It was a bright afternoon and the neighborhood was slowly settling into a sleepy midday haze. The only active vehicle was a large brown UPS truck rolling down the street, being driven by a middle aged woman with light brown hair. The woman was visibly tense, tightening and loosening her grip on the wheel every so often. The crows feet beneath her eyes gave her a hazardous appearance. She was searching for a particular house. Soon she arrived in front of a quant blue house with a contrastingly bright red door she stopped the truck and composed her face into a warm, friendly smile. She reached for the small brown package next to her, hopped out of the truck and walked slowly toward the door. She knocked once and the door swung open to reveal a young boy with sandy blonde hair and piercingly bright green eyes.
"Hello," she said cheerfully. "is your mommy or daddy home?"
The boy nodded just as his mother appeared. She was a young woman(probably in her mid-to-late twenties) and her appearance resembled her son's.
"Who's at the door, Tommy?" The boy just continued to stare at the woman.
"Delivery, ma'am." she said. She handed over the package. "Careful now, it's fragile."
"I don't think I ordered anything...unless this is a mistake. My neighbor has my same last name." the mother explained, failing to notice that the packaged lacked an address.
"Your husband ordered it, I believe." the delivery woman lied smoothly.
The mother handed her son the package and said. "Take this to Daddy, but don't wake him up." Tommy nodded and walked carefully with the package, the delivery woman watching him with tense shoulders. When he returned seconds later, she let out an inaudible sigh of relief.
"Also, ma'am, there's a larger package I couldn't lift, out in the truck. For your husband as well. Would you mind helping me?" the delivery woman asked while gesturing to the truck.
"Sure." said the mother, sighing slightly as she followed the woman outside. She called back to her son to stay inside the house and the little boy stood starring at the two woman, hiding behind the door frame. Once both women were out of sight and behind the van, the delivery woman stepped back, pulling a small cloth out of her back pocket. As the young mother reached for the truck's double doors, she found herself being suffocated by a strong acidic smell. She passed out in seconds and the delivery woman removed the cloth, smiling gently down at the mother's limp form. She opened the doors and carefully placed the unconscious woman inside, laying her behind a few undelivered packages that would probably never find their owner.
Thinking quickly the woman closed the doors and walked back up to the house where Tommy had once been standing. The woman entered the house and found the boy in the living room starring at his father passed out on the couch. The brown package sat next to a few empty beer bottles on a coffee table next to him. The woman smiled at the boy gently and raised a finger to her lips signaling him to remain quiet. She held out her hand and he took it. She led him outside, taking care to slam the door shut and picked up Tommy hastily. She rushed them both back to the truck. She sat him in the passenger's seat, buckled him in and quickly ran around to the drivers side. Just as she started the engine a loud bang sounded from within the house shattering the living room window. Not even flinching the woman sped off down the street, Tommy placing his hands over his ears. She made a sharp turn around a corner and disappeared behind another row of houses as the neighbors began to file outside.