because her house was back in the woods and pretty far from any street lights. When the porch light was out it made it hard to see the concrete cracks and roots in the way. She had tripped more than once getting home this late. Not that she was home really late for any other time of year. But in late October the sun set around 6, which made it dark by 6:30.

She turns back towards the door and looks up at the porch light. It looks odd so she takes a second and looks at it again, without a distracted mind. The bulb isn’t burnt out, it’s broken. How could it’ve gotten broken? Leslie thinks about this as she unlocks her front door, slides in and closes it tight. She will worry about the light in the morning when she can see better, she thinks.

She turned on the foyer light, which glows dimly in the small room. After her shoes, jacket and bag are put away she finally enters the main part of the house. Days like this she wishes that she had a pet of some kind to come home to. But then she remembers that she works 5-12 hour days each week. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone. Let alone the cost, which she couldn’t afford. She could barely keep herself alive. As she passes the couch and David’s recliner, she wishes that she could just plop down and sleep the rest of the night away. She couldn’t though. She had to eat. She didn’t eat breakfast and barely ate lunch. If she skipped dinner she would wither away and die.

Leaving the light on in the living room, Leslie worked her way to the back bedroom to change her clothes and shoes. Food was needed but getting out of her bra and heels was even more important for her mental health. All of the doors were open. She had stopped closing doors a while ago since there wasn’t anyone in the house to see her doing anything. As she pulls on her pajama pants she hears a knock at the front door. She quickly slips into her slippers and jogs to the front door.

“Just a second!” she yells to the door.

Leslie wasn’t expecting anyone, but maybe she ordered something from the internet without remembering it was arriving today. She did that after a few glasses of wine sometimes. She reached the door within a minute of the knock, opened the door and stared out into an empty void. There wasn’t anyone or any package on the stoop. Maybe she hadn’t heard it right and something had knocked against the house. She had a few small trees around the home. If a branch fell she may have gotten that confused with a door knock from so far away.

She closed and re-locked the door then headed to the kitchen to figure out what she would microwave for dinner tonight. On Sundays, she cooked all day to keep the demons at bay. This left her with all of her lunches and dinners for the week in the freezer. The food got a bit monotonous but it made life easier when she worked so much. Plus, it was supposed to be healthier. As she entered the kitchen, the calendar on the wall caught her eye. Crap, was it Halloween? Maybe that was the knock. If she took too long the kid would walk away and go to the next house. She usually didn’t get too many trick-or-treaters, being so far off of the road, but there were those kids that would try anything for more candy.

Leslie quickly checked her phone and noticed that it was only October 30th not the 31st. It shouldn’t be kids looking for candy. She shrugged it off and tried to remember if she had bought candy for tomorrow night. Though, now she had to buy a light for the porch too. Yeah! If the light was out the kids shouldn’t have come to the door anyway. She opened the fridge door at this point and forgot about the knock at the door. Something for her nightmares later.

Once her dinner was heated up, she sat down in the living room and turned the television on. She turned on some medical drama as she ate and scrolled her way through the entirety of social media apps. The night strung on to around 8 o’clock. Leslie had her plate, with half of her food left on it, on a side table. The television was droning on and Leslie was sleeping in David’s favorite chair. Even though it wasn’t the most comfortable, this was the only place she got any real sleep. Once she woke up, she would turn off the TV and go to bed, where she would toss and turn for the rest of the night.

Suddenly, Leslie jerked awake. She looked around and waited to see if she could remember what woke her up. She swore that she had heard some sound that didn’t belong. She waited long enough that her eyes got heavy again. It must’ve been a dream, she thought. As she started to fall asleep again, she heard hail hit her window. At least it sounded like hail. The sky had been clear when she fell asleep and if it was hailing she should hear it more on her metal roof, than on a window. Especially, a window that was under a covered porch. Leslie sat in the chair until she heard it again. This time though, the sound hit the window on the front door. It sounded more like pecking than hail.

