Did anything strange happen after you and your family moved in?
While we were moving our stuff in? No. But while we were eating dinner? Yes.
What happened?
It was about ten minutes after we started eating dinner. Nothing fancy. All that we had that night were leftover chips, fruit, microwavable macaroni and cheese, and ramen noodles. Dad was probably talking about something to Mom when all of the sudden…
…
We heard the doorbell ring.
"Now who could that be?" Dad asked after sighing in frustration.
I put down my fork and got up from my chair.
"I'll get it." I said.
As I walked to the front door, I had a feeling that Roger and Jessica came back because they left something behind.
Unfortunately, R.T. was wrong after she opened the door.
There was nobody standing outside the house. At that time, I knew that it wasn't Roger and Jessica who rang the doorbell, despite of not knowing them completely. Since nobody was at the door, I closed it and walked back to the kitchen.
Then, the doorbell rang again.
When I heard the doorbell ring again, I began to think that somebody had the nerve to play a joke on me and my family. As I turned back to the front door, I ran toward it, hoping to catch whoever was behind the ringing of the doorbell. I guess I ran a little faster than I expected because after I opened the door, I only stopped after I tripped over something.
"What did I just—? Huh?"
After I got up from my fall, I saw that sitting in front of the front door was a large wooden box. It had a small white envelope on top of the lid.
"Where did this come from?"
When I looked at the envelope, I couldn't find a return address or a stamp to indicate that it was sent by somebody. But after I opened it, there was a small index card inside and it had a short message written on it.
"'Welcome to Hollywood. I hope you enjoy living in my factory'." I read out loud.
Unfortunately, whoever wrote the note didn't leave a signature at the bottom.
I put the note back in the envelope and slipped it into one of the pockets of my shorts. Then, just as I was about to lift the box and carry it inside, Dad walked out of the house. I guess I was at the front door a little longer than he expected because I think that he had to stop eating and check on me.
"Did you see anybody?" Dad asked.
"No but they left this big wooden box." I replied.
"What's in it?"
"I don't know. I didn't open it. I was just about to carry the box into the house when you walked out."
After I explained to my dad about the box, he helped me carry it inside because it was as heavy as a ton of bricks. In fact, I even thought that there were actual bricks inside the box. When Dad and I finally made it to the kitchen, Mom and Jenny immediately aimed their focus on the box instead of the food they were eating.
"What's that?" Mom asked.
"It's a heavy box that somebody left for us." Dad replied.
"And we're just about to open it." I added.
Then, things get even more confusing after R.T.'s dad opened the box.
This…cherry-scented smell shot out from the box. It wasn't really a bad smell. It was…one of those smells that's supposed to smell good but it was just…too strong for my liking. But that wasn't the only thing that was strange. Inside the box was another envelope and it was about the same size as the first envelope I found. And just like the first envelope, there wasn't a return address or a stamp on the second one.
I watched my dad pick up the second envelope and opened it with his pocketknife. He took out an index card that was the same size as the one in the first envelope.
"'As a housewarming gift, here is some of my famous Acme Long-Lasting Cherry-Flavored Bubble Gum. There's enough in the box to share'." Dad read.
"'Acme'?" Mom asked. "Is that a new brand of gum that we never heard of?"
"It could be."
I didn't waste any time to bring up what was written on the first note.
"It's also possible that our new home used to be a factory." I stated.
Mom and Dad looked at me while Jenny watched us while eating some of her macaroni.
"Did Roger tell you that while we moved our stuff in?" Dad asked.
"No." I said as I took the first envelope out of my pocket. "I found this and whoever wrote it said, 'I hope you enjoy living in my factory'."
I gave the envelope to Dad and he looked it over. When he stopped, he looked at the box and then at me. I knew that he was confused as much as I was. I didn't really understand why someone would come to our new house late at night and drop off a great big box full of gum without making themselves known.
For safety reasons, R.T. and her parents decided not to try out the gum that was given to them.
