The Mannequin

“That thing gives me the fucking creeps.” Amber said, looking out the passenger side window, gesturing lazily.  

“Language.” Her dad said, his voice gruff and gravelly. “But what thing?” They were stopped at a red light in the daily school traffic. 

“That mannequin right there. The one with the watering can next to those flowers.”  His eyes followed the direction of her finger, now firmly pointing at the thing in question. It stood about five feet tall, with shiny blonde hair and eerily bright blue eyes. The mannequin was dressed in a flowered gardening smock with a comically floppy hat perched on top of her head. In her stiff hands there was a watering can, posed just above the box of orange and yellow marigolds.

Amber’s dad nodded, his face pursed in thought, scratching under his ball cap. “Well, you’re right.” He said as the light turned green and traffic started rolling.

“Hmm?” Her mind had drifted elsewhere, the way that they do at sixteen. 

“That thing is fucking creepy.”

She nodded in agreement. “Guess today’s luck is off. Light was red when we rolled up.” 

“Yep it was. But you make your own luck.” 

At school, Amber kept mostly to herself. She was dodging her friends after they’d had a pretty intense argument the week before. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, but Amber was stubborn and so were they. Her best friend and her boyfriend had gone to the movies last week without her, a movie they had all planned to see. It was some dumb horror film, but Amber had been dragged into what turned into an all day family event and hadn't been able to make it. She felt betrayed that they went without her but she knew deep down it wasn’t fair to make them miss it. Avoiding any type of social interaction was almost as exhausting as having social interaction, Amber found.

Finally at the end of the day, Amber was cornered by her best friend, Faith. “Look, I know you’re pissed about the movies, I’m sorry. Okay?”  Amber crossed her arms tightly over her chest, half wanting to accept the apology, and half wanting to stay mad until the end of time. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Can we please hang out after school?” 

“I can’t today, Dad’s bringing me to some lame thing my half sister is doing at her school.” 

“Okay so tomorrow? We can watch scary movies or something, and maybe you can walk to my house this afternoon and your dad can pick you up there?” 

Amber held her furrowed, angry brow, but finally softened. “Okay. Let me text him.” So Amber took out her cellphone, one she was so proud of since she had finally paid for it in  her own money from her first job.  The two girls walked side by side out the heavy double doors at the end of the hallway. The sun was bright but the chill of October drifted past them on the wind. The air smelled deliciously like the decaying yellow, red, and brown leaves that carpeted the sidewalk under their feet. The leaves whispered incoherently to the pair, as their shoes led them down the sidewalk.

Nearly ten minutes later, when they were nearly to Faith’s house, Amber’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She read the message aloud to her friend “Ok. Meet at library 5 o clock.” She shrugged and shoved her cellphone back into its resting place, her back pocket.  Arriving at Faith’s house, the two friends threw their bags down on the floor. Amber promptly ducked into Faith’s room, narrowly avoiding awkward conversation with her dad, who was in the next room on his desk top. Faith went to scrounge up snacks to eat as they watched a cheesy horror movie from the 80s while working on homework. 

Amber realized, after looking out the window at the quickly darkening sky, that time had passed rather quickly. She hadn’t done nearly enough of her science paper, which she knew was going to annoy her parents, and she was going to be late to meet her dad at the library. “Shit! I have to get going.” She jumped off of the bed, where she had stationed herself nearly two hours ago, dusting cracker crumbs from her black skinny jeans. 

“Okay, I’ll walk you down.” Faith followed suit. Faith’s dad had other plans though. When they got to the front door, and saw his daughter grabbing her jacket, he interjected.

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Walking Amber down to the library, I’ll only be twenty minutes, tops.”

“Nope, nope, nope. Not in the dark.” 

Faith groaned loudly, but Amber encouragingly told them she would be fine. It was just a ten minute walk down the hill, no big deal. “I’ll catch you tomorrow!” She told her friend, scooting out the door. 

