the series of r/nosleep | volume one: the {smile} series

{Y}uck

Mommy's not the same anymore. At least she stopped crying.

I thought she was mad at me. When they found Wrinkles in my bed sleeping with his skin off, I thought Mommy was going to yell. But she didn't. She just cried. Daddy tried to hug her, but Mommy pushed him. I had to sleep in Derek's room.

I still do.

When the nice police officer came to my house Mommy cried again. Daddy didn't try to hug her that time. They said Derek was gone. Gone like Wrinkles. I asked the nice police officer if Derek was going to be in my bed with his skin off, and Mommy ran out of the room.The police officer wrote something down in his notepad. It was black and white. I told him mine had a unicorn on the cover. Daddy put a hand on my knee and told me to shush. I wanted to ask the nice police officer how names can be colors, but I didn't.

We went to the scary place with all the rocks and words to look at a hole. Everyone was talking about Derek like he is the nicest person ever. They even showed pictures of him wearing his football pads. I like him in his pads. His shoulders look big. Like he can carry a mountain. Like he's invincible. Tara held my hand and Chad held hers. I wish Derek was there to see it.

When we got home Mommy stopped wearing colors. She cried a lot, and Daddy was always mad. I played in Derek's room and talked to my sister in the window. The nice lady from next door brought us food once. Mommy must've made a scary face, because when she opened the door the lady from next door put the food on the porch and left real fast. I asked Mommy if I could go play with Centaur, but Mommy said no. I asked why, and she said something I didn't understand. Nose Bow Tuss. It must be a bad word because Mommy locked all the locks on the front door after that.

I ate a lot of mac'n'cheese. The food from Mrs Reynolds grew fuzzy trees on top.

Daddy and Mommy got into a fight one night. It was loud. I hid in my room with my dolls and played hide and seek with the mirror. Something broke and then the fighting stopped. Mommy came up the stairs and told me everything will be okay. I heard the door slam and Daddy's car drive away. Mommy stroked my hair until I fell asleep. She talked to herself in my mirror.

Now we're playing a game. Mommy told me to close my eyes and count to twenty. Then open my eyes. I told her that's not really a game. She smiled weird. She said the game is when I open my eyes I have to tell her what's different. I said okay.

I close my eyes. One. Two. Three. I open my right eye a little bit and Mommy is looking at me with her hands on her hips. She tells me not to cheat. I say okay and start over.

One. Two. Three. I hear something moving. I almost open my eyes, but don't want to make Mommy mad like Daddy did. My hair is still red from what she spilled on her hands. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. I open my eyes.

I'm all alone.

I don't like being in the basement alone. The washer and dryer look like hungry mouths in the corner. I'm standing in the middle of the basement and the shadows scare me. I yell for Mommy and she tells me to count again. She says it'll be different now. Something will change.

I feel tingly. I'm excited. I'm not scared anymore. I close my eyes and itch my nose. One. Two. Three. I think I hear Wrinkles. Something is whining in the corner. Twelve. Thirteen. Something hits my arm. This is going to be easy, I think. Nineteen. Twenty. I open my eyes.

I'm not alone.

I yell Chad's name and point. I tell Mommy that Chad is the thing that's different in the room. I clap my hands. He makes that sound like Wrinkles. I ask Mommy what's wrong with him and she stands in the doorway upstairs with her hands on her hips. She says nothing is wrong with Chad, he's just playing the game. I ask why he won't talk, and Mommy says it's because she has his tongue. I laugh and close my eyes. I want to play again, I tell Mommy. This is fun.

One. Two. Three. My ears hurt from trying to listen. All I hear is Chad pretending to cry. I don't know why that's part of the game, but it makes me laugh. Seven. Eight. Nine. Still no noise. This is going to be hard, I think, and then something loud crashes down the stairs. I try to guess what it is in my head. A suitcase. A basket of laundry. Thirteen. Fourteen. It sounds wet. Maybe a box of water balloons. Nineteen. Twenty. I open my eyes.

I was right about the box. I'm sad because I was wrong about the water balloons. Chad is making an awful gagging sound. I tell him to stop, he's ruining the game. Black liquid is spilling out the corner of the box. There's a tear. It smells like Wrinkles did. Mommy will be mad. I call to Mommy and her shadow stands in the doorway again. I tell her her box broke and she laughs. She says it's okay . She says it won't hurt the things any more than they already are. I look over the edge of the box. Black dolls that move and squirm like worms are squished inside. All I can say is "Yuck".

Mommy asks if I'm ready to play another game. I push the box away with my toe and ask her if it's going to be gross again. I don't like gross. Gross isn't fun. She says no, this time will be really fun. Her voice sounds different. It sounds older. I ask her what game and she says that I need to stand in the corner and close my eyes. I ask her if I'm in trouble and she says no. This time I have to tell her what's the same. I say I don't understand and she says, everything will be different when I turn around. I just need to tell her what's the same.

This game sounds hard, but I walk over to the corner and close my eyes. I ask Mommy if I need to count and she says no, she'll tell me to turn around. I count anyways, but in my head. I get all the way to fifty when she tells me she's almost ready. I try to remember what the room looked like before I went to the corner. Grey walls. Grey floors. A square drain in the middle. Chad kneeling on one side, and the box of dolls on the other. The stairs that go up to the kitchen in the middle. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to remember every detail. Mommy tells me to turn around.

I turn. "Chad's standing," I shout. "The box of yuck is on the dryer. And that's Chad's brother!" I point and laugh. "I don't know who they are, but there are one, two, three other kids down here. They're all sleeping. One boy and one, two girls. I like her hair. It looks like pink and blue crayons."

"The box of yuck is empty," Chad's brother says and pushes a button on the dryer. Chad makes another groaning sound and a big red welt that looks like a bear paw shows up on his face. He pretends to cry again. "That's curious," Chad's brother says.

I ask my mommy how I did and she says very well, but I didn't tell her what was the same. I look around the room again. Nothing looks the same, I tell her. She walks down the stairs. Her face is smiling and frowning at the same time. "What about me?" she asks.

"You're not the same at all."

She laughs and says that's right. I ask if I won the game and she says yes. For my prize she says I get to stay in the kitchen and eat pudding by myself while she runs an errand. My mommy that doesn't look like my mommy anymore pours a smelly liquid out of a red can on the sleeping kids. I ask her what it is and she says it's something to keep them warm. My mommy is nice.

She leads me upstairs. Chad's brother picks up Chad and carries him after us. Mommy says not to let anyone else in the house while she's gone. I follow them to the front door and shut it behind them. Before I do I see the big bowl of food left by our neighbor. The fuzzy trees have turned black.

"Yuck."