"THAT DOLL..." in "SHORTS"

No idea what had been possessing Adrian that night. Because Darla had broken up with him just like that, the tall guy with dark curly hair was immediately stressed out. He was disgruntled when Ramon, a troublemaker in the university, invited him to go clubbing with his famous gang who were equally ‘chaotic’.

A lot of beer-drinking was done that night. (In fact, Adrian does not usually consider the idea. No wonder other boys think he’s too nice.)

Now Adrian regretted it. Not only being ditched by Ramon and his friends, but he still had to drive home. Alone too! He could still feel the intoxication in his system. His head was still dizzy as he staggered to his car.

At three o’clock in the morning, Adrian read his watch. Sunday morning. Maybe the road had been quiet.

While ignoring his “blurry” common sense, Adrian drove his black car home. Indeed, the road was still empty. There were not many vehicles passing by.

Adrian breathed a little sigh of relief, when suddenly a sudden figure flashed in front of his car. Realizing he forgot to turn on the headlights, Adrian did it. The figure stopped because of the sudden light. Just like Adrian, the figure’s eyes widened in surprise. Adrian also braked suddenly, but it was too late.

Thump!

The figure was hit and thrown hard. Adrian’s heart went pounding. Damn it! He should have waited until morning, until the influence of alcohol was completely gone. What an idiot!

Silently cursing himself, Adrian turned off the car engine and got out. His whole body was immediately flooded with cold sweat when he saw a horrible sight in front of his car.

No wonder it wasn’t so visible. That figure was so tiny. A girl, who seemed to be about five or six years old. The light from Adrian’s car headlights shone on her body, which was now lying helpless on the paved road. Her convulsing, dying body. The little girl’s eyes glared, while fresh blood kept flowing from her nostrils and between her half-opened mouth - gasping for air.

Gosh! Why is this child still outside at this hour? Adrian thought frantically. Judging from her shabby, rather tattered clothes, she seemed to be a homeless child. In her hand was a patchwork doll that was just as shabby, with large black eyes that seemed to be made of a permanent dye.

Adrian hurried back into his car. Shortly thereafter, the black sedan retreated briefly, then drove at high speed. Obviously, Adrian didn’t just panic. He was also scared half to death.

“Just a dream, just a dream,” he repeatedly assured himself. Luckily, the house was still quiet when he finally arrived. His parents were still on a business trip abroad.

Adrian did not do much. He parked his car outside the garage, then staggered into the house. He didn’t even make it to his own room. Still with his shoes on, Adrian immediately collapsed on the nearest sofa. His eyes closed because he still felt dizzy.

“Just a dream,” he muttered repeatedly. “I saw differently.”

If he had seen it right, it was just some homeless kid, an evil thought suddenly snuck into his mind. Nobody. No one would care. He would be safe.

With that calming thought, Adrian finally fell asleep.

— // —

“Dri, we have already transferred your monthly allowance to your account. You may withdraw, but save some money, son. “

Adrian read his mother’s text at ten o’clock. He’d just woken up. Fortunately, a cup of black coffee could get rid of his headache and nausea.

Luckily, he only had one class in the uni this afternoon. There was still a little time to relax.

To repel the lonely atmosphere, Adrian turned on the TV. One station was broadcasting news while he was boiling instant noodles for lunch.

At lunch, the news was on TV:

“The body of a little girl was found in the Depok area. The victim, with the initials AN, was six years old, allegedly as a hit-and-run victim. Until now, the police have not found any perpetrators or witnesses who … “

Adrian gasped. He recognized the area. Although the little girl’s body was blurred on the camera, Adrian could still recognize the patchwork doll that the child had brought the night before. Yes, a doll with black, large eyes.

Oh, my God! What had he done?

— // —

“Yan, you okay? You’re unusually quiet. “
Ima, Adrian’s best friend since high school, looked surprised and confused. That afternoon, after class, the two walked side by side in the campus hallway.

“It’s okay.” Adrian didn’t feel like talking. A lot of things were on his mind. Looking from the corner of his eye, Darla - his ex-girlfriend - passed them both while chatting and clinging to Nino. Nobody looked at him, even though they clearly passed each other. It was as if they both pretended not to know him at all.

“Hey, you broke up with Darla?” Ima was aware of the direction of his gaze. “Since when?”

“Yesterday.”

“See?” Ima burst out immediately, who never hid her dislike for Darla. Her eyes flashed with anger. “I told you she was a high-maintenance bitch. Everytime she meets someone richer who can give her more, she simply ditches her previous boyfriend. “

“Ma, please.” Adrian was really tired. He didn’t want argue, even though he realized he was wrong and lost. Admitting it to Ima? What a pity! The last thing he needed right now was a scolding from a girl.

Passing by Ramon and his crew, who were having fun playing cards while smoking, somehow Adrian felt relieved. They acted as if he was invisible now, just like how Darla treated him. As if they had never invited Adrian to drink beers together.

Good. Adrian didn’t care either. Let them be. If Ima found out about them too, she’d give him a third degree.

That night, Adrian found something strange when he returned home. He parked his car in the garage, where he entered through the open front door. That was where he found it.

The doll. Yes, the patchwork doll, with big black eyes. The doll that belonged to the girl he’d hit that night before. It was now on a mat, right at the door of his house. How could it be?

