Voodoo Doll

Veronica walked back to her cubicle, mildly annoyed. She had never realized how egocentric she was until then. Realizing that her second last button was still undone, she buttoned it back up, arriving back at her seat and slumped back down into it. Looking grouchily at the screen saver on the computer, she fished for her compact mirror in her bag. Taking it out, she opened it to find out if she had any visible flaws on her face that day which she had not known about. She saw nothing she disliked and put the mirror back in her bag.

John must be a fool, she concluded. Any guy would have loved for her to give them the time of day. She rolled her eyes in frustration. The most gorgeous guy in the office wanting to hook up with the gorgeous girl seemed like common sense to her. This had been her third move. Never in her entire life had she needed to make a second one. And still this joker seemed uncomfortable to even be around her. in fact, he had told her to leave him alone because he needed to get back to work. She had never been so humiliated in her whole life. She looked at the clock and saw that it was time for lunch. Alone again. But, she would have an entire hour to cool off. She picked her purse and left for the cafeteria. At home that day, she looked at the simple doll she had made out of cloth and crumpled up the piece of paper that had the spell written on it. She had already chanted it and there was only one thing left to do. She looked at the doll and she looked at the needles, an overwhelming feeling of being far too old for this, engulfing her.

It probably would not work anyway and if it did, she would probably regret doing it in the first place. But there was always time for a little fun. She took one of the needles and poked it playfully into the doll's stomach. She contemplated the sight a little and then poked a few more in. She put the doll on her dresser and then got dressed to go and buy dinner for herself. Looking down at her dog that had been looking up to her with great curiosity, she smiled. 'We're gonna have some fun, Muffin, aren't we now?' John did not show up for work the next day. Veronica knew because she had walked past his cubicle, only by coincidence of course, about five times and noticed that he was not there. She wondered what had happened to him, and wondered whether what she had done had caused his absence in some way. She smiled a smug smile that gave her a bittersweet feeling inside and then continued with her work.

John did not show up for the next two days and the weekend came after that. veronica decided on Sunday that she should take the pins out of the doll's stomach. It may have all been coincidence but common sense told her that she should not take a chance. If anything too serious were to happen to him, she would probably have to deal with a great deal of guilt for a long time. So she took out all the pins one by one and poked them back into her pincushion. She supposed he did not actually deserve whatever it was that he was getting and that it was she who was being spiteful. She supposed that the fun would have to stop there. She carried the doll around, intending to throw it away. Her thoughts were disturbed by the barking of Muffin.Muffin had not been fed and it showed its displeasure. Veronica saw John the next day at work and asked him why he had been away for so long. He did not seem like he wanted to talk to her. He supposed that he must still have been quite affected by her coming onto him, although she could not imagine why. 'I had this terrible stomachache; I could barely moved. I swear that the moment it hit me, I thought I had been stabbed or something.'

'Oh dear, did the doctor tell you what it was?' 'Those idiots study for like twenty years and they never know what's going on.' 'But it's gone now?' 'Yes, disappeared all of a sudden. It was very strange; not that I am not grateful.' Veronica smiled a secret smile to herself as she typed and replayed the conversation back in her head. The next day, the announcement was made after lunch at work to the people who had known John. He had been hit while crossing the street, by a speeding car and had never made it to work. Veronica had been wondering before why he was not there. She felt her knees got weak when she heard the news. he had broke his neck when his head hit the edge of the hood. He had almost, in truth, had his head sliced off.

Kicking her shoes off after an emotionally tiring day, veronica went to the toilet to wash her face. Muffin followed her, the toilet being her favourite place as of late. the little terrier made her feel a little better about what she had heard at the office. Muffin weaved in between her legs and ran into the toilet before she could, picking something up and then dropping it at her feet. veronica's heart sank as she looked at what little Muffin brought her; it was the doll. The head had been chewed off.