why don't you open that one next sweetheart that Christmas was lovely one of the best in a while in the recent years my parents hadn't been able to drive up as often on account of the heavy snow heaviest in 30 years their grandfather would say to me over the phone when I pleaded with him and I could hear him comedically puffing his cigar and tilting back the armchair there's no way we could make it up there and back before next Christmas but this year it finally lit up and they made it I couldn't have been
happier I leaned into my husband's side as my daughter shredded the wrapping paper encasing her huge final present with an enormous smile plastered across her face a dollhouse I couldn't help but gasp it was huge pristine complete with three stories Little Flower Pots hanging from the window sills and even a little front yard I reached out and ran my fingers across the plastic grass just to be sure my daughter was beside herself she had been begging for a dollhouse for months now but I kept snubbing her knowing what her grandparents were planning it's beautiful mom
I said it's so pretty my daughter ran over to hug my mother and then my father they laughed and patted her head telling her that they would do anything to make her happy I couldn't stop staring at the beautiful dollhouse where did you find this I gently tapped on the Windows if I hadn't known I would have sworn they were made from real glass found it online my father grunted leaning forward to unlatch the walls and open it up the inside was even more beautiful than the outside even the art on the walls looked real
from a nice family it's funny they never even accepted our payment just some real nice folks a little dull family sat on the living room couch gazing up at with their blank Smiles a happy family of four my mother keened clasping her hands in front of her chest just like you right then my son steered his new remote control car into the dollhouse toppling it over my daughter began to shout and my husband squeezed my waist lovingly but before jumping into action trying to Quail the conflict by bribing Christmas cookies I looked at the dolls
now spilled from the couch to the floor their faces still happy and simple I reached out and carefully placed them back in their seats on the couch I couldn't help it the weeks after Christmas were a little bit hectic as they tend to be my days were full of packing decorations back into boxes and picking leftover bits of wrapping paper out of the carpet I was happy to have my children home for winter break even if they only added to the chaos it got a bit lonely sometimes during the school year with them gone and
my husband at work most of the day I dreaded when they would all be gone again leaving me alone with an empty Nest I didn't know what I would do when they went off to college but that was something I wasn't prepared to think about it wasn't my dream to be a stay-at-home mother and wife until I met my husband I wanted to be a full-time artist but that isn't necessarily a career you go into with nothing to fall back on was it and who was I to argue with my fate every night after my
family had eaten my dinner and all the dishes were taken care of while my husband waited for me to come to bed I checked on the children it was my favorite time of the day I would gently crack open their doors and Peak my head inside listening to their breathing for a few seconds and watching their blankets rise and fall my daughter was 10 and my son was 12 so occasionally I would catch them staying up past their bedtime and nobody tell my husband but I would usually just pretend I didn't notice especially in those
few weeks it was their break after all and they just wanted to play with their new toys I would often hear scrambling behind their doors as I walked down the hall and opened the door to find them with the blankets pulled over their faces and snoring theatrically to try and trick me however after a few nights of checking on my daughter and finding her dollhouse lights on I began to feel worried one morning I decided to ask her about it Sylvie I called clicking the coffee pot back into place and reaching for the fridge honey
have you been staying up late I heard her spoon clink into her bowl of cereal no I splashed some cream into my mug are you sure you're not in trouble I just noticed your dollhouse lights have been on and they've never been on when you go to bed I heard her hump and I turned around to see her Crossing her arms frowning down at her breakfast I'm not staying up mama it's not me what do you mean it's not you Kev is the one playing with my dollhouse and he never asks me for permission either
I know he's doing it I opened my mouth to reply to ask what she meant by that but before I could my husband walked in hello girls he said in his breathy dreading work voice and wrapped his arm around my waist coffee I nodded shrugging at the pot behind my back my daughter's words still nagging me soon after that day the dreaded came to be my kids had to go back to school and and I was once again left alone during the day the first day of this right when I was getting bored of reading
