Decorating Disturbance

It was a brisk September Saturday morning and I was putting away my Summer decor and arranging my Halloween decorations in my basement so I could bring them outside to display. I was well known locally in our small town to have some of the best Halloween animatronics in the area. Every year kids love to stop in front of my house and just stand around and look at all of the creepy decorations I put out all month long. I have props of zombies, skeletons, spiders, vampires, werewolves, really almost any classic monster you can think of. I would get compliments on how realistic they looked and moved from neighbors walking by. People love my graveyard, and my window displays and would often take selfie photos of themselves in front of the props. I even won the local house decorating contest that was conducted by our town last year.

I was in my basement examining some of my prop skeletons when I heard a loud pounding on my front door. It wasn't just a knock , but a loud consistent banging from someone trying to get my attention. At first, I tried to ignore it. I don't like to answer my door ever because I dont want to banter with people trying to get me to change my cable services, buy some overpriced fundraiser item, hear about their candidate running for office, or join their church. But the pounding grew louder and more furious. I ran upstairs half annoyed wondering who this could be. I could see a large older man was at my door. He looked infuriated. I opened the door and just looked at him.

“You were supposed to meet me at the Walmart parking lot this morning, I drove two hours to get here and waited there in the lot over an hour!” The man immediately shouted in my face with his hot, stinking breath.

“I’m sorry do I know you?” I asked in an annoyed tone.

“Don’t give me that shit! We talked on the phone yesterday and you told me to meet you today at Walmart so I could buy some of the vintage items from your ad.”

“Oh, I thought that was tomorrow,” I said in an apologetic tone, trying to diffuse the conflict. I did have an ad and I knew I told the caller on the phone that I would meet Sunday as I even marked it on the calendar.

“I should just leave, this is so unprofessional, but I drove two hours to get here! Let me see what you have!” he barked at me.

He still had a rude attitude, but the thing that bothered me the most is he kept looking around me as if I was not even there to try to see inside my house. He was trying to edge his way in the front door when I told him I would have to go upstairs to bring the items I was selling outside on the porch. I hurriedly closed and locked the door as he was edging forward.

I ran upstairs and had a very uneasy feeling about this guy. His tone was hostile and I suspected he was lying about the meeting arrangement.

I found the vintage doll the man had initially inquired about and brought it downstairs. I opened the front door, but left the screen door closed between us and held it up slightly.

“Let me examine it!” he said.

“Sure, take a look”. I opened the door and passed him the doll and closed the screen between us again. He looked at it for two seconds and then kept looking past me into my house.

“I’m going to need to use your bathroom” he said.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t let strangers in my home.” I said back at him.

“Listen, I've been on the road today over three hours. I need to use it!” He yelled back at me. "Show some consideration to your potential customer!"

“How did you know where I lived?” I asked him, changing the subject.

“What? What did you say to me?” he angrily yelled back.

“I told you to meet me at a Walmart parking lot because I don’t feel comfortable with strangers coming to my house. Again how did you know where I live?”

“He looked at the doll and said how much do you want for it?” totally avoiding my question.

“Forty Dollars” I said back.

“Forty? Are you kidding me? It’s not in its original box and it’s missing an accessory on it's belt.” he said condescendingly.

“Ok twenty” I said.

“I can’t go over twelve for something like this” he yelled back. “Can I come in and use your phone? I can find out it’s really worth from my buddy who deals in antiques”.

“No, Give me ten and it’s all yours!” I said. I didn’t want to haggle any longer and I did not want him inside my house.

He begrudgingly pulled out his wallet, acting like he was doing me a favor by doing this sale. I opened the door a crack to receive the ten dollars and again he was trying to use his body weight to force the door open further.

I tried to shut it and again he asked about coming inside to use my bathroom.

“No I am sorry, our business here is done, there are retail business down the road about a half mile that you can use the facilities at.” I said.

“You sound pretty nervous, like you are trying to get rid of me quickly. Are you the only one home?” he asked.

“I live alone” I said. “Oh I should not have said that” I thought to myself. I quickly added “I mean ... my family is out at the grocery store they will be here any moment”.

“What else do you have in there for sale, the ad said you had several items?” he asked looking wildly past me again.

“Nothing more, that’s it, sold the rest. I’m busy, I have to go” I said as I tried to close the door.

“I asked around at the shopping plaza”.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I asked around until I found someone familiar with your name and got your address. I drove all this way and got this junk doll from you. You should have only charged me five”. he said in an angry tone. “Give me five dollars back”.

“No a deal is a deal, please leave” I said sternly.

He grumbled something and stormed off my porch. I watched him get into a truck parked across the street.

I tried to forget this unpleasant encounter and went back downstairs to continue to attend to my decorations for about a half hour. I looked across the street again and saw the truck never left. He was sitting there, staring at my home, looking at each window and the door at the front of my home. Just staring as obvious as one can get.

I almost thought about calling the police, but I really didn't want any trouble. I mean no crime had really been committed. He bought something from me from an ad I placed. He was a jerk, but he’s not getting arrested for being a jerk. He was making me really uncomfortable though. I felt trapped in my home. Maybe he will leave soon I thought to myself.

I went upstairs and noticed a sound coming from the side of my house. I looked out the window and there he was on my property looking at the side and rear of my home.

“Hey what are you doing?” I shouted from the upstairs window.

“A man had to use the bathroom and was refused. And I’m a paying customer!”. He shouted back, “so I took care of business elsewhere!” he screamed.

So hopefully this was it. I see his truck lights come on and it starts to move slowly down the street.

I am relieved and try to take my mind off of the troubling events. I get lost in my decorations for another hour and come back upstairs around four PM.

I go to my kitchen and try to find a snack to eat. I walked over to my back window and there was his truck parked on the street behind mine. He had his head turned and was facing towards my house just staring like he wanted inside.

“This is not gong to end well” I thought. I was nervous all evening and kept seeing him staring at my house. At 10 PM, I shut out all the lights. I knew he was still out there in the neighborhood. I felt like a trapped rat. I sat in the dark waiting for his next move. I kept peering out the window at regular intervals. At some point after 2 AM, I fell asleep in my chair.

Shortly after I awoke, and I heard a sound coming from my kitchen door leading out back. My hair stood on end and my leg was shaking uncontrollably. I knew he was there. He was inside, I could hear his footsteps. I had to try to find him before he found me. I knew this house and he didn’t.

I saw his large hulking body moving awkwardly towards me when I shoved a blanket in his face. He swung wildly and then tripped and fell to the floor. I tightened the blanket around his nose and mouth until he did not move. He was still alive but passed out. I had a stash of chemicals in the basement and knew which ones to use to cause him to pass out in an even deeper state. He awoke around 4 am in my basement. I had him tied down on a large table.

“Hi there buddy! I have removed your tongue” I said.

“Actually, I operated quite a bit on you. You will not be able to move anymore, other than a few basic nervous twitching movements.” I said. “You will look very creepy this year, I know you will be a hit! I think I’ll make you an angry zombie, not many alterations needed at all. No need to worry yourself, once you expire, I will continue to have you twitch with some wires and batteries, I know how to make this stuff work. Did I mention, I am well known to have some of the best Halloween animatronics in the town? And each year it gets better! Welcome to the collection!”