Leslie reached into her end table drawer and pulled her Glock 9mm. After checking that it was still loaded she walked to the front door and looked out of the peephole. To her surprise, she couldn’t see anything. Not like the area was empty, but like the peephole was covered, nothing. She walked over to the side window, and pulled the curtain back, just a bit. The porch was dark but the yard beyond was still lit by the moon. Leslie screamed and backed away from the window quickly. She had seen something that shouldn’t have been there.

When she calmed her heart a bit she slowly pulled the curtain back again and stared at the small penguin sitting on the window. It was a small toy, something that probably came from a grocery store prize machine. The toy itself was a happy smiling glass penguin, but how had it gotten there? It wasn’t there when she got home. Was it? As she stared at the penguin, she heard the handle of the back door jiggle. 

Leslie made sure that the deadbolt was secured and eased her way back into the kitchen. The laundry room, which housed the rear door, was on the other side. She knew that this door had been locked last night and this morning before leaving for work. She hadn’t unlocked it, but now she was second-guessing herself. Had she locked it last night? She had taken out the trash after dinner. It was windy and she had to fight the door to get it closed.

Leslie made up her mind and turned into the laundry room. The door here was half glass. She had a sheer curtain over it, but it was pulled to the side since it looked back into the woods. The rear porch light was on, so she could see almost everything. Nothing was at the door. The wind blew and the door shook a bit. Could that have been the noise? She approached the door with the Glock to her side. As she pulled the curtains aside though, the gun fell from her limp hands as it came to her mouth. On the back table was another penguin toy. This one was bigger and looked more menacing somehow. Someone was leaving these things. But why?

Remembering the gun, Leslie bent down to pick it up. It somehow felt heavier than it ever had before. She patted her pockets for her phone. She was going to call the police and have them check her yard for pranksters or stalkers. There had to be someone out there. Not finding it on her person, Leslie returned through the kitchen and into the living room. As she turned the corner, she caught something in the kitchen window, out of the corner of her eye. Leslie spun and brought the gun up in front of her. If someone was peaking through her window she would shoot them. Could she do that? As she focused on the target though the gun slowly lowered to her side again. It was just another penguin toy. This one was small and placed inside of the screen.

How had someone placed the toy inside the screen right next to the window? Leslie slowly backed out of the kitchen into the living room looking for her phone. She finally found it near the door. She picked it up and dialed 911.

“911, what is your emergency? Police, Fire, or Medical?” she finally heard after seven rings.

“Yes, I need the police. I have...” she started to say.

“Please hold while I transfer your call,” the dispatcher said.

“Police. What is your emergency?” another dispatcher said thirty seconds later.

“I have someone stalking, or pranking me. I’m not sure. Can you send someone over to check?” Leslie told the dispatcher.

“Is there someone on your property?”

“I think so.”

“But you haven’t seen anyone?” the dispatcher seemed bored.

“No, they keep leaving toy penguins around my house,” Leslie told her as she paced the living room.

“The inside of your house ma’am?” the dispatcher seemed worried now.

“No. Outside of my windows and doors.” Leslie told her as she checked the front deadbolt again.

“It’s probably just a prank ma’am. It is mischief night after all. Just be glad that your yard isn’t full of toilet paper and shaving cream.” The dispatcher said. Ignoring Leslie's frightened tone.

“I think it's more than that. Can you send someone?” Leslie pleaded.

“There is a patrol heading to your area on a call. When they are finished with that I’ll have them stop by. Is that ok?”

“Sure. Do you know how long?”

“No ma’am. It depends on several factors. Just keep your doors locked and go on with your life,” the dispatcher told her in a condescending tone. “Call back if you have another emergency. Have a good night.”

The line went dead. 911 had just hung up on her thinking that this was a mischief night prank. Maybe it was. An officer would be by in a bit. Until then she just had to get her mind off of everything. She was just wound up after work. Kids play games. It’s what they do. She thought.

