Boredom facilitates creativity! I am now convinced. He-who-hates-writing-Venky walked to us with this story last evening. ๐
Jake was a 21 year old orphan who lived with his friend Jacob in a house near the coast of Norway. He was quite good looking with a pale face, high cheekbones, blonde hair and sea blue eyes. Since the death of his parents he had been closed up and did not show much emotion.ย
The death of his mother had been quite a mystery. Her car had run over one of the iconic cliffs of Norway and fallen into the sea. When the police had recovered the car, they found no body. The mystery of the missing body had not been solved yet. His father had died from the shock of the incident soon after leaving Jake alone in the world.
One day, Jake and Jacob decided to clean up their attic having nothing better to do. Going to the attic they decided to clean out the big chest first. It was very old and dusty and opened with a creak. Inside, lay several books and documents but the most interesting object was a doll. There was not one speck of dust on it. The detail on the doll was incredible. It had long eyelashes, high cheekbones and blonde hair like Jake, brown eyes and a small mouth.
This doll made Jake feel vaguely uneasy. Though he did not know why. He decided to get rid of it and threw it in the trash. The next day, when Jake went to clean the attic with Jacob, he saw that the doll was sitting on the chest. He figured that he had thought of getting rid of it but had actually not done so. So, he chucked the doll out without giving the matter a second thought. The day after that when Jake and Jacob went to finish off the cleaning, he saw that the doll was back sitting on the chest!
Feeling a little apprehensive now, Jake took Jacob with him and threw the doll in a nearby river. The next morning, he rushed into the attic to see the doll back in its place. He noticed a slight change in the doll. Itโs precise features were a little blurred and itโs long eyelashes were gone.ย
Feeling more than a little scared now, Jake first burnt the doll and then threw the ashes into the river. The next day the doll was back again but now itโs striking brown eyes were gone leaving a blank space where they used to be.ย
This process kept repeating until on the 13th day, Jake went up to find a smooth face devoid of any features. Now, there was a crimson stain on its left side that looked a lot like blood. This was the last straw for Jake. Feeling very scared now, he told Jacob to pack up immediately since they would be leaving the next morning. Jacob, feeling equally scared, did not protest.
The next morning, at sunrise, Jacob and Jake put the suitcases at the back of the car with the intention of never returning again. They drove all day until by dusk, both had started to relax. Jake was the one driving and now his fear had gone completely. Instead, relief washed over him.
He glanced at the rear view mirror and was paralyzed with shock. Clearly visible in the mirror was a doll. He instinctively knew it was the doll from the attic. Gone was its smooth featureless face and instead there was a devilish grin and two evil eyes that stared back at him alive with malice.
Jake was so petrified that he never saw the turn of the cliff. In his last few moments, Jake pictured his mother. A beautiful woman with blonde hair, high cheekbones, a small mouth and brown eyes with long eyelashes. Instead of feeling peaceful and calm, he felt the same uneasiness he had felt when he first saw the doll.
Ten years later, Alice, a small girl living in Norway, was hiding from her mother in the attic. She noticed a boy doll with blonde hair, blue eyes, high cheekbones and a pale face.