Donald Nada, a 28 year old vacuum parts salesman, turned the key in the lock and opened the door to his raised bungalow home, tossing his bags into the foyer.
“It’s
good to be home,” he said to an empty house out loud.
Walking
to the kitchen to get a glass of water, Donald noticed the blinking light on
the answering machine and pressed play.
“Hi Donny, it’s me. I’m just picking
up some egg foo young from Chicken & Balls for dinner and will come over.
See you soon,” a woman’s voice said over the machine.
That
woman’s voice was Victoria Shelley, Donald’s girlfriend for three years. Even
though she was his girlfriend, she occasionally flirted with other men and
frequented the male strip joint every Thursday night.
“Chicken & Balls? She always
goes there for Chinese food because of the servers. House of Wong is just down
the street for fuck sakes and is ten times better,” Donald thought to himself
as he went to go sit on the couch.
The
house was silent, except for the creaks the house made while settling. Donald,
having to work three days at a Las Vegas vacuum convention was exhausted. His
flight back to home felt long and he was glad to be back to his house in
Brampton, Ontario. Donald was enjoying the little piece of quiet; he collected
thoughts and felt very relaxed. The doorbell broke the silence and the front
door opened.
“Donny, I’m here,” Victoria said as
she entered the house. “How was the convention in Vegas? How is Tommy doing?”
Tommy
Chode, a bald 32 year old full of himself vacuum parts salesman, thought he was
God’s gift to earth. He believed that he was far superior to anyone else and
thought he was the main reason why the vacuum part business was selling.
“I didn’t get to see much of Tommy,
he left me at the booth as he networked with everyone there,” Donald said.
“Oh who cares, what did you bring me
back from Vegas?”
“Here.” Donald dangled a vacuum key
chain in front of her face. “It’s pink, your favorite colour.”
“You didn’t get me anything else?”
Victoria frowned.
“No,” Donald answered. “But I did
pick up this awesome mug.”
Donald
ran to the foyer and opened one of his bags. He pulled out the mug which was
wrapped in newspaper. He brought it over to the dining room table, which
Victoria already set up to eat. Donald unwrapped the mug while Victoria began
to eat the egg foo young. Once unwrapped, he placed the mug on the table
directly in front of her.
“What the HELL IS THAT THING?” She
asked while spitting out some food in disgust.
“It is a glass skeleton skull mug,”
Donald answered with pride. “Isn’t it awesome?”
“No Donald, it is creepy. Where
would you even find something like that?”
“Before heading off to the airport,
I stopped at a small souvenir shop and bought it from this little old lady who
had a pointy nose with a wart on it,” Donald answered.
“It is creepy and frightening,”
Victoria began to say, “get rid off that thing or I’m leaving right now.”
Donald
and Victoria stared at each other, neither one budging. Donald could see in
Victoria’s eyes that she was upset with him and wanted him to do what she said.
“I see how it is,” Victoria said as
she stood up from the table and began to pack the food up. “Let me tell you
Donny, tomorrow I will come by and if that fucking creepy mug is still here, it
will be the last time you see me.”
Victoria
finished packing the food and walked directly out the door. Donald stood and
watched as Victoria slammed the door behind her. He walked into the kitchen and
grabbed a ginger ale from the fridge. He opened the drink and took a big gulp
of the fizzy pop. He walked slowly to the dining room table and sat down
staring at the mug. He drank some more ginger ale and then proceeded to put the
plates and forks into the dishwasher. The only item left on the table was the
skeleton mug. Donald stared at the mug, took one final drink of his ginger ale
and picked up the glass skull mug.
“At least you won’t go to Chicken
& Balls for the servers,” he said as he stared at the glass.
Donald
walked over to the dishwasher and placed the skull glass in the top tray. He
closed the dishwasher and turned it on. He smiled and headed towards the living
room. As he walked down the stairs to the living room, the dishwasher started
to light up from the inside.
In the living room, Donald turned on
the television and started flipping around the channels. He managed to find
some late night cheesy movie. Within a few minutes, he fell asleep on the
couch. Ten minutes later Donald awoke to a horrible banging noise.
“I must have left the volume high,”
he said to himself as he closed the television.
The
banging noise continued. Donald thought it must have been someone knocking at
the door and went to go check. He opened the front door and saw that no one was
there. He locked the front door and listened closely to where the sound could
be coming from. He walked slowly towards the sound, which he figured out it was
coming from the kitchen. As he got closer and closer to the kitchen, the
horrible banging noise stopped. Donald walked into the kitchen and stood still
waiting to hear if the noise repeated but everything was silent.
“Three a.m.?” Donald said to himself
as he saw the time on the oven.
He
closed all the lights and went to bed. It was all dark and quiet throughout the
house until the dishwasher lit up from the inside, the door opened by itself
and closed quickly.
Tune in next week for part two of IT CAME FROM THE KITCHEN....