The air had a bite to it now that the sun had retired for the night. Her feet pounded on the cold pavement, keeping rhythm with her heartbeat. Thud, thud, thud. Every leaf scuttling across the road startled her, perhaps watching even the cheesiest of horror movies wasn’t the best idea when you’re supposed to be walking in the dark. She wanted to pick up her pace, but the hill was rather steep at times, and she didn’t want to go tumbling down. Thud, thud, thud. 

To keep her mind off of her unease, Amber looked around, spying the different halloween decorations that lit up the street. The purple and orange lights, stringy faux spiderwebs with comically sparkly spiders, the blow up pumpkins, the foam tombstones. She was briefly distracted, in the dreamy state that nostalgia brings - until she passed the house.  It was a regular house, white with a red door. There were beautiful autumnal plants and flowers on the porch and in the yard. Well maintained, and not a single halloween decoration. Yet this house made her blood feel like ice in her veins. 

Against her own wishes, her feet stopped at the edge of the grass where the mannequin stood. For moments that slowly strolled by, Amber stood, eyes locked with the plastic dummy. She felt strange looking at it. It was almost as if the thing would blink at any moment and greet her with a smile. Thud, thud, thud. Amber's heart beat deafeningly in her chest. The streets were abnormally quiet. She stared at that thing for so long, she almost convinced herself she had seen it take a tiny breath, see a finger move. Finally, she was able to peel her rubber soles from the ground, and against her judgment she ran. The wind began to blow, har and cold, the way it did this time of year.

The air burned in her lungs, the taste of metallic blood singed her throat, her eyes watered. At the end of the street she was able to stop, almost losing her balance. She turned around to look in the yard. The mannequin stood, same as it did before. She turned back to her walk, laughing at her paranoia. A door opened, and shut, on the street. Amber’s head whipped back. The mannequin was gone.  Without a second thought, Amber turned and ran, her feet pounding loudly on the street. She could almost hear another set of shoes behind her, but she knew better than to turn and look. Her phone slid up and down in her pocket with each stride, her backpack bouncing wildly on her back. 

The running feet sounded like they were gaining on her, she ditched her backpack to lose some weight. She didn’t account for the weight to throw off her balance. She tumbled down the hill. The pavement tore her favorite jeans, and her flesh. The wounds on her knees stung, tears welled in her eyes.  Amber, sore and tired, shoved herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled, her stomach churned,  yet she ran again. She could almost feel a hand reaching for her, missing her barely. The street lights illuminated the library, so close. Her dad would be there, waiting, watching the clock. 

Though she ran with all she had in her, Amber felt that she would never arrive at the library. The road seemed to stretch with each time her feet hit the ground. With one block left, the girl couldn’t take one more step. Her breath was heavy, her skinned knees burned, her legs sore. She chastised herself for sitting out of P.E. every chance she got. Against her will, Amber’s body stopped running. The steps closed in behind her. Amber squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting her stalker, preparing to scream as loud as she could into the eerily empty streets. 

A deep, shaky breath later, and Amber's eyes burned and watered from the bright headlights that approached her. She heard nothing but the approaching tires and her blood rushing in her ears. The passenger window rolled down. “Hey! What are ya doing?” Relief flooded her, tears flowing freely. It was her dad. She pulled on the handle, stumbling into the car. The door slammed, and locked, her finger pressing the button repeatedly. “You okay? What happened?” 

“I just wanna go, I’m okay.” She scanned the street, empty. “Let’s go to Celeste’s thing.” 

“It was canceled. Besides, you look like you need to get cleaned up.” He gestured to her bloody and torn pants. You can tell me what’s got ya shaken up when we get home.” 

Amber nodded. Her eyes strained into the dark, looking for any sign of whatever had been after her. They began to pass the white house with the red door. 

“Looks like they took down that fuckin’ mannequin thing.” Her dad laughed.

Amber's eyes darted around, then she saw it. The large gust of wind must’ve knocked it over, leaving it partially hidden behind the tree. She smiled at her paranoia, thinking that silly things had been chasing her. She gave one last look at it before turning back to look out the windshield. “Thanks for coming to get me, Dad.” 

During one more glance in the side mirror, she saw the mannequin was sitting up, watching the car drive away.