Stuffed Toy

Chapter 4 (Last Chapter)

By Michael Juha

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Mom arrived the following day.

I was in the kitchen when suddenly, “MIKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

I knew it. It was the same familiar scream; only that it was quite louder and scarier this time. She must have seen again my newest stuffed animal.

I rushed to my room expecting that she would deafen me with her litany. But when I entered the room, I saw her lying flat on the floor. She fell unconscious.

I looked at the inside of my half-opened closet. I fully opened it.

There I saw my new stuffed animal. He looked so alive, so real. My eyes could only admire his immaculate face, his dark and pronounced eyebrows, nice set of teeth, red beautiful lips and long pointed nose. His eyes seemed to speak; his long and wavy hair looked clean and fresh. On his muscled chest were soft hairs aligning down to his six-pack abs and navel and down to his manhood. He was in great shape; a modern-day Adonis.

I leaned over and pressed my ear for some seconds to check if he was breathing. “Ah... I forgot. I crushed his only one heart so no one will ever own it.” I murmured.

I closed the closet and my attention was suddenly focused on my stepmom who was lying on the floor. As I watched her in that state, an incident flashed back in my mind. It was when my real mom came back to my dad, as she said, for good. It was my seventeenth birthday. But my stepmom was in the way. As dad wasn’t around, she confronted my birth mom and threw invectives at her.

“Seven years that you abandoned father and son and ruined their lives… and now that they are already happy and created a whole new family, you suddenly come? What a shame? What is your intention? To ruin their lives again? No! I won’t let you. Over my dead body! So please leave now! Leave!!!” My stepmom screamed on top of her lungs. She was so furious she threatened to call the police to drag my birth mom out of the house.

I was petrified just watching and listening to their screams. I was in a dilemma who to choose. My birth mom was my real mother. The blood that runs through my veins was hers. But she abandoned me and my dad. On the other hand, my stepmom loved me like her real son. She understood me. She was always there for me. But still, she is not my real mom. So in my confusion, I asked my stepmom if she could give me and my birth mom a time to talk. She obliged.

I pleaded with my birth mom if the four of us could stay in one roof. I told her that it was my wish. However, she was so adamant in her decision. She said she would only stay if my stepmom leaves.

I failed to change her mind. “Mom… I try my very best to keep all the four of us together – dad, you, my stepmom, and me – in one roof, as one happy family. That will make me the happiest son on earth,” I said as she stood up to leave.

She didn’t answer. She just left. That was the list time I saw her.

Back to my stepmom, I hurriedly took the injection from my drawer. It was the same injection I gave to Marco.

“Mom... just go to sleep” I whispered as I injected into her body the concoction of poison.

I pulled her body through the secret passage of my room leading to the cellar. It was still fresh on my mind when dad revealed to me that secret passage in my room. “Son… use this secret passage in case of emergency, or when you want to escape from something.” I was so happy to learn about it. Since I was a kid, I had always wanted to do something strange, something different, something out-of-the-ordinary.

Meanwhile, it was tough dragging my stepmom through the narrow secret passage. When we were already at the cellar, I opened a closet and positioned my stepmom’s body upright inside it. She was heavy. I didn’t remove her innards, unlike what I did to Marco and all my stuffed toys. It was a hard job and I knew that the thick concrete walls of the cellar were enough to contain the stench of death.

When I was done, I opened the closet next to my mom’s. It was a long time. I still remember everything. “Dad, I’m sorry I haven’t visited you for a long time. But my stepmom is here now.”

Then I opened the other closet on the other side of my dad’s. It was my birth mom. “I told you mom… I’ll try my best to keep all four of us together under one roof. I am the happiest son now. I know you won’t leave me alone forever…

End.