She parked in the dead end and eyed the front door in the mirror. A green door with a cotton boll wreath and a ‘welcome to our home’ sign in the center. The door made the house inviting and the recent deliveries piled up in front of it made it more inviting. She looked around. The only thing she saw was a white wire reindeer, holiday ribbons, and an inflated Santa Claus bouncing in the wind. The driveways were empty including the driveway in front of the house with the packages. It would be too easy.
She opened her door and sprinted to the green door. She inventoried the packages and weighed each in her mind. She then reached down to pick one up.
“I wouldn’t do that,” came a voice from above her. She looked for the voice and failed to find anyone near. She hesitated before running back to the car with the package.
“You’re going to regret that. I can see your face,” the voice faded as she reached the car.
With the package in hand, the woman rounded the cul-de-sac and rushed out of the neighborhood.
At a nearby park, she sat with the package on the passenger seat anticipating the treasure inside. This was the best part. She only took the small packages because they usually held something she could use and something the true recipient could do without. This one felt a bit heavier than usual. Maybe it held something real good?
She tore off the tape and stuck her hands into the package. She felt something cold, wet, and sticky. She pulled her hands out and found them covered in dog shit. Cold, wet, sticky, nasty dog crap and blood.
“Yuck!”
The remaining packages sat near the green door waiting for the next thief and all of them contained something messy and ugly. Our homeowner spied the woman’s face on his phone. Lovely. She likely won’t come back. Too bad she only took the small box. The biggest package contained the head of the last guy who tried to steal from him. A cold, wet, sticky, nasty, bloody head.
© 2018 – 2019, Michael Shawn Sommermeyer. All rights reserved.
