The House Prier

This story is by Ivy MR and was part of our 2024 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

Lory had been cleaning for ages. At least, that’s what her body was telling her day after aching day. In all reality, she was rounding up on her second year. She felt pride and shame in the same breath each time she thought about it for too long. Not shame in the job but shame that she hadn’t done much worthwhile. It would be different had any of the houses on their schedule been dirty. But they, Lory and her cleaning partner Mindy, were never so lucky.

The repeats were some strange sort of hell. Every two weeks felt only days apart. Every time Lory and Mindy stepped inside a house, they knew better than their own, it was as if they entered into a pocket of time that remained the same always. The Tanners’ house was decked out and ready for Christmas day at any time. The Daias’ had a confusing 70’s theme that was a complete juxtaposition to the uniform neighborhood.

Their schedule did not have either the Tanners or the Daias. Instead, they had Cheryl Boe, an older woman more interested in conversation than what she was paying for. There was Yunnie. He was a pain when it came to vacuum lines. Lastly, there was Henry, a new name.

Often, Cheryl would keep the girls entertained with stories of her childhood. Not today though. Instead, Cheryl went on about her canned food being expired but tasting ‘just fine’.

Mindy volunteered to dust at Yunnies, which meant she would be the one to vacuum those careful lines.

Henry canceled but it wasn’t until they arrived, and had essentially broken in, that their boss let them know Henry had rescheduled. So they waited to hear about more work. Lory sat with her legs swinging on the porch swing at Henry’s, a nearly empty bowl of bean soup in her lap. Mindy honked one quick beep and motioned to Lory. They got the call. Another job. Lory sighed with relief.

“How far?” Lory asked.

“Fifteen minutes.” Mindy paused and glanced at her, “in the complete opposite direction of the office.”

Lory’s face went to annoyance. They were already thirty minutes away. She sighed, slightly less relieved. “Well, at least drive time is paid.”

“At least,” Mindy agreed. “It’s the Johnson house. Sound familiar?”

“Johnson,” Lory mumbled. She could picture the dark house. The outside was a navy blue so deep that it was nearly black. The inside was similar with varying shades of brown wood lining the walls and ceilings. The hallway on the top floor was the worst of it with a strange dark brown that seemed an optical illusion. The doors and the floor, the high ceiling and the grooved walls, all of it was an overwhelming brown. “It’s that creepy one!”

“Which creepy one,” Mindy laughed.

Lory’s stomach dropped as she recalled the eye. “It’s that house I freaked out in.”

“That house?!” Mindy yelled. “This is going to take forever. That thing’s huge.” She sighed, “I’ll do bathrooms this time. My arm is about ready to fall off after Yunnie’s precious vacuum lines.”

Lory sat rigid in the passenger seat, her body sore from the nerves. She tried not to think of it at all. The eye flashed in her mind again and again, demanding to be paid attention to. It had been months ago, but the more time that passed, the guiltier Lory felt. She couldn’t get the image of herself walking away out of her head. This time, Lory decided, she wouldn’t walk away. She would open the door. 

Lory’s stomach sank as the house came into view. She won’t leave that door again. 

Their equipment went straight to the floor. The girls settled into the pocket of time that was the Johnson house.

Mindy grabbed the caddy and headed off. Lory stayed in the foyer and glanced suspiciously at every door. She knew the door she searched for would be found upstairs. All those keyholes grabbed her attention as though they invited her to look through each one. She ignored the urge and followed Mindy’s path up the stairs. 

The second floor was smaller than the first. A large second living room filled most of the space. There was a master bedroom, three guest rooms, and two bathrooms. The guest rooms remained off the list of rooms to clean, and so they were highly suspect. Sunlight shined through the keyholes of the doors on the left side of the hall. The sunspots land on the opposite wall and doors. 

Lory opened every door with a flourish. So far all the rooms looked normal, or at least creepy normal. A locked door was sure to be the telltale sign, but Lory hadn’t a clue as to how she would get past the lock. She tried not to worry about that part.

A thud sounded. It came from the master bedroom. Lory ran in and saw nothing. The thud sounded again, followed by, “are you serious?” Mindy, it was just Mindy cleaning the bathroom.

Lory walked in to see Mindy trying to realign all the ridiculous lotions, perfumes, and whatever else on the bathtub’s rim. “I forgot about the bathroom from hell.” Lory looked around the room and added, “that shower alone is bigger than my entire bathroom.”

The girls laughed for a moment before a creak sounded.

Both of them peeked their heads out of the bathroom and looked toward the door that led to the hallway.

“Don’t you dare tell me that was the house settling,” Lory whispered.

“No, that was the house unsettling us,” Mindy said.

Slowly, they crept into the bedroom while watching the doorway. Lory did not speak, but rather she stared into that dark wooded hallway at the door across the hall.

“That has to be it,” Lory mumbled to herself.

“What?” Mindy could barely make out what Lory had said.

Lory turned wide-eyed to Mindy, “can I tell you something horrible?”

“If you have to,” Mindy said.

Lory spoke rushed, giving no space to her words, “when we were here last, I saw an eye through a keyhole. I’m sure of it. I wanted to do something, I did, but-” She did not want to say or admit to being so selfish. “It seemed like such a big risk. I just kept thinking we would turn into just a couple of eyes behind all these doors.”

Mindy did not speak for a moment. She stared at the suspect door. “I saw it too,” she whispered, “or I thought I saw something, but I didn’t look any closer.” She looked to Lory, “If you go prying, you’ll come crying.” It was the motto of anyone with sense regarding strangers’ houses.

They stared at each other. Another creak sounded, but this time they did not look. Not even when there was a shifting of weight on the floorboards and suddenly the ray of sunlight from the keyhole was gone. They looked to where the sunspot had sat between them.

They stood frozen for a moment before Mindy said, “it must be getting cloudy out.”

Lory nodded, “must be. We better get going before it rains.”

“Good point,” Mindy agreed. She returned to the bathroom without another word.

“I’m gonna finish dusting then help you with the bathrooms.” Lory did not wait before she rushed out. She tried and failed to resist looking at the keyhole. One glance, and she caught the glint of reflection coming from what she was sure was that damn eye. She did not slow down. 

 For the rest of the house, they cleaned quickly and silently. They did not speak of the door or what might be behind it. Lory did not dare mention that she had seen the eye and that it had surely seen her too.

Once they had finished, their silence continued.  Throughout loading the car, finishing the paperwork, and even the sunny forty-five-minute drive back to the office. It was all silent. It was all uncomfortable.

“You know,” Mindy started, “I saw a listing for a job I was thinking of applying to. I don’t want to leave you with some random partner though.” The bottle she was filling overflowed. 

They were both picky when it came to their cleaning partners. Lory knew any time Mindy was off, she was bound to have a bad day. For a moment she wondered how differently the last house may have gone had she been with someone else. “Oh, don’t worry about me,” Lory said as she loaded the washer with soiled rags. “I’ll be looking as soon as I get home.”

That night she sat on the couch with her laptop while the ache of guilt sat in her chest. She searched through job listings and applied to far more than was necessary. She was done with house cleaning. That was all. Her body was tired. That was all. Plus she wanted to do more, something worthwhile. That was all really.