my book and trying to think of what I was going to do to keep myself entertained I heard something from upstairs it was like something falling I frowned and pushed myself off of the couch wrapping my car around myself to fight back the drafty cold when I got upstairs I wasn't quite sure where to look for the source of the sound even so something drew me towards my daughter's bedroom at the end of the hall I gently swung the door open looking around nothing looked immediately arai the room was the dimmest in the house besides
the Attic because the window was the smallest letting in the least natural light during the day the darkness Drew my eyes right to her dollhouse sitting innocently in the corner the windows glowing with yellow light I very carefully cracked the toy open examining the inside it took me a moment to find the dull family but once I did I smiled out the mother and father dolls were sitting on the couch downstairs their faces trained ahead as if watching TV the children were upstairs in one of the bedrooms the girl was laying on the floor as
if she toppled over and the boy was standing above her I mentally commended my daughter for how maturely she had been playing with the dollhouse could that have been what I heard falling maybe the Girl doll had been standing and had simply toppled over after a while I carefully stood the doll back up Switched Off the Lights inside and went back downstairs that night after dinner my husband popped down on the couch and kicked his feet up my children hadn't yet gotten rir of all of their energy so they were were running around the house
playing their own version of tag sit with me my husband said grinning at me and patting the couch next to him you've been cooking all afternoon I relented taking a seat next to him he pulled me close giving me a kiss on the forehead and switching on the TV before I could relax a scream rang through the house my daughter's scream my husband and I rushed upstairs we found them in my son's room my daughter on the floor her knee bleeding and my son standing above her guiltily I'm sorry we were just playing my daughter's
brown eyes were welled up with tears he pushed me the strangest sense of deja vu washed over me so powerful I felt a bit dizzy I reached out and helped my daughter up examining her injury once she was standing oh let's get a Band-Aid on that I said gently pushing back her hair she nodded then the power went out after that night for some reason the energy in the house began to get worse all of the winter break High had diminished and we seemed to all be left feeling a bit empty the house felt lonelier
when everyone was away and when they were back it wasn't very much better the worst was my daughter I noticed she hardly spoke at all anymore more she would come home with red swollen eyes throw her pink bag down on the couch and go to her room she hardly left her room at all unless it was for a meal or unless I made her come out one day I decided I was going to search her room I know it didn't earn me any mum points but please don't judge me too harshly I was starting to
feel incredibly worried we had always been such a happy close family especially my daughter and I and this change had been so abrupt and violent I worried about the boys as well of course but I just wanted to know what was going on with her while she was at school I went through her room I looked under the bed I looked through her desk and dresser I even lifted up her carpet in some places I didn't find anything at all not a diary or a journal not even a suspicious box finally I ended up in
front of the dollhouse it was open this time and the lights were off I Rel uly appeared inside a sense of dread welling up inside of me I didn't see any of the Dolls at first it didn't seem like any of them were inside of the dollhouse maybe he discarded somewhere else in her room or maybe lost in Kevin's room sitting in his remote control cars because he needed drivers to crash them into things maybe she was just bored of it now but then I saw one of them it was the mother doll long brown
glossy hair and a colorful floral dress making her stand out she was standing in one of the bedrooms the girls I assumed by the decor in one of the corners the doll was just standing there facing the wall the wallpaper pressed up against her plastic stick nose I glanced over to the corner of my daughter's room then back at the dollhouse then back again as if the doll was going to move when I wasn't looking I slowly walked over to the corner reaching out and brushing my fingers against my daughter's purple wallpaper right when I
was beginning to feel incredibly stupid I felt a Ridge I carefully pried my fingernails into the dent pulling until I felt it give there was a piece of the drywall missing and I had never known inside the cracked part of the wall was a notebook and some other small things from around the house that I thought had disappeared I found candy missing jewelry even silverware I wondered how long she had been hoarding things right under my nose when I looked back at the dollhouse nothing was different I knew that nothing was different but that didn't
