It Came From the Kitchen (Part 1)

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....