Someone Joined the Group Chat
horror◐ TeenDad spun around. We heard him yell "WHO'S THERE" right through the floor. Dad: "nothing. there's nothing here." The gray circle: "He's looking too low." Dad: "what does that mean" The gray circle: "Look up." The whole house went quiet. Then Dad's three dots appeared. And stopped. And appeared again.
Dad didn't answer. Mom grabbed the bat from her closet and ran down, and I ran after her. Dad was standing in the kitchen, staring at his phone, not blinking. "It messaged just me," he said, and turned the screen around. "Thank you for opening the door. I've been knocking for thirty years." Behind him, the back door stood wide open. Dad swears he locked it. He always locks it. We moved out within the month. The new family's kid goes to my school. Last week he stopped me in the hall and asked, "Hey. Did your family chat ever say six?"