stop me from thinking that maybe the doll had moved anyways just a little bit it didn't stop me from feeling like it was looking at me from the tiny model house after that I put the dollhous in the Attic something just felt terribly Sinister about it it made me feel sick knowing it was just up there in my daughter's room maybe it was selfish I certainly began to think so when I saw how upset it made her when I told her but it wasn't something I was willing to budge on I planned on giving it
away to some neighborhood kid but eventually I started to forget about it the things didn't change anyways I felt silly for thinking that maybe they might I had been superstitious in the past but it had never gotten this ridiculous things stayed the same my children continued to be quiet and anxious creatures and my my husband stayed longer and longer at work I spent my days wandering the house aimlessly cleaning and tidying things and preparing meals my purpose was draining right along with my connection to my family I convinced myself it was just the school year
that it would get better by spring break and I almost forgot about the dollhouse I almost forgot until spring cleaning I decided to get a head start having not much else to do besides clean and when I finally reached the attic with my duster and my bucket of soapy water my heart sank I felt like I could feel it getting eaten away by my stomach acid there it was the dollhouse it sat peacefully beneath the window between my husband's Dusty shotgun and a stack of old books and clothes the lights inside glowing out of the
little plastic windows I stared at it for what felt like an hour before I could get up the courage to walk over to it the latch felt like it echoed endlessly bouncing off the attic walls and into my ears it was stening the dollhouse creaked like it had been waiting a thousand years up there I cracked it open like a rib cage I was scared of what I would find inside but I had to know I knew exactly how I had left it I had left the family on the couch just like it had been
when my parents had first gifted it to Sylvie nice and neat the dolls were not on the couch when I looked inside the first thing I noticed was the children the dolls were propped up in the hallway of the house leaning slightly towards the bedroom door as if they were listening for something their plastic hands were pushed together clumsily as if they were holding them and I could have sworn there were Expressions on their faces that hadn't been been there before although I couldn't make out what they were inside of the bedroom the woman was
leaning against the door her face in her hands and her brown hair frizzy as if she had run her hands through it too many times in the bed the man was sitting up and next to him there was a lump I frowned so hard that I began to develop a headache there was a lump at some kind of shape next to him in the bed I slowly reached out intending to touch it to pull back the tiny felt blankets something I nearly leapt out of my skin at someone banging on the attic door my hand
flying to my heart honey are you up there I glanced at the dollhouse and then at the attic door my eyes wide feeling frazzled and disoriented yes I called out shakily coming I rushed downstairs my hands trembling when I reached the second floor my husband looked at me straight ly Anna are you feeling all right I swallowed hard looking him up and down and then at my children they were scooping ice cream with plastic spoons out of little styrofoam cups my husband seemed to notice my confused expression he reached out and rubbed my arm briefly
after I picked them up we went to get ice cream he explained with a smile I felt a strange Ripple of Fury run through me almost knocking me off balance I had to actively try to not glare at him who did he think he was picking them up and taking them out to get ice cream when my children would hardly look at me who did he think he was stealing my children I was a bit shocked by this mood swing and I reached up to smooth out my hair with my shaking hands have any of
you been up to the attic recently I asked trying to keep my voice even my husband frowned no I don't believe so you kids they both shook their heads their lips pink from the ice cream none of my family particularly liked the attic it creeped them out especially my daughter I licked my lips nervously the next few days were hell for me I was thrown into a constant state of fight or flight wondering if what I saw in the dollhouse was my reality but I couldn't tell anyone about it they would think I was sick
they would think I was completely insane that I wouldn't let anyone take me away from my family finally I reached a breaking point I told my husband I was going to stay with my parents for a few days and I left without so much as a packed bag it helped to get away but I couldn't have stayed forever and after the weekend I drove the 4 hours it took to get home feeling slightly more stable than before that didn't take long to change even just walking up our front path I knew something was wrong things
felt tense I couldn't explain it I pushed open the front door and I found my kids already waiting for me hi Mom my son had a solemn look on his face he smiled nervously up at me when I went to push past him he reached out to stop me stay stay down here please Mom just just for right now it felt like my heart had been tied into an Ever tightening knot I looked down my son was holding my daughter's hand I walked past them ignoring my other child's pleading and I stormed upstairs in our
