It’s a quiet day; a great day to just lay back and rest. As I’m resting, I think about my life. The first thing I think about is my childhood. My favorite memories are the ones with my mother and the ones with my favorite toy. I immediately call my mother. She was my hero. She was always there for me. Always protected me and helped me with everything. But then, I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why my mother and I were separated. All those memories are blurry. As she answers the phone, these words slip from her mouth:

   “How’s my big big boy?”
   “Mom, I’m not a kid anymore,” I reply with an annoyed voice, “I’m 28.”
   “Yes, I know, but you’ll always be my little boy.”
   “Yes, your little boy, who is two heads taller than you.”
   “It doesn’t matter, you still are my little son.”
   “Mom, I was just thinking about you, and I was wondering if I could come over to your house.”
   “Of course, you’re always welcome to come by. You can come now if you want to.”
   “Yeah, sure! I’ll be there in half an hour. I’ll see you then!”
   “Goodbye! Drive safely!”
   I immediately grab my car keys and take off. I can’t wait to go there. It has been so long since I’ve even talked to my mother face-to-face. I’m lucky that there’s no traffic. As I said before, It’s a quiet day today; too quiet. There’s no cars. There’s no people walking around either. It’s starting to become strange. I’m 5 minutes away from my mother’s and I see the first person for the day. It’s a police officer staying inside his car. As I go closer, I see him come out of his car and give me a sign to stop. The strange thing is that I was going 15 mph, 5 mph slower than the limit. But I stop anyway. I open my window and the officer says:
   “What are you doing outside? Didn’t you hear the news?”
   “I just wanted to visit my mother. And no, I didn’t hear the news.”
   “How far away is your mother?”
   “5 minutes, sir.”
   “Ok then, just hurry up. And lock your doors when you arrive there.”
   I close my window and move on. Maybe that’s why no one is outside. But I wonder what’s going on… I park my car next to my mother’s car and I go to ring the bell. But I find the door open. I call her name out loud, but no one answers. I enter fast and lock the door. While looking around for my mother, I find a note in the kitchen, which said this:
Dear Jason,
I’ve gone out to the supermarket in order to buy some milk, because we have none. I’ll be back in a while. You’re free to do anything while I’m not here. It’s your home. I’ll take my car just so that I’ll come back as fast as I can. I miss you so much and can’t wait to see you.
Love you,
Your mother
   I put the note down and think for a while. She said she would take her car, but I found it in the garage. I look in the fridge and find milk as well. That means she must be home. But where is she? There were no signs of her in the house. All I found was another note telling me to eat a soup that she had prepared for me. Anyway, she can take care of herself. So I take the plate she made for me, which I didn’t have to warm, because it was warm already. It felt like it was just made. Anyway, I prepare the table and start eating.
   Another hour passed and I start to get worried, so I grab my phone and call my mother. No one picks up the phone. I call again, and this time, the call is answered, but no one talks. All I can hear is someone’s calm breathing. I call after her:
   “Mom, can you hear me? Mom, can you hear me? Mom!”
No use. No one responds. I end the call and then call again. This time, no one answers, but I can hear the ringing of a phone upstairs. I don’t know what to do. I’m very confused and scared at the same time. I slowly start climbing the stairs. As I go upstairs the sound of the ringing phone gets louder. After I climb the stairs, it’s clear that the sound is coming from my old room. My heartbeat raises a lot and I suddenly feel very tired. My eyelids start feeling heavy. I slowly open the door and enter the dark room. I see nothing. I turn my head to the left, and I see someone standing by the window, holding something. But I can’t tell who it is. My vision gets blurry. My eyelids feel even heavier. I can’t feel my legs and I fall down. My eyes start to close as I see that person get closer to me.
   My head hurts and I feel tired. I find myself on the couch in my living room. Maybe I fell asleep while waiting for my mother. I don’t want to call my mother, scared that I will live the same nightmare again. I go to the bathroom to just wash my face. There was no soap next to the sink, so I started searching in the bathroom drawers. I can’t find anything but a container that said “Ativan”. I don’t think that there’s any soap in there.
   I still haven’t found my mother. After a couple of hours of watching TV, I’m tired. I want to sleep, so I start going upstairs. I slowly enter my room. Then, rapidly look to the left. Nothing is there. I switch the lights on, and get ready for bed. As I lay down to sleep, I look at my old toys across the room. But I can’t find my favorite toy. I used to look at him as a real hero, like my second mother, but a man. I can’t find it even at the place that I always used to put him. But I could find another toy at his spot. It was a toy that my mother told me was a gift from one of her friends to me. I never liked that toy. I stand up and find my favorite toy in the garbage bin. Maybe the toys pushed each other, and since it was in the edge, it fell in the garbage bin that was there. I pick it up and put it somewhere safer, where it couldn’t fall. Then I lay down and switch the lights off.
   I wake up one more time. It must be about an hour before dawn. My head still hurts. I look across the room and I can’t find my favorite toy. Surely there’s a logical explanation to that. I try to sleep again and close my eyes, but I can’t. I open my eyes again and I look outside the window. I can see someone walking his dog. Another guy is loading his car with luggage. The sky isn’t dark, but the sun hasn’t risen yet. Then I look away and I can see someone standing next to the door. My heartbeat rises and I jump on the bed to a sitting position. As my eyes get used with the dark again, I can see that the person standing next to the door is my mother. She looks at me, crying with a smile on her face. I tell her to stop crying. Then suddenly, she stops looking at me and stops smiling. She puts her hand over her stomach. Blood starts to drip out of her mouth. I start pushing myself back, but there’s nowhere to go because I’m already standing against the wall at the head of my bed. My mother falls down. Then I see a doll and a knife being thrown inside the room. I don’t know what to do. A man with a terrifying smile enters the room, looking at me right in the eyes.