Hello, my name is Psychotic Sally. What I'm about to tell you is a true story. These events happened a long time ago, but they've haunted me ever since. I used to live next door to a girl named Maria who fell in love with a guy named ----. They were like no other couple I'd ever seen. They fit together so well, their love was so haunting. They grew up, got married and had three children. One of the children, Melissa, was exceptionally bright and precocious. She would question all sorts of things, and get into all sorts of sticky situations.
One time, Maria found her daughter stuck in the pantry. The pantry door had child safe locks, and it clicked closed while Melissa stood inside the pantry, looking for something she could swear was inside.
"Mommy," Melissa asked, "Can you help me find this little girl's lost hand? She told me she left it in our pantry."
"A hand?" Maria said. "What are you talking about honey?"
"Nothing mommy, never mind."
As time passed, Melissa became more and more strange. "Mommy, do you hear that scratching against glass?" she would say, even though the room was completely silent.
Or...
"Mommy, do you smell the formaldehyde? It's hurting my nose."
Maria's back would be turned whenever her daughter spoke. The sound of her voice always made Maria jump. Maria didn't know what to do. She wanted her daughter to have an active imagination, but also didn't want her to lose touch with reality. She would answer back, "No, I don't hear that scratching against glass." Or, "No, I don't smell that formaldehyde Why don't you go and find your brother to play with?" She would dream about the things her daughter told her. She would hear the scratching against glass and smell the formaldehyde. She would see her daughter in the dreams, blood dripping from her daughter's mouth. She would wake up in a cold sweat.
One night--
Maria woke up and had a horrible feeling in her stomach. She ran to Melissa's room. Melissa wasn't there. Wasn't in her bed. There was an eyeball on the mattress instead.
She screamed. Her husband,----, ran into the room, wondering what was going on.
"Where is Melissa?" she said, "Where?"
Her husband, couldn't believe this was happening again. He hated having to explain it to her over and over. "
Melissa is no longer with us," he said, "you know that." He tried to touch her arm. She turned quickly from him.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "Every year, on her birthday, you do this." He explained. "She was accidentally locked in the pantry, playing hide and seek, and you couldn't find her as the fire started. She would have been 10 years old today." Maria burst out crying, and buried her head in her arms. Her husband left the room, because he couldn't stand it.
"Mommy, why are you crying?" Melissa said, as she reached out to touch Maria. "It's okay..."