bedroom I found my husband and I found another woman in bed with him most of her naked body concealed by our blankets the blankets I had picked out for us I began to cry I cried so hard I couldn't even hear my husband's Hasty explanation his begging for forgiveness hiding my face in my hands when the woman whoever she was slipped past me and through the doorway I fought the urge to grab her and Bash her head in that night I dragged the dollhouse down the stairs and slammed it down on the coffee table right
in front of the couch I slept on I couldn't bear to be in our bedroom after what he had done to me what he had done with my children my babies right downstairs I choked down some bile staring into the yellow Windows aimlessly I had to watch I had to watch so I could know I had to watch so nothing terrible happened to my family over the next few days my husband tried desperately to get to me he tried everything he begged he cried he yelled he even acted as if he was going to hit
me a few times just to get get my attention but it never worked eventually he gave up sometimes my kids would sit next to me but mostly they avoided me I think they were scared I think I was scaring them but I didn't care I wouldn't leave the couch I couldn't sometimes things would change I noticed the second I looked away I would get back from the bathroom or wake up from another fitful night of sleep to see the dolls had moved a little bit around the house that they were in their rooms or at
the dinner table but never the woman never my doll that one stayed glued to the couch facing me with its blank pain painted face however one day that was different when I woke up at the crack of dawn I jumped up to check the dollhouse and I nearly threw up right on the carpet the carpet that was now mildly stained with blood dripping from the glass table the doorhouse was in disarray in the living room lay the sun his plastic dull arm all but broken off snapped into two places it hung on by a tiny
sliver I could see the bone also plastic and red blood dripped from the wounds without thinking I touched it with my fingers bringing them to my nose it smelled metallic it smelled real manically I picked up the doll my son holding him in my trembling blood smeared Palm I desperately tried to fix it pushing the arm back into place but it only broke more Beneath My Touch Kev Kevin I shouted at the top of my lungs into the quiet house my voice breaking I stood up from the couch I felt like the walls were pressing
in on me and I couldn't catch my breath mom my son poked his head around the corner gazing sleepily down the stairs at me are you okay oh thank God I stumbled towards him climbing up the stairs on all four PA my knees felt too weak to climb them normally when I got to him I wrapped him in my arms squeezing him until he whimpered are you okay he asked again his voice small he was scared I realized I was terrifying him I loosened my grip just lightly kissing his sweaty forehead yes I breathed I'm
okay honey Mama's okay I was just worried about you he took a small step back but I held on to his arms tightly I didn't want to let him go why Mom I wiped the tears off my face CL dsily I hadn't even realized I was crying I'm worried something terrible might happen to you his face crumbled in fear and he stared at me what oh don't worry about that don't worry everything will be okay you're safe just stay here just stay right here I knew I was rambling but I couldn't stop myself seeing his
precious face unharmed was like a drug to me I gripped his arm Tighter and he squeaked in pain just just stay with me I said as the words left my mouth he pulled pulled his arm away from me I reached out for him and like it was in slow motion he stumbled away from me he stepped backwards but there was nothing to step on he was right on the edge of the stairs I tried to grab him but I couldn't he was already falling today is the day he gets back from the hospital I feel
like I haven't slept in days the GU is eating me alive my husband says he isn't but I know he's keeping my daughter from me I suspect he's sneaking out the back door when I'm not looking to take her to school I just want to see them I just want my family to come back to me the guilt and the anger is eating me alive today is the day he gets back from the hospital and today is the day the dollhouse was drenched in blood all the dolls are sprawled out across the living room carpet
riddled with bullet holes their guts spilling out on the floor and their plastic Smiles obscured by Gore and gray matter all of the dolls but one the mother stands in the middle of the bodies holding a toy shotgun it looks like something that might have come out of my son's room but I don't know how it could have gotten here I could swear I saw it crying today is the day I looked in the window of the dollhouse and saw myself having murdered my entire family the family I love so dearly and today is the
day I looked out my own window and I smiled I smiled a blank plastic smile and I looked and looked and looked [Music]
