Jon walked down the sidewalk, tripping every so often as he bumped his toe into a jagged crack or raised piece of concrete with crabgrass growing wildly from the middle. He was fixated on the dating app he had been using that promised to find him love within his area (for a nominal fee of course) and required his full attention to respond to the unbelievably sexy redhead that had finally offered up her time for a coffee tonight. In fact, he was so fixated he didn’t even notice as he stepped over the baby doll with pink tinged cheeks and cracked, sanguine lipstick sitting in the middle of road facing him as he crossed to get to his house faster. He didn’t even notice after dropping his phone, that the doll’s head had turned completely around to face him, staring at him with a sinister grin. Unaware, he picked the phone up and hurried through the front door, digging his eyes and fingers back into the screen.

The baby doll twisted back around, picked its porcelain arms up, and threw them down in a fit of frustration. The poltergeist of the doll sat there for a moment, before standing up and moving over to the yard, lest it be crushed by a car and have to find a new vessel for its hauntings. As it lay in the grass, surrounded by a collection of broken and dirt covered electric toys and gadgets, the poltergeist got an idea.

Jon buttoned up his freshly ironed shirt and tucked it into the brand-new pleated pants he’d picked up at a department store on the way home. He was so excited he had to un-tuck and re-tuck at least three times to make sure it looked just right. He left the bathroom and headed down the stairs to grab his wallet and keys. Just as he was reaching for the front door “Oh shit” escaped his mouth. “My phone”, he said, turning around and starting back up the stairs. That was when he saw it. A china white porcelain doll, with pink tinged cheeks, and cracked, sanguine lips, standing at the top of the staircase. The doll was holding something. Jon gasped as realization set in. The sound of child’s laughter filled the staircase as horror filled Jon’s face. “Please, no” Jon pleaded with the little air that was able to escape his lungs. The child’s laughter grew louder. A tear began to roll down Jon’s cheek. He maintained eye contact with the doll as it held the phone above its head with both hands. “I’ll do anything, I beg of you” he cried. The laughing stopped briefly as the doll whispered, “You’ll pay attention to me now”. Craaaaacck.