Gosling Security

The last thing Vivi wanted to hear was a knock on the door. Especially when she was reviewing her presentation for the new plant growth formula, RootB. At first, Vivi tried to ignore it, but the knocking persisted. She groaned and spun her chair towards the office door.

           “What!?” Vivi shouted.

           “There’s a package for you downstairs, Ma’am,” Came the voice of Maria, Vivi’s maid.

           “Okay. Leave it in the foyer,” Vivi replied.

           “Already done. May I ask you a question before I go?”

           Vivi sighed and rubbed her eyes. Why was it that people chose to bother her on the busiest days?

           “Ma’am?”

           “Yes! Get on with it!”

           “I was wondering if I could have the day off tomorrow. Since it’s Christmas and-”

           “Yes! Take the day off! And today if you have to! Just leave me alone so I can finish my work!”

           “Really? Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome. Now leave me be.”

She waited until Maria’s footsteps faded down the marble staircase, then returned to her desk and resumed her work. After some time, she started to feel hungry. She looked at the clock above her desk and saw that four hours had passed. Well, she could spare an hour for lunch. She got up from her chair, walked across the room, and opened the door.

           “Maria! Can you bring me my lunch?”

           No response.

           “Maria?”

           Still no response. Was Maria taking a nap somewhere? Not on Vivi’s watch! Vivi stormed downstairs and barged into the kitchen. She saw her lunch on one of the counters, a salad and a glass of lemonade, along with a note that read, “Thank you for the extended vacation. Happy Holidays!”

Then it hit her. She had accidentally given Maria the day off. This wouldn’t do. Vivi had work to do, and she needed Maria to keep the house in order. Vivi walked into the foyer to call Maria on the phone. Then she saw a cardboard box on the oak table, the package that Maria had mentioned earlier. There were holes on top of the box, and she could hear something running around inside. Vivi opened the box and looked inside; two goslings with brown and yellow feathers looked up at her.

Vivi immediately closed the box. Who would send her goslings!? She was the CEO of GreenLeaf Inc., not a farmer. Vivi looked at the box and noticed a folded letter taped to the side. She pulled the note off and went to the living room, where she sat in her designer couch and read the letter.

           Dear Vivi,

           Merry Christmas! Sorry, it looks like I’m going to have to break another promise. I’ve been assigned another trip and will not make it back in time for Christmas. But I hope that this gift will make it up to you. Meet Trudy and Powpow, two cheerful baby goslings. Trudy is the one with the tuft of yellow feathers on her head, and Powpow has a patch of black feathers on his belly. If you train them well, they can make excellent guard animals. I hope these two will keep you company until I can visit you!

           Love,

           Tasha

           How typical of Tasha. Ever since she joined PAP (People Against Poaching), she hardly ever came to visit her younger sister. She would say that she was visiting on a certain date and then cancel at the last minute. Tasha would send Vivi a trinket from whatever country she was in, as an apology, and Vivi always threw said gift into the closet with all of Tasha’s other gifts.

But she couldn’t stash goslings in a closet. Vivi didn’t have the time or patience to raise goslings, and she didn’t plan on spending any money on them. Vivi crumpled the note, stuffed it in her pocket, and walked back to the foyer. The box was on its side and the lid was open. Vivi ran over to the box and looked inside. It was empty. The goslings must have muscled the box off the table and escaped. But to where? A peeping sound from the kitchen answered her question. Vivi entered the kitchen and found one of the goslings, Trudy, chirping as she hopped in front of a shiny kitchen cupboard. Vivi picked the chick up and looked around for Powpow. She spotted Powpow sitting in on her expensive fluffy floor mat and he looked like he was about to poo.

           “Stop that!” Vivi cried.

She placed Trudy on the counter and ran towards Powpow. She grabbed Powpow and held him away from the mat. Powpow peeped and kicked his legs about in fear. Vivi stood up and turned around to see Trudy nibbling on her salad. Vivi could feel her ears turning red and she launched herself at the chick.

           “Get out of that!”

           The frightened Trudy tumbled out of the salad, knocked the glass of lemonade to the floor, and ran off the counter. Upon missing Trudy, Vivi hit the salad bowl. It slid off the counter and fell to the floor. She watched in horror as her lunch spilled all over the floor and mingled with the spilled lemonade. In her daze she released Powpow and he tumbled to the floor. The two goslings collected themselves and ran out of the kitchen. Vivi resisted the urge to scream as she grabbed a broom to clean up the mess.