I didn't want to be rude to whoever gave us the gum. But, at the same time, I wanted to be careful. I've heard about crime cases about contaminated candy and I didn't want to wind up in the hospital just…hours after moving in.
Don't blame me and my family for taking that precaution. It's better to be safe than sorry. And that's exactly what Mom and I said to Jenny when she got disappointed for not trying out the gum.
…..
That's interesting. How well did you and your family adjust to the house?
Uh, Jenny and I got used to it little by little during the move-in day. I think Mom made herself at home pretty quickly. You might have to ask her that. I know that Dad really loved the house a lot but because of his job, he didn't have a whole lot of time to get adjusted to it.
Could you clarify that?
Oh, yes. Every single time my family and I would move into a new place, Dad would have to leave for his job the very next day. Whenever that happens, he would have to get adjusted to the house again if he had time off from his job.
Oh, okay. And did you happen to figure out who left the bubble gum?
…Why, yes. Jenny unknowingly helped me out with that. But I didn't find out until the Fourth of July, which was probably about…two weeks after Dad left.
….
If you live in the neighborhood where Mom, Jenny, and I were staying, the Fourth of July was a very big deal for both humans and Toons. It was one of those holidays when they would all get together and celebrate until midnight. I didn't know about all of that until Roger told me and Jenny were getting groceries.
When that day came, I was really surprised to see that Roger was DEFINITELY not lying. Up and down the streets, there were inflatable bounce houses, concession stands, carnival-themed games, and of course, giant barbeque grills and pits. There was so much happening that somebody could hear all of the commotion outside of town. That Fourth of July party was the EXACT definition of a Fourth of July celebration.
Usually, during the daytime hours of the Fourth of July, I would usually do two things. One, I would play with Jenny until it's her nap time. And two, I would watch haunted house shows, which is what I would do whenever my sister's taking her nap. But since there was a lot happening outside of our house on the Fourth of July, I decided to try out some of the activities with Jenny.
So, I let Mom know about what Jenny and I were going to do and the two of us were out of the house in ten seconds. Mom wanted to join us but because she was seven months pregnant, she couldn't move around too much. But I did promise her that I would bring back something for her. When Jenny and I got out of the house, we noticed that many of our neighbors were chilling out, eating food, and even trying out some of the games. Jenny and I tried out a balloon darts game at one point and we each won a small stuffed animal.
It was probably a little…yeah, a little after 1 PM when Roger saw me and Jenny while we were having a late lunch.
"Are you two having fun so far?" He asked.
"Oh, yeah!" I replied.
"It'th the biggesth party I'vf ever seen!" Jenny exclaimed with a mouthful of food.
Then, Roger asked me how Jenny and I were doing so far in our house. I explained that after Dad left, we got used it. After that, I remembered the night when I found the box full of gum. I thought that it would be perfect opportunity to ask Roger about who used to own our house before we moved in there. So, I said Roger,
"I am a little interested in the history of our house. Did somebody used to live in our house before it became our home?"
He nodded and replied,
"And it used to be a gag factory owned by a man named Marvin Acme."
When I heard the name "Marvin Acme", that made me remember the brand name of the gum. Acme Long-Lasting Cherry-Flavored Gum. I got the idea that this Marvin Acme named his factory and products after himself. But I didn't stop there. I asked Roger another question.
"Is he still alive or does he have any living relatives?"
"Who?" He said.
"Marvin Acme. Is he still alive or no?"
"Oh! Uh, no, he's not alive anymore. As for living relatives, I don't think so. Not that I know of anyway."
After I heard Roger's reply, I felt like I was getting somewhere with the origins of the house. It used to be a gag factory, whatever that was, owned by a man named Marvin Acme. And to the best of Roger's knowledge, Acme did not have any living relatives. That gave me a reason to believe that Marvin Acme died at some point in his life and had no one else to run his factory. Maybe it went out of business but I didn't know if that was true at that time. I had to continue to ask more questions.
