[WP] Every year, on the same date, without fail, a young girl scout will come knocking on your door. You kindly reject every year. It’s been happening for 10 years now, and it might just be you, but the Girl Scout doesn’t seem to be aging at all.
*****
21st September 2021.
56 Davidson Drive.
12:00 PM.
Like clockwork, the doorbell rang. I could hear the tapping of feet on the patio as the doorbell rang again. Always the same pattern, the same female voice humming ‘Mary had a little lamb’. It was routine and had become a part of my life for the past ten years, since 2011 when I moved into the apartment. I wasn’t interested in any of the goods she offered, never had been actually. The atmosphere in the apartment building was dark, gloomy, and overall the very thing I was looking for since I was a hell of an introvert.
But the girl was one strange regularity that made my stay at the building something extra. I never understood her deal. It was always the same girl on this very day, at this very time for the past eleven years. Even if I ignored all these strange coincidences, it was the fact that she never seemed to catch the drift that I would never patronize her. She always came to sell cookies, or get my signature and a donation for some new kids drive.
You can call me evil, hateful, and disgusting for all I care, but I was not interested in any of those donations. I couldn’t bother sympathizing with another person’s struggles when mine was real, and more than I could handle. Everyone had their own burdens to bear, and there was no way I would get concerned with someone else’s when mine were clawing at my neck, threatening to draw me under.
But what seemed even worse was the fact that she seemed to never age. Of course, it might have been my delusion. The paranoia that stuck with me ever since I was a kid who endured six years of bullying from middle school to high school. Maybe it was just me seeing things and interpreting things the wrong way, but there was something about her look that screamed eternal youth – or childhood as the case presented itself. That intuition and observation made it sure that I would never ignore what I felt was true.
In eleven years, she never hit puberty. Still the same height, still the same voice, still the same facial features – there was no way I would ignore all these factors. And on this very fateful day, I felt like I had so much time on my hands, and nothing much to do, so I decided to engage her.
I opened the door.
“Good Afternoon, sir. Would you like to purchase some of our cookies today? Each box costs just 5 dollars and for every box you purchase, a homeless person in the community will be closer to having a roof over their heads and food in their tummies this winter,” she said in that patronizing voice. These kids had been well trained to use every bit of their charm to milk their targets of all their cash, and if I wasn’t such a hypocritical person, I would have been one of the suckers who actually believed that such could be made possible with these few purchases.
“Who are you? What’s your deal? What do you want?” I asked, sitting in a chair facing the door and taking a few gulps from my beer. I wasn’t interested in her sales pitch, but I felt engaging her would let her realize that I knew there was something off about her, and maybe I would finally be able to get some well-deserved peace and quiet in the apartment – or maybe I could get killed by her organization. My life really could not get any worse than the mediocre, stagnant sh*thole it had been for about three years, so I didn’t really care about the latter.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Why am I asking you to consider buying my cookies? I told you, it is for charity and –“
“Not that,” I snapped. “I don’t care about that nonsense. I’m talking about you turning up to my apartment for the past eleven years. I’m not freakin’ interested in what you’re selling okay I hate cookies, and I don’t give a damn about those homeless people, and I’m sure you don’t either, so –“
“Wait, you know I’ve been coming for ten years now? And you haven’t once changed your mind and considered actually buying? What is-“
I think then she realized that her tone, facial expressions, and posture had changed. From the moment she cut in, I was surprised at how the air around her and her demeanor immediately began to mirror that of a grown, angry witch. She looked flustered for a second, but then the mask of a childish smile returned and she said, “Thank you and gave a nice day,” before closing the door and marching down the stairs like she always would, humming her tune.
However, unlike the previous encounters, I was left with my mouth hanging wide open. What I had experienced felt surreal, like something out of a movie. And yet, it had really just happened. Right before my eyes.
I stood up and got out, determined to follow her and see where she went and what was really going on.
*****
TO BE CONCLUDED.
And I liked the conclusion! Baked twice with the love of your heart!