When she finished cleaning Vivi began looking for the goslings, which wasn’t easy to do in a large house. She walked through each room calling out their names while trying to mask her rage. Yet, the goslings continued to stay hidden, and after an hour Vivi gave up. She set a bowl of corn in the foyer and surrounded it with flour. When one of the goslings came to the bowl to eat they would leave behind a track of footprints when they left. Then all she had to do was follow them. Satisfied, Vivi returned to her office to continue her work.

Night had fallen by the time Vivi had finished her presentation. She smiled as she reviewed her work once more before saving it to her thumb drive. If all went well tomorrow, the value of her company would skyrocket. Vivi got up and went to the foyer to see if the goslings had returned. The bowl was half empty, and the flour was spread, all over the floor. Vivi couldn’t tell where the goslings had gone because their footprints were all over the place. Well, they would show up again. Vivi added more flour to the pile, turned out the lights, turned on the security system, and went upstairs to get ready for bed.

~

It was midnight, when Vivi was awoken by a loud thump, from downstairs. Her first thought was that robbers were breaking into her house. After all, she was rich and lived alone. Yet, why weren’t the alarms going off? If someone had even brushed the front door, the alarm would have gone off. Everything was silent. The only explanation was that someone was already in the house before she turned on the security system. Trudy and Powpow. They must be playing with the bowl of corn and flour again. Vivi climbed out of bed, went into the hallway, and crept downstairs.

“Trudy? Powpow? Where are you?”

She heard a noise in the kitchen and ran inside to investigate. She froze when she saw a large shadow lying on the kitchen floor. Something was wrong. She reached up and flipped the light switch. The moment the lights came on, a gloved hand covered her mouth.

“Don’t try anything funny,” came a voice from behind her as a gun was pressed to her head.

Vivi recognized that voice! It belonged to Chad Bartley, the butler she had fired six years ago after she caught him stealing a necklace. The last time she had seen him was when he was being taken away to jail. The person on the floor stood up, dusted themself off, and looked at Chad. They were wearing a black mask so Vivi couldn’t recognize the person.

“Chad,” The man said. “I thought you said the house was empty!”

 “Shut it, Josh,” Chad barked. “Just get back to work!”

Josh shrugged and picked up a large black bag that was next to him. He opened one of the kitchen drawers and began loading its contents into the bag.

Chad pulled his mask off and smiled at Vivi.

“The rich people are usually at their vacation homes around this time of the year,” Chad said. “Or is it that you’re still choosing work over family?”

“Mhm mhm!” Vivi replied through his gloved hand.

Vivi struggled to break free but Chad pressed the gun to her head again.

“Remember who has the gun here,” he said.

“Hey, Chad!” Josh shouted. “The bag’s full!”

“Quit shouting!” Chad shouted. “We’re both in the same room so you don’t need to yell. Get a new bag from the truck and check the rest of the cabinets. I’m going to lock my ex-boss up so she can’t interfere.

Josh gave Chad a crooked-tooth grin and began dragging the bag to the door. Pain shot through the side of Vivi’s head as Chad pressed the gun to her skull. He removed his hand from her mouth and forcibly turned her towards the kitchen entrance.

“March,” Chad said.

“Just one question,” Vivi said. “How did you get past my security system?”

“When I got out of prison I stayed with my cousin Johnny for a while. He taught me how to override your overpriced security system. Now shut up and move.”

Chad shoved her with such force that she slid across the marbled floor. He pointed the gun at her.

“Put your hands up and head upstairs. And remember. If you try anything I blow your head off.”

Vivi gulped and walked towards the stairway. The alarm system may have failed still, she was never without a back-up plan. One of her many panic buttons were in the living room. Once it was activated, the house would go under lockdown and the police would be dispatched to her location. However, she needed to get to the living room without getting a bullet to the brain.

“Peep.”

Vivi froze. Could it be?

“Peep peep. Peep peep.” It was! One of the goslings was nearby. Vivi didn’t dare turn her head to look but it sounded like the chirping was near the living room.

