An Unexpected Visitor

I was binge-watching Netflix on a lazy Sunday afternoon when the doorbell rang. “It must be the dress I impulsively ordered at 2 AM,” I thought as I walked to the door. There was no one but a delivery box sat on the welcome mat, with my name and address neatly pasted on top. I picked it up, assuming the delivery boy must have been in a hurry.

I opened the package, expecting my dress, but instead found a doll. Who on earth would send a 30-year-old a doll? As I unboxed it, my jaw dropped and a chill ran down my spine. This was no ordinary doll. It was a perfect replica of me—wearing the exact clothes I had on, mirroring my hairstyle, even my glasses. Sensing the eeriness of the situation, I quickly put the box out of sight.

This doll stirred a deep-seated fear from my childhood. I never liked playing with dolls; I preferred toy guns, kitchen sets, and doctor kits. After watching the movie “Annabelle,” I stayed away from any kind of soft toy for the rest of my life. Now here was a doll that looked exactly like me, delivered to my door.

I placed the doll on a corner table, far from my view, and waited all day, expecting someone to claim responsibility for this unsettling gift.

“Hey, Richa! How was your day?” someone called from behind. I turned to see my roommate, Kriti, back from her date. “What happened to you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she laughed.

“Not a ghost, but a doll,” I said, showing her the replica and explaining my fear. Kriti couldn’t stop laughing. “Someone must be playing a prank. Just wait a few days, and you’ll find out who. Until then, don’t kick my little Richa out of her new home,” she teased.

The doll gave me an uneasy feeling and a sense of eeriness in the house. The next day, when I returned from work, I opened my room door and froze. The doll was sitting on my bed, holding the remote in her tiny hands and watching TV. I had left it on the corner table—how did it move? Was it Kriti, or was the doll alive? The thought made my throat tighten. I took the doll and placed it outside on the porch, deciding to ask Kriti about it in the morning.

I was too tired to think logically and make sense of the situation. I fell flat on the bed and slumbered.

At breakfast, I confronted Kriti. “Did you put the doll on my bed yesterday?”

“Whoa, chill, girl. Good morning! I haven’t touched your doll. You must have dreamed it,” she replied. I knew Kriti well enough to tell she wasn’t lying.

Was I really dreaming? Yesterday I was tired like hell and could not differentiate reality from dream so maybe it was all in my head. We laughed about the incident, and I felt a bit better. I decided to embrace the absurdity and set the doll on my living room shelf.

The next morning, I woke up to find the doll in my bed, wearing my favorite hat. I stared at it, half annoyed and half impressed. “Alright, Kriti, very funny! you’ve outdone yourself this time.”

I called her immediately. “Okay, you win. You got me. Where are you and why did you put the doll again on my bed?”

“Doll on the bed? What are you talking about?” Kriti sounded genuinely confused.

“The doll. It’s been moving around. I thought it was you messing with me.”

“Uh, no. I swear it wasn’t me.”

I hung up, now slightly creeped out. I decided to set up my webcam to catch the prankster in action. That night, I positioned the doll in the middle of the living room and aimed the camera right at it.

The next morning, I eagerly reviewed the footage. There was nothing unusual at first. But around 2 AM, the doll started to move. It stood up, stretched like a tiny human, and then wandered around the living room. That was it! I jumped from my bed. It seemed to be like a mixture of paranormal activity and Anabelle, all coming live.

I took the doll and walked toward the garbage can outside. Just then, someone called my name.

A middle-aged man in black clothes with a large backpack was running toward me.

“Bhaiya! When did you come from the US?” I dropped the doll on the lawn and ran to hug him tightly, just like I did when I was a scared little girl. He sensed my anxiety and asked, “What happened, Chiru?”

“Bhaiya, I’ll tell you everything. First, come inside and tell me about your journey. You really surprised me.”

After settling in, Bhaiya revealed something shocking. “Well, Richa, my visit is the second surprise. The first one you already got.”

I was puzzled. “Have you met Richa 2.0, the doll I sent you?” he confessed. I gasped, unable to believe my brother was the prankster.

“Bhaiya, you know how much I hate dolls, and you did this to me?”

“Actually, my company ROBOTIX has assigned me to a special project. They want me to create miniature robotic clones of humans. When I was creating miniature robotic dolls, I thought of you. Then my creative mind hatched this plan. I knew how much you are scared of dolls, so I thought I would test it myself. I was impressed when you decided to install a camera and investigate the matter but that very night you were scared like a chicken. I was operating the doll from my phone and last night I had some great entertainment after so long. So, how do you like Richa 2.0?”

“Very funny, Bhaiya. Who would want a scary robotic doll? Just dump it,” I teased. “But seriously, it’s a technological marvel.”

“And it’s your Raksha Bandhan gift too! Now, come on, tie me a rakhi.”

“Okay, I will, but you have to get me another gift as compensation.”

“Deal,” he said with a smile.

PS: This post is part of Blogchatter Blog Hop