This Old Man

part ten

This old man, is no more. I found him sprawled on my bed. So I took my knife and stabbed to death. Now there's no more boogieman.
~~~~~~

All that storytelling leads us to now. The old man is in my house! But let me rewind a bit for you, to the moment my mom left.

*

The moment I locked the door I heard noises upstairs.

Against all instincts, I climbed the staircase anyways.

The noise was coming from my brother's room. The door was left ajar so I peeked inside. The TV was left on.

Still with my knife at hand, I entered the room and switched off the television.

I looked around and decided to clean the mess he called a room.

When the room was spotless, I went downstairs to the kitchen to dispose of the trash I had found.

My phone went off so I went to check who it was. It was a message from Ash saying he was on his way.

Relief washed over me and I heaved a sigh I didn't know I was holding in.

After doing some more chores and sharpening my knife—just in case—someone rang the doorbell.

I peeked through the peephole and saw Ash on the other side. I opened the door and hugged the life out him—always careful not to stab him with my knife.

"Well someone's glad I'm here!"

"You don't know how much," I told him and pulled him inside the house and locked the door behind him.

He pulled me closer by the waist and started kissing my neck softly. At the same time, something fell upstairs.

We shrugged it off and continued what we were doing when we heard the same sound.

This time we exchanged looks. I wasn't taking any chances so I grabbed my phone and dialed 911.

I told the lady what we had heard and that we were afraid. She told us not to move until the cops arrived.

I grabbed my knife again and Ash headed upstairs.

"She said not to do anything," I whisper-yelled to him.

"It might be an open window," he said.

But I knew I had closed all windows. Unless, someone opened one.

I followed him upstairs and on the top floor I saw my bedroom door halfway open. I knew I had closed it.

"Look," I pointed to my door. "I left that closed."

He moved forward. I put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that said "don't be a hero."

He kept moving and I stayed behind. The moment he entered my room, someone struck him with a vase on the head and he fell to the ground.

So much for protecting me, superman.

Anyways, I didn't stick around to find out who it was. I ran down the hall and hid inside a closet.

*

Which brings us to now. I thought I should tell you all this before I died or got raped or kidnapped. Or whatever this person wants to do with me.

I can hear him walking down the same hallway I am hiding in. He's singing.

This old man, he plays one. He plays knick knack on my thumb. With a knick knack paddy wack. Give the dog a bone. This old man comes rolling home.