24 Oak Drive

Kids will kids. 

That’s the saying, isn’t it? 

Cassie gulped hard, swallowing the burning anger that had been rising from the pit of her stomach. Turning the baseball over in her hand, she walked over to inspect the damage. Glass crunched under her well-worn espadrilles. The warm summer air was being forcefully sucked into the room through the hole now adorning the bottom corner of her privacy-tinted picture window. The forced air caused the sheers to do a small dance, and she longed to feel that breeze on her face. Carefully, she side-stepped the spot of light that shone on the oak floorboards. Her thoughts raced; self-pity replaced her anger. She knew what her neighbors thought about her - the shut-in at 24 Oak Drive. In fact, she knew what her neighbors thought about pretty much everything, even though she had never met them. Like little whispers, she could hear and feel the innermost thoughts and feelings of those around her. On the left, the woman of the house wanted a baby and had been trying for three years. The man, who I assumed was her husband, had a secret vasectomy four years ago. On the right, the woman of the house was in love with the mailman, and the landscaper, and the plumber. 

Now and then, she could hear the quick thought of a random passerby. A kid on their scooter thinking about how much they hate school or a stranger regretting purchasing the dog they are now walking for their kids at Christmas. These intrusive thoughts were nothing compared to the bombardment she would face if she stepped outside the front door. This house, her fortress of solitude, was the only place where she could keep the voices at bay. As brief as they were, Cassie cherished the rare moments when the thoughts that filled her head were only her own. 

With a thud, the ball landed in the bucket by her front door. It peeked out over the top, sitting on a bed of other balls that had ended up in her home with similar circumstances. Something in her kept her from simply throwing them away. Eventually, one of the kids would be brave enough and come to ask for their ball back, and she would have a whole collection for them to choose from. Cassie returned from the kitchen with a small square of cardboard and some duct tape. She closed her eyes and took one last deep breath, her nostrils filled with the scent of sweet honeysuckle before the living room was shrouded in darkness once again.

The floorboard groaned under her slight frame, the high-pitched whine making it sound as if it could give way at any moment. Quickly Cassie moved to a more solid spot and rolled her eyes. Looking around the room, it dawned on her just how sick she was becoming of looking at the same four walls day in and day out; she needed an escape. She plopped down on the couch next to her laptop and dragged it lazily onto her lap. The screen illuminated, washing the room in a light blue haze. It’s true Cassie wasn’t the biggest fan of people, but her online agoraphobia support chat group brought her a sense of peace, even if she couldn’t tell them the entire truth. 

AgoraBoy1989: Sunshine! I wasn’t sure you were going to make it online tonight. 

Sunshine23: Just fashionably late. Make it outside today?

AgoraBoy1989: Top step of the front porch!

Sunshine23: WTG!

AgoraBoy1989: *bows* Thank you, thank you. How about you?

Sunshine23: Someone threw a baseball through my window, and I felt a breeze. Does that count?

AgoraBoy1989: Negative. 

Sunshine23: I know what I have to do. I’m just not ready to do it. 

AgoraBoy1989: I 100% understand that. You will venture into the great outdoors when you’re ready. 

Sunshine23: A sacrifice will have to be made to the Gods. 

AgoraBoy1989: HAHA. Well, in that case, you will have to wait a while. I have to jump off for a bit. Catch you later?

Sunshine23: You bet. By the way. I almost forgot, happy birthday!

AgoraBoy1989: 32 today! My mom would be so proud of her shut-in son, lol. Isn’t your birthday coming up?

Sunshine23: Good try. I told you I don’t have a birthday. I will be 23 forever.

AgoraBoy1989: ;) TTYL

Cassie sighed and gently closed her laptop. AgoraBoy1989, real-life name Steve, had been her saving grace over the last two years. It was so easy to talk to him, especially because she wasn’t able to hear what he was thinking. Knowing what people are thinking really takes the spice out of a relationship. A pain stabbed at the back of her eye. She placed her head in her hands and moaned. Hurriedly, Cassie ran to the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of pain reliever off of the island. Anxious about the pain that was now spreading across her forehead, she dumped some pills into her palm and threw them in her mouth, swallowing them one by one. With her back against the fridge, Cassie slid down the door until she was sitting on the ground, cradling her head in her hands, hoping the pain would go away. Her eyes darted open. At some point, she must have drifted into an uncomfortable sleep because, according to the digital clock on the back of the stove, an hour had passed. Not only was her head still throbbing, but she had an intense aching in her gums. 

Terrified, her eyes went wide, and she shot up off the floor. Nearly tripping on the rug in the hallway, she rushed to the half bath under the stairs. In the mirror, she saw blood dripping down the corners of her mouth. With a trembling hand, she reached up and lifted her top lip. Blood was seeping from her gums. 

“Not now. It’s too early.” She said to her reflection. 

“It’s a perfect time. It’s been far too long,” her reflection retorted. 

She felt a shooting pain again, gasped, and clutched the side of her head. This time when she opened her eyes, her pupils had turned dark red, and the pain in her mouth had subsided. Her teeth looked like they had been filed into a fine point. Cassie ran her hands through her knotted hair, pulling it at the root. This wasn’t right; it wasn’t time yet. 

A knock at the door caused her heart to pound even harder. 

“We have a visitor,” her reflection said coyly.

The knocking continued.

“Hey,” a petite girl stood on my porch with her hands in her pockets, shuffling her feet as Cassie stood back in the shadows. “I am babysitting across the street, and the kid said he accidentally hit a baseball through your window. He was too chicken to come to apologize. If you tell me how much we owe you to fix it, I can work it out with his parents, maybe.”

“Oh no, that’s okay,” Cassie said in a soft tone. “I actually still have the ball if you want to come in and get it.”

“Are you sure?” She's super weird. The babysitter thought to herself.

“Absolutely, it’s right here.” Cassie scooted the bucket closer to the door with her foot. The babysitter leaned over, extending her hand to grab the ball. Cassie’s shadow reached out and pulled the girl into the house.