I'm on the first step…

Intro

This is one I was told when I was very young. It's amusing if anything. It tells the story of a certain Lucy who loves her china doll. Until her china doll takes revenge for neglect…

The house was a fairly large semi detached house. It was late; around nine pm for a young girl of seven to return home. Being winter it was dark and raining. Lucy ran from the street up to the wooden door and rang the doorbell crying "Mum, Mum let me in." After a while the door creaked open and Lucy wondered into the long wooden hall lined with stairs.

"Lucy. Where have you been!" Mother yelled at Lucy. Far from being afraid of the old women with curly black hair and a long nose that balanced spectacles, Lucy simply replied,

"I was at school mummy. I was drawing. Look." Lucy rummaged in her bag and pulled out her sketchpad. Mother sighed put decided to humor the little girl. She took the sketchbook from her daughter's arms and opened it. The first drawing was of a china doll. Mother recognized it immediately. It was a very expensive doll that had been passed down through the family for years. It had been Mother's most beloved possession. Mother thumbed through the book and froze.

The next page had the same doll on it, but with a tiny chip on it's arm with a caption reading 1890. The one after that the doll had a long scratch on it's face. The caption read 1943. As mother looked through the book she notices as time went on the doll slowly got more abused and well, broken. Finally she got to the present. The doll was missing an eyeball and most of the hair had been torn out. She turned the page. The caption for this page was Thursday. The doll was no longer smiling. It was grimacing. It had a large kitchen knife in one hand and blood on it's dress. It was walking up a staircase. Mother was shocked,

"What made you draw these things? Why did you draw them, sweety?"

"She told me to." Lucy spoke distantly, almost painfully.

"Darling these are good drawings but they're horrible. I don't want you to draw them anymore. Draw nice things for mummy."

"Oh, Okay." said Lucy. She climbed the staircase into her bedroom. It was a small room with a bed and a closet. It was painted pink. On her bed lay the doll. It smiled up at her. She picked it up and admired it. It was her favorite. Lucy. Sweet lucy. I love you.

"I love you too." said Lucy.

Mother was upset. The macabre image of the doll had been burned into her head. Why had she drawn such things? Were there more? There only seemed to be one solution: Get rid of the doll.

The following morning after lucy went to school Mother went into her bedroom. The doll lay motionless on the bed. Something was wrong. Instead of the smile that was usually on the dolls face there was a grimace of rage. The one eye was staring angrily at her. Mother felt her insides freeze. Then calmed herself. She would not let herself be beaten by a doll! She grabbed it and ran downstairs she went outside and threw it in the dustbin. She slammed the lid down and caught her breath.

Lucy came home late again. Mother was angry again "Lucy, where have you been."

"At school mummy. I drew some more pictures!"

"May I see them?"

"Yup!" Mother took the sketchbook from Lucy and opened it. There was a picture of the doll in a jail cell. The next picture showed the jail cell open.

"Why did you draw these pictures!" Mother shouted and grabbed Lucy.

"Why?!"

"Because she told me to. She showed me all about what happened to her. But she's coming. She says she'll take her revenge."

"When? When!"

"Tonight." Mother's world stopped. The clock on the wall seemed to slow down. Then she smiled and said "Don't worry. I'll protect you! No get to bed."

Lucy went into her room and turned off the light. She found her way to her bed and crawled inside. Then the voice came to her. The voice of a little girl. "Lucy. I'm coming tonight."

"Mummy will protect me."

"Really…" A scream echoed through the house. Lucy jumped out of bed and ran down the stair. The door to the living room stood ajar. Lucy walked in. Mother was sitting on a sofa facing away from Lucy.

"Mummy?" Lucy walked towards Mother. Mother didn't move. Lucy walked around the sofa and screamed. Mother had a chip in her arm. One of her eyes had been torn out, as had her hair. Blood poured from a gash on her face. All the injuries the little doll had. Lucy ran to her bedroom and hid under the covers.

"Lucy, I'm back!" The little girl cackled with glee and Lucy whimpered.

"Lucy, I'm on the first step!" Lucy heard a creak from outside her room.

"Leave me alone." Cried Lucy. Tears gushed from her eyes.

"Lucy I'm on the second step!" creak. Lucy looked around. Where could she hide? The closet! Lucy got out of bed and climbed into the closet and locked it from the inside.

"Lucy I'm on the last step!" Lucy was breathing very quickly. Her eyes darted around. She couldn't see anything.

"Lucy I'm on the landing!." Lucy her footsteps and burst into fresh tears. She heard the door creak open.

"Lucy I'm in your bedroom!" The closet door started opening. The lock had broken! Lucy jumped out of the closet and ran to her bed.

"Lucy. I'm in your bed!" Lucy closed her eyes.

"Lucy, you're dead!"