“What is that?” Chad asked.

This was her chance!

“That’s my indoor alarm,” Vivi said. “Whenever it goes off the police are notified. However, if I turn it off within five minutes then the police won’t think anything is wrong. It’s in my living room so it won’t take me long to turn it off.”

Chad looked at her with narrowed eyes. She could tell that he was trying to figure out whether he should believe her or not.

“Josh, watch the front door. I’m going with Vivi to turn off the alarm. Whistle if you see anything suspicious.”

Perfect! Josh left the bag near the kitchen, walked over to the door, and looked through the peephole. Chad looked back at Vivi and gestured for her to move. Vivi walked towards the living room with her hands in the air. Suddenly, Josh shouted and jumped away from the door. Chad took his eyes away from Vivi but the gun was still pointed at her.

“Josh. What the heck are you doing?” Chad asked.

“Something touched my foot!” Josh replied.

Chad frowned and looked at the floor. The light from the kitchen wasn’t enough to illuminate the entire foyer so it was hard to make anything out.

“You’re imagining things,” Chad said. “Just stay here and wait until I get back.”

He looked back at Vivi then paused. The peeping sound had stopped.

“What’s going on? Why did the alarm stop?”

“Uh…It’s because…” Vivi stammered.

Josh let out a high pitched scream and bolted away from the door. Chad winced and turned around to yell at Josh but stopped when he saw a ghost white Josh pointing at the door. Chad and Vivi looked towards the door and saw a large white fluffy ball standing next to it.

“The hell is that!?” Chad yelled.

“There’s another one!” Josh cried.

Chad looked behind him to see another white fluffy ball near the stairs. The color drained from his face and he started backing away. He stepped in the bowl of corn that Vivi had left for the goslings, causing the bowl to flip up and hit him in the leg. Chad yelled and fell onto the box that the goslings had been delivered in. The gun went off in his hand and he dropped on the floor. That’s when Vivi made her move. She grabbed the gun and ran into the living room. There was a portrait of herself hanging next to the mantle place. Vivi tore the portrait off the wall and punched the shiny red button behind it. A siren blared throughout the house and the rooms filled with glowing red lights.

“The police are on their way,” a recorded voice blared from the walls. “Leave now or face the consequences!”

“We have to get out of here!” Josh cried as he helped Chad up.

“I know that!” Chad yelled. “Get in the truck!”

Josh ran out the front door, with Chad trailing behind him. Vivi looked out to see their truck exiting her driveway. She noticed the flour-covered goslings huddled up against their crushed delivery box, their heads buried into their bodies as they shook in fear. Vivi ran to them and scooped them into her nightgown. She ran back into the living room just as she heard police sirens blaring in the distance.

~

Dear Tasha,

Although I wish you would have consulted me before sending Trudy and Powpow, I’m glad you did. I owe these two a great debt, and I’ll tell you about it on your next visit. For now, I want you to know that Trudy and Powpow are having a great time here. They have been swimming in the miniature pond in the backyard and playing hide-n-seek inside the house. I think I will teach them some tricks when I have the time. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sincerely,

Vivi

Vivi hit send and leaned back in her office chair. When the police had arrived, Vivi gave them Chad’s gun and told them what had happened. Chad and Josh were captured at a hotel a few blocks from Vivi’s house. In court, they had denied breaking into her house but footage from Vivi’s backup security cameras had proved otherwise. Chad and Josh were sentenced to twenty-five years in prison and taken to jail.

Thanks to her presentation on RootB to investors, the demand for GreenLeaf Inc. products had increased much higher than anticipated. With the vast amount of money coming in, Vivi was able to give her employees a 50% raise and a week-long vacation. She increased Maria’s pay and offered to give her a week-long vacation from work. Yet, Maria declined the offer. Ever since the story about the break-in appeared the on news, Maria had been doing all she could to help Vivi relax from her scary ordeal. However, Vivi had Trudy and Powpow to keep her relaxed.

Vivi looked over at Trudy and Powpow who were sleeping underneath her desk in their fluffy bed. The day after the failed robbery, she took them to a vet and ordered tons of supplies for them. She brought books on raising geese and enrolled the goslings in a school that trained geese to guard things. Vivi had hated the goslings when they arrived. Now she loved them like family.