But just when I was about to ask Roger another question, I realized that I had to check on Jenny. To my horror, she was gone! I was so busy talking to Roger that I didn't pay any attention to her!
"Did you see Jenny walk away at some point of our conversation?" I asked.
Roger shook his head.
"Well, I'm going to go check the house. Stay right here until I come back."
"What if she's not there?"
"Then keep your eyes peeled for a little four-year-old girl with braided pigtails."
I ran back to the house and I really cursed myself for not keeping on an eye on my little sister. Thinking back on that time, I should've kept a better eye on Jenny…because who knows what kind of trouble a four-year-old can get into if they're not supervised carefully.
As soon as R.T. walked into her house, she found Jenny. Much to her relief, her little sister did not have a single scratch on her body.
How Jenny managed to make it back to the house still remains a mystery to me. I was, and I always will be, very thankful that something didn't happen to her. But when I found her in the house, I noticed that Jenny…was chewing on something.
"Jenny," I asked, "what are you chewing on?"
"Bubble gum." She simply replied.
"Are you chewing on the gum that Mom, Dad, and I told you not to chew?"
"…Yes."
But the next thing that Jenny said sent chills up and down R.T.'s spine.
"A nice man gave me some gum before he 'hided' in the kitchen."
I was shocked to hear that from my little sister. A man…was in…our house…and he gave…Jenny…some gum? I knew that it couldn't be Dad because he never thinks about giving us a surprise visit. And hearing about a strange man giving my little sister gum made me want to give her the 'Stranger Danger' lecture. But what really caught my attention was what Jenny said about the man. To me, it sounded like someone broke into our house while Mom was resting! Dad wasn't at home and my sister was very young to fight for herself. That meant that I had to be the one to confront whoever broke into the house and take them to the cops! But just before I was getting ready to do that, Jenny spoke up again. Only this time, it sounded stranger than her previous reply.
"Then, the man said, 'I hope you and your mother and your sister are enjoying living in my factory. Don't forget to share some of the gum I gave you'."
Jenny said the magic words that really made me listen to her: 'My factory' and 'gum'.
That's when I realized that Jenny interacted with the man who left that wooden box full of gum after we moved in! But what I didn't know was if it was Marvin Acme who did it or another man who decided to pose as him.
"Jenny, did the nice man tell you his name?" I asked.
"I wanted to but he 'felled' into the kitchen floor. Now the man's hiding from me."
Unfortunately, Jenny didn't know the man's name. But when she told me that he 'fell into the kitchen floor', I was really surprised that she made the man sound like he was a ghost. At that point, I couldn't think of any connections or theories about what was happening in the house. I didn't even know what to think or expect.
It wasn't until the late-night fireworks show when I finally figured out who Marvin Acme was.
It was…almost midnight when the Fourth of July celebration was about to end. Along with a few neighbors and a small handful of Toons, I was on the roof of my house watching fireworks exploding in the night sky. Jenny and Mom were already asleep but I was kind of…wide awake. I knew that both my sister and mother really love to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July so I decided to record them with my phone.
But that wasn't all that R.T.'s phone had recorded. With her permission, we are now going to present an excerpt of the fireworks show recording.
….
*Commentary of R.T.'s Phone Recording*
Although the phone is aimed at the fireworks, it managed to record a man speaking to R.T. about the fireworks.
"Those Toons always save the best fireworks for last!" He laughed.
"Yeah, I can tell." R.T. replied. "I've seen many fireworks shows in the past but this one is AMAZING."
Now the phone is aimed at the man talking to R.T.
In the original recording, the man looked like a gray blur, due to the poor lighting outside. But with the help of an editing program, anyone who's viewing the video is given a better look of the man. He is wearing a checkered suit with a small bowtie around his neck. The man is not quite skinny but not quite chubby. The viewer can also see that the man is between his late forties and early sixties…and wearing an outfit from a different time period.
