Unexpected Visitors

by Matthew Voorheis

Lying on the worn-out recliner in the living room, Tom was binge-watching his favorite tv show. He heard this strange ringing noise, but he thought it was his imagination. His eyes were heavy with sleepiness, and he was slowly drifting to sleep. BANG BANG BANG. Tom Jolted up,

“WHO’S THERE!” Tom shrieked. “COME OUT!”

He ripped the wooden katana he kept as a decoration off the wall. DING DONG. His muscles relaxed; it was just someone at the door. He tried to place the katana back, but the mount was broken. He ran back to the door and opened it, not bothering to look through the peephole. There stood a peculiar group, a dwarf, a basketball with a face, and an anteater.

“We have received your invitation.” The dwarf declared.

“We were waiting for ten minutes while ringing the doorbell.” The anteater said with annoyance.

Before Tom could say a word, the group pushed past him and made themselves at home. The dwarf and the anteater wandered over to the kitchen grabbing all the food and drinks they could see. Then, they made their way to the living room with their hands filled with food. Tom was following them at a loss for words. The group shared the food among themselves and sat down. The elf occupied the recliner with the basketball, and the anteater sat on the couch. Tom finally managed to say something, “Who are you?!” Tom barked at the anteater and turned to the basketball, “And what even are you?” The basketball was too busy stuffing his face with lasagna.

“I’m Amadeus Anteater III,” The anteater said proudly. “And you must be the butler?” the basketball asked with a mouth full of food.

“I am not a butler!” Tom yelled. “Get out of my house before I call the police!”

“May I ask you,” The dwarf replied, “what is a police?” Whatever Tom did he couldn’t get them out of his house. They paid no attention to him and ate all the food.

“Please, just leave and find someone else’s house to invade!” Tom shouted.

Tom begged and pleaded, but they would not budge. It seemed that there was no end to the chaotic scene. By the end of the day, the strange group was still there, food spilled all over the carpet and crumbs were everywhere. Tom was exhausted and drained and he gave up. He walked up the stairs to his bedroom and plopped down on his bed. He had a horrible migraine headache and just wanted to rest. Tom closed his eyes and went to sleep. DING DONG. Tom woke up and was surprised to wake up in his living room, the tv still playing his favorite show. There was no sign of the weird group around, he looked everywhere, under the couch, and on the carpet for crumbs, but there weren’t any.

“Was it a dream?!” Tom practically yelled. The only way to find out was to look in the kitchen. He sprinted and hoped the cabinets were untouched. His wish came true because the food was still there. “ YIPEEEEEEEE” Tom screamed.

DING DONG. Tom had forgotten someone was at the door waiting. He ran to the door, but this time he looked through the peephole. There stood a delivery man with a package and a clipboard. The man wore a worried expression when Tom opened the door,

“Is everything alright?” the concerned man asked, “I heard screaming!”

“Yes, everything is alright, I was just very happy,” Tom replied with a smile.

Tom took the package, said goodbye, and closed the door. He picked up a knife and cut open the box,

“AAAAAAAAAAH!” Tom screamed before passing out. There lying in the box was a basketball with a face drawn on it.

You decide to leave the house. You stumble out of bed and run down the stairs. You scramble to the front door and twist the locks and unbolt the chains. You put your hand on the cold, metal door knob and twist it to the left, but it will not open. No matter how hard you try, it just will not budge. You hear echoes of high pitched, distorted voices screaming the same thing: “SMILE”! You are trying to get to the glass back door in the kitchen, but there is a strong force detaining you from doing so. You cover your ears and attempt to fight the overwhelming force of this demonic presence. You finally arrive at the glass kitchen door, you unlock it and find out that it also will not budge. What do you do next?

Go to page 39 to call the police from inside of the house. Go to page 35 to break the glass door and escape.

You feel a jolt of energy alerting you to attempt to escape to safety. You swat the bat at the door with all of your force, but you are too late. You feel a cold, jagged, and rough hand wrap around your neck. You are lifted up to the ceiling of the closet. The monster puts its long, cold, bloody finger into your mouth touching your teeth. It tears the flesh surrounding your lips up to your ear. The same is done to the other side of your face. Blood is rushing out of the tears on your face running into your eyes. You can only see blood and feel the excruciating pain coming from both sides of your face. You hear in the same disturbing voice “YOUR SMILING NOW, AND IT WILL STAY THAT WAY”! A few weeks pass as your body rots in the darkness of your closet. The police arrive and find your remains after many reports of you being missing. They found no evidence that there was an intruder. Investigators are still working on the case to this day and there are more reports of people's faces being cut into smiles.