I stood in my front yard while my coworker sped off. We tried to talk on the drive about work but the conversation died when he started talking about his new kid. Whatever, I'm happy for him.
I limped my way inside. The smell of cleaning supplies hit me. I slowly and carefully walked in. The house looked spotless. Like an ex that got over you too fast. I went to put my keys hanging only to find a sticky note that Erica wrote saying "Welcome home!" with a smiley face. I shook my head with a smirk. Only Erica.
I made my way to the kitchen to see the house covered in little colorful sticky notes. There were two on the fridge saying "Stay hydrated!" and "There's soup in the freezer, your favorite!" Sure enough when I opened the freezer draw I found a few bags of chicken noodle soup with dates on them. I took the smallest one out and put it on the stove. All I could smell was lemon. It made my stomach turn.
I decided to eat in front of the TV. There was a sticky note on the screen saying "Step goal: Walk around the house a little". I pulled it off rolling my eyes. "New step goal: grow a pair through sheer force of will" Alexa chirped at this "Playing baller playlist." And began to play cringy pop music that for some reason motives me during my workouts. "Alexa shut up!" She shut down with the little beeping nose robots make.
Then a little giggle rang softly through the house from up stares. The sound of a child getting into trouble.
Nope.
I turned on the TV. Kid show? Nope, too many kids. Sports? Nope, too many balls. Romance? Nope. Horror? Nope. Hospital shows? Definitely not. Action?... Yeah I could deal with that.
I was about halfway through the first movie when I heard another noise. I turned around to look at the stares to see a small ball that jingled and bounced down the steps. Yet again, Nope. I don't fuck with no ghost or demons things. Whatever I was seeing. I turned back to the TV and said a silent prayer for protection hoping God didn't hold it against me that I haven't read a Bible in years and even longer since I've been to church.
As the sun settled down I heard giggles and small feet running around the house. Everytime I refused to move. I quit watching the TV to follow the sun movement down the sky. I was trying to think of how I was going to fall asleep with all this creepy ass noise as I watched time slowly run out. I leaned over and grabbed the medical orange bottle. Popped the lid and took about three of them. Because fuck going up stares where I could hear the little basters running around. And also fuck stares, because stiches down there were not stare friendly. When my head settled down on the pillow I heard the crunch of paper. I lifted my head to find another sticky note. It read "Don't sleep on the couch!" I rolled my eyes and threw it to a dark corner. I watched the explosion flash in the dark home as my eyes grew heavy. I closed my eyes and just tried to ignore the sounds all around me. From the air conditioner turning on, to the tv action guys yelling, to little footsteps running around the house. I started to fall into the couch and really relax when I knew the meds were kicking in.