…
*End of Commentary*
...
I didn't really pay too much attention to the man. I mean, every now and then, I would say something to him but…not really have a conversation with him, you know? If the man said something like, "I like those spinner fireworks", I would say, "Me, too" or "Oh, yeah. Those are pretty cool". That's how it would go every time he'd say something to me.
Soooo…yeah.
Anyway, when midnight came, the fireworks show came to an end.
That was when the man decided to have a conversation with me. It began with him asking me if I liked the fireworks show. As I said that I enjoyed it, I was about to stop my phone from recording any more. My attention was mostly focused on that small little task and I didn't pay fully attention to what else the man said to me. I was…kind of at the point when he sounded like he was either mumbling or talking to whoever was still on the roof of my house. But it wasn't until I heard him say,
"Well, I wish I could continue talking to you, R.T. but I have to go. I hope that you and your family enjoy living in my factory. Don't forget to try out some of the gum I gave you."
What he said to me really caught my attention. I looked up from my phone and asked,
"Wait, how do you—?"
I remember not finishing what I wanted to ask because after I looked up, THE MAN WAS GONE. It didn't make any sense. For a second, he was standing right next to me. And the next, he disappeared, as if he had never been on the roof. What was even more shocking was that the man revealed himself to be the one responsible for the notes and box of gum. Unfortunately, he never told me his name so that I could identify him like a wanted criminal.
…
Trying to make a connection, R.T. goes to her room and starts researching for information about her house and the man on the roof.
…
For a second, I couldn't find anything on Google. Then, I finally found a page that looked promising to me. I opened it up and analyzed it carefully.
I learned that, once again, our new house used to be a factory, known as the 'Acme Factory'. It had been around way before my parents, Jenny, and I existed, creating props and gags for Toons and other entertainment purposes. Even after the death of the factory owner, Marvin Acme, the Acme Factory continued to produce props and gags…until it went out of business between the 1960s and 1980s. After many years, the dusty and abandoned factory was eventually renovated, becoming the house that my family and I moved into.
"That's very interesting." I said to myself.
After reading, I scrolled down to the very bottom of the web page. I found a link that said,
"MARVIN ACME IMAGE."
Before I clicked on the link, I opened up the fireworks show video on my phone. After I paused to where the camera was aimed the man from the fireworks show, I clicked on the link of the image. Then, as the image was loading up, I felt anxiety building up inside me. It was building up so much that it got to the point where I felt like I couldn't breathe.
When the web page finally stopped loading the image, I felt like my breathing came back. Much to my surprise and horror, the man from the fireworks show and the man of the webpage picture were exactly the same! And his name was MARVIN ACME, the deceased former owner of the Acme Factory and the man who left behind the gum and notes!
Everything that happened, from the box of gum to the fireworks show, led to one conclusion:
"Our house…is HAUNTED."
…
I'm so, so sorry for not uploading. I've been so busy with college and I had to focus more on my schoolwork. That caused me to stop working on my fan fiction stories and some of my other original creative works.
But now that summer is here, I have a lot of time to work on what I can.
(Plus, I celebrated my 20th BIRTHDAY yesterday (5/16/17) and I must say, it feels pretty good and weird to be an adult!)
Anyway, I hope that y'all enjoy what I have so far!
I promise y'all that I'll do my very best with uploading when I have the time!
Thank y'all so much!
-imaginarytoon1
PS: I have also been thinking about one of my other WFFR fan fictions, Of Toons and Tragedies. I thought about not making it into a six-part story. I'm thinking about making the story two or three parts long, which would be less stressful for me to handle.
PPS: If I haven't told y'all before, I have a deviantArt account, where I post some of my artwork and even some pictures that I take myself. I even have a Tumblr account, where I also post artwork and pictures. Both of those accounts have the same name: imaginarytoon1. If y'all want to follow me on either one or both the websites, feel free to!)