Adrian’s heart pounded hard. Cold sweat flooded his body. Even so, he carefully picked up the doll - as if the doll could suddenly come alive and bite him.

Suddenly, a scary possibility crossed his mind. Adrian carefully glanced around.

There was no one looking suspicious. Adrian’s family lived in a cluster, a homogeneous housing complex suburb, where the majority of the residents simply minded their own businesses.

Even so, maybe someone had witnessed him that night. Then they had followed him silently home and …

“How come?” Adrian immediately denied it. No, it’s impossible. It must be a coincidence. Surely only a fad passed by and threw this thing into his house, just for a prank.

Adrian rushed into the house. Later that night, Adrian burned the doll in his backyard. Whatever happened, he didn’t want to see it again.

— // —

Unfortunately, that hope did not come true. The next day, Adrian woke up and found the doll in the trash can of his backyard. The same black and big eyed doll, which he had burned the night before.
Strangely, the doll was still intact. Still shabby with black eyes that seemed to glare at him with accusing eyes.

Adrian shuddered. What is this? He touched the doll a little, then hurriedly pulled his hand back. God, he was not dreaming!

Could it be that the incident last night was just a hallucination? The problem was, Adrian felt he had completely burned the doll. That night, he had even coughed because of accidentally inhaling the smoke.

That day, Adrian was almost late for class. He must get rid of the damn doll again. This time, he cut the doll in half, then burned it separately. Yes, exactly like how to kill a vampire in the “Twilight” series. It was ridiculous, though.

–//–

“In my opinion, ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ is the most fantastic work of Edgar Allen Poe,” said Ima in a literature discussion that afternoon. “This story emphasizes the importance of moral values and how human conscience is always a reminder that everyone must always be responsible for all his or her actions.”

From the benches, Adrian just froze. He knew the story. A man killed another man with a deformed eyelid just because he was horrified by the sight of it every time. That man’s strange eye looked wide, like a vulture searching for a prey. However, for some reasons, after hiding his body, the man could never calm down. Wherever he went, wherever he was - he always heard that sound. The heartbeat of the vulture-eyed man he killed.

The sound finally disappeared, only when the man finally admitted his action to the police and showed the corpse of the vulture-eyed man.

Lately, Adrian seemed to see the doll everywhere. At home, on campus. If someone had seen him when he ran the child over, that person should have reported him to the police now. Surely he’d have been arrested.

If not, why was the person terrorising him with the same doll? There were no messages sent to him with the intention of blackmailing him. Still, Adrian was more worried because he felt he was always being watched. Creepy.

“I swear, you are getting even stranger, Yan,” commented Ima, who was increasingly confused by her friend’s changing behavior. “Why, why? You seem kind of edgy lately, as if scared of something. Is there a problem again? “

“No,” Adrian denied. That afternoon, the two were in the bookstore, because Ima was looking for a new novel.

“Have you been in debt or something? Or pursued by Satan? “

Adrian immediately glared at Ima. Realising that she was picking a fight, his best friend backed away with her raised hands.

“Fine, have it your way, then,” she grumbled. “I’m going to the import section first.”

After Ima left, Adrian sighed regretfully. Damn, he shouldn’t have been that rude with Ima! The problem was, he couldn’t tell her. He was afraid.

“Ouch!”

Adrian was shocked. Again he bumped into someone because his mind was elsewhere. A tiny girl before him fell. She was now crying.

“Sorry, kid.” Adrian panicked and hurried to his knees to help her to stand up. However, when the girl looked up and back at Adrian, her blood seemed to flow out of her nostrils and between her parted lips. Her eyes were black and big, with that cold, accusing glare.

Adrian stepped back with horror. Shortly after, a young woman hurried over and helped the girl to stand up.

“Are you okay, honey?” she asked her. Then she stared at Adrian fiercely, before yelling, “Dude, watch where you’re going! Good thing my daughter’s okay.”

Adrian blinked. No, once again he didn’t see that right. That kid was just an ordinary, little girl with tears in her eyes. No blood.

What had gotten to him lately?

–//–

“Watch where you’re going!”

That night, again Adrian could not sleep well. The woman’s voice rang in his ears, mixed with nightmares about that night. When he crashed the little girl to death, then the doll …

Adrian woke up gasping for air. Cold sweat flooded his body again. While sitting and breathing, he lit the table lamp beside his bed.

Oh no!

The doll was now on his bed, right by his feet. How? Adrian always locked all the doors and windows before going to sleep. There was no way anyone could enter and leave the doll in his room.

With horror, Adrian kicked the doll while jumping off the bed, then ran out of the room. Then he stopped when he saw the same doll on the dining table. Adrian turned around. The doll was also on the telephone table.

The doll was everywhere …

“Okay, enough! Enough! “He cried. “I will admit it now!”

After removing the doll from the telephone table, Adrian hurriedly called the number required to memorize by a million people:

“Police station, can we help you?”

— // —

“Please! Please get rid of the doll! “

The two police officers looked at each other in confusion. The guy who was now handcuffed and sitting in the backseat of their patrol car kept raving like a mad man. The younger officer, with a neatly shaved chin, had checked Adrian’s entire house and returned with a report:

“There is no doll, sir.”

-the end-

(Jakarta, 7-18 / 1/2012)