No-Face(Elizabeth V. Tran) (Note that author was 16 years old when she wrote this story.)


"Honey, it's time to come in."
"Okay, Mommy. Just one more minute."
"Well hurry up sweetie. It's getting dark."

When the six-year old boy opened his patio door, he dragged in his mud-covered shoes. He was approached by his mom to take a quick shower and wear semi-formal clothes for the dinner later that night. After the five-minute wash, he clothed himself in a white polo shirt and newly purchased white dress pants. He was eager to meet his grandparents for the third time since they lived ten thousand miles away from him.

Later that evening, his grandparents arrived with a box, tightly sealed up with duct tape. Curious as to what was in the box, he questioned his grandma. She told him to open it, since it was a gift to her beloved grandson. He quickly ran to the leather sofa and eyed the two feet by one foot box. Jordan thought, "How am I supposed to open this?" With a desperate look on his face, he screamed for his mother. She quickly arrived and tended to his needs. The adults opened the box with a kitchen knife. Inside the box was a porcelain clown, with a thin rectangular slot on his red, curly hair. Jordan's eyes gleaned of joy and immediately he wrapped his chubby, little hands around the doll and rushed out of the living room. He entered his room and placed the object on his desk.

At around ten o' clock, his grandparents left because their flight back was in three hours. Goodbyes, hugs, and kisses were exchanged. Soon it was time for Jordan to sleep, so he brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas. When he climbed onto his bed, he noticed the present out of the corner of his eye. He looked at it and smiled for it was going to be filled up with coins in no time. His mother came in, tucked him, and said, "Goodnight, Jordan."

"Night Mommy. Don't forget!"
"Of course I won't," she reassured him. Before she left the room, she made an arc-like motion with her index to turn on the nightlight. She closed the door silently.

For the past couple of nights, the mother awoke to the screams created by Jordan. For three nights in a row, he had nightmares of a person who watched him sleep. His mother tried to calm and remind him that nightmares were merely dreams, they could never come true. She decided to remove the clown from the room because that may have been the sole reason that sparked these series of nightmares. Jordan hesitated at first because it reminded him of his grandparents, but he gave in under one condition-it would be placed in his mom's room, for that was the safest place in the house. The mother cautiously placed the porcelain object on her business desk which was located at the far right corner near the window. This plan worked excellently since Jordan did not have any nightmares for the past four days.

Late Tuesday night, the mother experienced a terrible dream. She could not remember it quite well; all she could gather was that an unidentified man had taken her child away for some unknown reason. She decided to get a glass of water to calm herself. As she rose up from her bed, she noticed the clown staring at her with those menacing eyes. She quickly left her room and headed towards the kitchen. As she approached her cupboard, she noticed the patio door was opened. "Well this was odd, I remembered closing that door," as she silently spoke to herself. She walked lightly over to the door and closed it tightly. Then in the reflection of the see-through door, she saw Jordan's door slightly close. She became alarmed and grabbed a weapon closest to her, her son's baseball bat. As she silently crept to her son's door, she noticed the nightlight wasn't on. She always perceived the light as a feeling of divine care or presence in the room. Before doing anything drastic, she thought for a moment and directed her focus on the door knob. On the lower rim of the knob was the color of red, which symbolized evil tainted by someone's hand. As she peered in through the crack since the door was left ajar, she felt a presence lurking around. When she adjusted her position a little to the left, she witnessed a boy, a man, someone standing four feet away from her, with his back turned to her as he watched the boy sleep peacefully. With a small tint of fear in her mind, she pushed it aside. Suddenly she rushed in with the bat in hand and with no time for the stranger to react, the bat and the back of the man's head clashed, leaving the person unconscious.

Immediately she dialed 911 and the police arrived no sooner than six minutes. She tended to her son who woke up after the impact and soothed him that everything was all right. While she hugged Jordan tightly, she was curious as to who this intruder was. His face was painted white, like the color of innocence, and his lips, eyes, and curly hair were colored red, of evil and a resemblance to the devil. Although his clothing was hard to see since he wore a black trench coat, it looked like there were polka dots, of red and yellow-a lively, child-like color-on his shirt. When the police rang the door bell, she immediately rose from the bed and carried her son with her. Before she left the room, she glanced back, saw the motionless person, and breathed a sigh of relief that her son was okay.

After the intruder was arrested and the hours of interrogation ended, everything seemed to be normal again. The five-foot three-inch man had to serve four years in county prison for numerous counts of burglary. Two years later after the incident, the mother received some unsettling news. After flipping through countless channels, she landed on her local news channel. Her eyes widened as she saw the scene where the reporter was covering.

"I am reporting live from Parker Ellie County Prison. A man by the name Harry Twink, who has been serving for counts of burglary, has escaped. County police are still investigating how this man managed to flee. More details at ten. Everyone, especially parents, remember to lock all your doors and keep your child inside the house before it gets dark. This is Beau Marc reporting, back to you Ernie Parker."

"Oh dear Lord," whispered the mother. Suddenly she heard a high pitch scream coming from her front yard, the last place Jordan was seen playing.

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