She put the gun back in the drawer and her phone in her pocket. She decided that a nice hot shower would calm her nerves while she waited for the officer to show. She walked to her bedroom and into the bathroom. After turning on the shower, she pulled the curtains back to see if anyone was moving outside. Maybe she could catch them. She wasn’t prepared for what she saw.

On the window was another penguin. This one was made of red glass and it seemed to be screaming in pain. The thing was at least 6 inches tall and was somehow floating in the middle of the window pane. There was nothing for it to sit on. As she watched it, the penguin turned as if looking at her. She moved to the other side of the window to see if she could see a string. As she moved the penguin moved with her. It didn’t just turn, it moved along the window to stay directly in front of her.

Leslie screamed and ran from the room. The running water completely forgotten. She ran to the living room again to grab her Glock. There was no way she was getting naked and into a shower now. As she turned into the living room a cold breeze blew across her arms and face. She looked up and saw that the front door was wide open and slowly blowing in the wind. On the floor in front of the door was a small white penguin. This one was also made of glass. Was this the same one?

With the gun forgotten, she screamed and ran back to her bedroom. Behind her, she could hear small footsteps at first. But each step seemed bigger and heavier. Was this thing growing? She quickly slipped into her room and slammed the door behind her. As she did she heard something slide past her on the hardwood floor. As she leaned against the door, she heard the thing squawking in the hallway. She reached for her phone to call the police, or animal control. As she did she heard glass break in the bathroom. Seconds later, she heard a tink of glass on the counter, then wet feet hitting the tile floor. The door was open and she could hear the once-glass bird, squawk lightly. She almost left the bedroom door to slam that other shut, when the handle turned and something big slammed into the other side of the door.

What could she do? There was one of these creatures pushing on the door behind her and another with a wide-open invitation in front of her. The slapping sound in the bathroom got louder and the hits on the door behind her got harder. Leslie waited for the right time. When she thought the one outside was going to hit the door, she pulled it open and stepped out of the way. She turned her face away as she felt something slide past the door. She didn’t wait to look at what it was, she just slid around the door and into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.

Unfortunately, this door didn’t lock from the outside so it wouldn’t hold them for long. Leslie ran to the living room again and pulled the drawer open to get her gun. It wasn’t there. She looked around, thinking that maybe she had just set it down. It wasn’t anywhere. Also, the front door was closed. She went to the door and tried to open it. The deadbolt was locked. She tried to turn the lock, but it was frozen. She couldn’t get out.

The back bedroom door slammed open. She heard the two birds' feet slapping on the hardwood. They were running fast. She ran past the hallway quickly and into the kitchen. She would leave out of the back of the house. She slid through the kitchen, grabbed the door frame of the laundry, and ran to the back door. She slipped the lock and started to turn the handle when something hit the door hard from the other side.

A loud squawk rattled the window from the porch. It was so loud that Leslie fell to the floor and put her hands over her ears. The bird outside started to peck at the glass. It only took three pecks before it shattered. Leslie pushed herself to the corner of the room, closed her eyes, and put her hands over her ears. Even with that, she could hear the other two birds squawk in response. The rushing sound was followed by sliding on the tile floor. They were in the kitchen. She looked at the back door and saw the largest penguin she had ever seen put its beak through the broken window and push down on the inside handle. The door swung in easily on greased hinges. Leslie turned and saw the two birds enter the room. All three had burning red eyes and murder on their minds.

An hour later the police officer showed up and knocked on the front door. After not getting an answer she made her way to the back of the property. It was here that she would see a scene so grotesque that she would hang up her gun and badge the very next day. The woman was left so torn and broken that the officer couldn’t get it out of her mind. Another odd thing was that there were glass penguins strewn around the scene. Something a child would have.

As the officer returned home the following day she found that someone had left her a small glass figurine of a penguin on her porch.