This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/InternationalTell979 on 2026-06-02 23:12:32+00:00.

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My wife has been out of town for a work seminar. I have been taking care of the house while she is away. I never realized how much effort goes into the household chores because she usually does them. I hate doing all of them, but the chore I hate the most is doing the dishes. It’s a texture thing. Wet food freaks me out.

I hated life as I scrubbed leftover lasagna off a baking tray. It would not budge, so I bent down to get one of those steel wool bristle pads from under the sink. The second I bent down and reached for the cabinet door, something did not feel right. I looked at it for a moment before mustering the courage to finally open it. As the door swung open, my breath caught in my throat. I let out a gasp and fell backward onto my butt.

“I got you!”

My seven-year-old daughter screamed as she crawled out from under the sink. I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.

Then I said something I regretted.

“You’re an asshole, Samantha! You scared me half to death.”

The words shot out before I could process what I had said. I did not mean to call her a name. My wife and I had promised we would not cuss in front of the kids, let alone at them. I immediately felt ashamed.

The good news is that she did not seem to care about what I had just said. She simply stood up and wandered back into the living room before finding a comfy spot on the couch. I sat there for a moment replaying everything that had just happened before retrieving the bristle pad from under the sink.

I muttered to myself as I worked at a bit of cheese that had hardened in the pan. After some ferocious scrubbing, it finally gave way. The drain swallowed it with a satisfying gulp. I shut the water off before wiping my hands on a dish towel.

Then my phone rang.

“Hey, Honey. How is the seminar going?”

I put the call on speaker.

“Hey, did the school call you? They left me a voicemail. I guess the bus slid off the road on the way to pick up the kids at the school. They sent a replacement. Sam will be home late today.”

I paused.

“No. There must be some kind of mix-up.”

I looked up at the clock.

“She’s been home for a bit now. We just had dinner.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Then my wife said something I did not expect.

“Are you sure?”

What kind of question was that? I looked towards the living room and saw Samantha peeking out at me.

“What do you mean? She’s right here. Of course, I am sure," I said, laughing.

There was another pause.

“I am just confused,” my wife said. “The secretary said she was at the school a few minutes ago.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. I had absolutely no idea what to say.

“Well, unless she’s been learning magic at school, she can’t be in two places at once.”

I hoped this would make my wife laugh. It didn’t.

“That’s just so weird.”

“I’m not sure what to tell ya. She's been here with me for at least two hours now.”

I looked at Samantha.

It was at that moment that she did something that still haunts me.

She grinned.

Then she winked.

The wink caught me off guard. It just did not feel like a Sam thing to do.

Then I watched as she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. I leaned in closer, thinking that maybe I had not heard her, but she kept smiling.

“Maybe it was just a mix-up, I guess,” my wife conceded.  “I'm just happy she is home safe and warm. They’re calling for freezing temperatures tonight. Can I talk to her?"

At first, I did not register the question because I was still processing Sam’s odd behavior.

My wife asked again.

This time I held the phone out.

“Your mom wants to talk to you. Come say hi.”

Samantha continued to grin at me. Then she shook her head.

“She doesn’t want to,” I said. “She’s probably tired.”

That’s okay. I’m feeling kind of tired, too. Traveling is exhausting. I am going to hit the hay before long myself. I just wanted to make sure she got home safe.”

I wished my wife goodnight and hung up the phone. Then I called for Sam.

“Hey, Kiddo. Did you hear your mom on the phone? I think we may have finally driven her insane. She says you’re still at school.”

I was met with silence. I stood there for a moment before putting the last of the clean dishes away.

Then something strange dawned on me.

I no longer heard the TV.

“Sam. Did you hear me?”

When she did not respond again, I peered around the corner. I half expected her to jump out at me again, but I noticed something else unsettling.

The living room was completely dark.

This was weird because it definitely was not like that a few seconds before I got off the phone. I figured that maybe she had simply gone to sleep, so I tiptoed into the living room.

It took my eyes a moment to focus in the dark. I scanned the room. I expected to see her curled on the couch, but as I got closer, the realization hit me.

Sam was not there.

I stood there for a moment not knowing what to think.

I thought maybe this was another one of her games.

“Samantha, I’m sufficiently creeped out for the day. I do not want to play anymore.”

I flipped on the lights. I was sure she would jump out and get me. But to my horror, nothing happened.

Then I remembered what my wife said about freezing temps, and a horrifying thought crossed my mind.

I hoped that she did not make her way outside to try to scare me. It would only take a few minutes for her to get frostbite.

I made my way to the door and slipped my boots on. The cold air immediately stung my face as I stepped outside.

“Sam. Are you out here? You need to come inside if you are. It’s too cold to be out here messing around.”

I walked around the entire perimeter of the house. Samantha was nowhere to be found.

Then I looked out onto the road and noticed the second strangest thing I would see that night.

There were no footprints leading to the house or tire tracks on the road.

I knew this was not possible since it had not snowed since Sam got home from school.

I threw the front door open and then kicked my boots off at the door.

“Samantha? Where are you? This is not funny.”

My eyes landed on the sink. I felt my stomach begin to twist.

Here we go. Round two. I was sure of it.

I reached for the cabinet door.

The gotcha was finally going to happen.

But to my dismay, the door swung open with ease. The cabinet was empty. The only thing that met me was the smell of bleach.

I had never wanted to be scared by a little kid more than that moment. I picked up my phone and dialed my wife because absolutely nothing made sense.

My heart pounded as I heard the first ring. I did not know how I was going to explain what had happened.

“Hey. I was just about to call you. I wanted to let you know Sam will be late tod--”

The sound of a hiss outside caught my attention. It was accompanied by a low rumble.

I watched out the window as my daughter walked off the school bus for a second time that day.

She made her way inside and gave me a big hug. She said she missed me.

Then she looked at me and said something that I would never forget.

“You look like you saw a ghost, daddy.”

Without thinking, I replied.

“I think I did, sweetheart.”