The knocking had been insistent. Essie opened the door to a woman, possibly in her mid-fifties, with dark blonde hair cut into an unflatteringly poker-straight bob. She was wearing a navy blue blazer with three quarter length sleeves. There was a lanyard around her neck and a clipboard in her manicured hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood afternoon,\u201d the woman said brightly. She lifted up her lanyard to show Essie, but in doing so obscured what was written on it with her fingers. \u201cMy name\u2019s Dawn, are your parents in?\u201d<\/p>\n
Essie gave a weak smile. \u201cThis is my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour<\/em>\u00a0house? Oh wow, but you look much too young! Are you having a lovely day today?\u201d<\/p>\n Essie glanced over her shoulder to look at the clock. She had just filled the kitchen sink with hot water.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I won\u2019t take up too much of your time,\u201d Dawn said, cocking her head to one side and grinning so forcefully her eyes were swallowed by her cheeks. \u201cAre you working from home today?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I am actually. I\u2019m on my lunchbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that must be lovely! Do you work at home every day, or do you have to go into the office sometimes?\u201d<\/p>\n Essie hesitated. Her eyes flicked down to Dawn\u2019s lanyard, which was now covered by the clipboard.<\/p>\n \u201cI work at home all the time,\u201d she said eventually.<\/p>\n \u201cThat must be so nice. I\u2019m on my feet all day. It\u2019s fine on warm days like today, but it can be so horrible in the cold and the rain! But I won\u2019t keep you long. I\u2019m Dawn\u2026I said that already, didn\u2019t I? Silly me. Anyway, I\u2019m sure you recognise the logo of the charity I represent.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn tapped a badge on her lapel. It had an odd symbol on it \u2013 three red squiggles over what appeared to be a misshapen baby\u2019s head. Or perhaps it was a roundish animal. Or a country\u2019s outline.<\/p>\n \u201cMy colleagues and I have been going door to door in the local area,\u201d Dawn continued. \u201cWe\u2019re gathering feedback on some of our recent campaigns, and it would be incredibly beneficial if you could answer a few quick questions. Would that be okay? I promise it will take five minutes, no more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sensing that she was about to be asked to give up more than just her time, Essie gripped hold of the door.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll be helping us to make a real difference to the lives of so many, Essie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just I really have to go back to work in a little bit. I have meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, it won\u2019t take long, I promise you. Five minutes. Is that okay with yourself today? Just a quick five minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a free pen in it for you!\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn produced a ballpoint pen from somewhere, which had the same logo as her badge. She thrust it in Essie\u2019s face and Essie reflexively took it.<\/p>\n \u201cExcellent!\u201d Dawn studied at her clipboard. \u201cOkay, so first question, have you heard of the All Hands Together campaign?\u201d<\/p>\n Essie thought for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cNo I haven\u2019t, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally? That\u2019s funny, because all of your neighbours said they\u2019ve seen the posters in town. The lady at number sixteen was sure you\u2019d know \u2013 me and her had a lovely chat about everyone down your road.\u201d<\/p>\n Essie didn\u2019t have a clue who lived at number sixteen. After four years in the house she had only recently begun to recognise her immediate neighbours by the cars they drove, and definitely couldn\u2019t guess their names or what they would or wouldn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, not to worry,\u201d Dawn soothed. \u201cKeep yourself to yourself then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. Not really. Well, it\u2019s just\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo worries, no worries at all. Okay, so just to fill you in, All Hands Together is a really lovely campaign that we started this year to get more volunteers helping those who need it most. Would you be happy to share your email address so I can pop some details over to you, maybe even get you involved?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, sorry, I don\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay, you can say no! I completely understand. We get so many emails these days, don\u2019t we? But do let me know if you change your mind. Now onto my next question, I\u2019d like to ask you about the number of hours you spend each week watching television. Would you say you watch one to two, three to four, five to six, or seven and more hours?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that how many hours I watch television in a whole week?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen I suppose\u2026seven and more?\u201d<\/p>\n A sneer briefly pulled at Dawn\u2019s mouth as she circled one of the options on her clipboard, but she was smiling again by the time she looked back up.<\/p>\n \u201cWonderful, so my next question is about the amount of donations you give to charities on a monthly basis. Would you say that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n A loud thump at the back of the house pulled Essie\u2019s attention away from the conversation. It sounded like something heavy. She took a step back from Dawn and turned her head to hear better.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026or would you say you donate to bigger charities, such as\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne second, please,\u201d Essie said, holding her finger up and taking another step back to listen.<\/p>\n \u201cOh sorry, is your phone ringing? I can\u2019t hear anything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it\u2019s just\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t be much longer now, I promise. I know you\u2019re working from home. People don\u2019t think it\u2019s really working, do they? They say it all the time, but it is! You\u2019re definitely still working just as hard as I am on my feet all day, it\u2019s just different. Are you happy for me to ask my next question? I haven\u2019t got many left.\u201d<\/p>\n Essie couldn\u2019t hear any other noises. Perhaps it had been the house creaking \u2013 it tended to do that when the weather grew warmer.<\/p>\n Dawn breathed out impatiently through her nose.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I think the survey is interfering with your day, and we wouldn\u2019t want that. What I can do is email you over our online survey, which you can fill out in your own time. It won\u2019t take long, no more than ten minutes, and we won\u2019t email you about all the silly stuff other charities do, you can unsubscribe at any time and\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, sorry, I\u2019m not interested in any emails.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn\u2019s smile slowly drooped.<\/p>\n \u201cOh. Okay. Right. Well, that\u2019s no problem, of course, I\u2019ll just need your consent to use the information you\u2019ve given me today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Essie said, holding up her hands, \u201cbut I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m consenting to, I don\u2019t even know what charity you work for.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn jabbed at her badge.<\/p>\n \u201cI was quite clear upfront. And it\u2019s just the normal consent form that everyone uses. But if you really have an issue with the way I\u2019ve spoken to you today, I\u2019ll call my supervisor so he can arrange a visit to take the matter further.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that really necessary?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. We take our work very, very seriously, and I have to report any instances of consent refusal otherwise I could lose my job. It\u2019s protocol, part of our ethics policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Essie weighed up her options. She could sign the form, or she could close the door on the woman and ignore any managery-looking men that came knocking in the future. But she knew what would end up happening \u2013 her wife would be home the day Dawn\u2019s manager called by and would agree to an extortionate monthly donation, just to be polite. She\u2019d then forget to cancel it for months. Or worse, she\u2019d get embarrassed and beg Essie to call up to explain why they\u2019ve selfishly keeping money away from the needy.<\/p>\n \u201cFine,\u201d Essie relented. \u201cI\u2019ll give my consent. I just want to get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn clutched her clipboard to her chest with glee.<\/p>\n \u201cWonderful! Could you sign here? Just a quick squiggle with your finger then I\u2019ll be out of your hair, I promise!\u201d<\/p>\n Dawn took her phone out of her pocket, pressed a few buttons, then presented it to Essie. On the screen were the words \u2018opt in\u2019, and there was a dotted line across the bottom. As Essie dragged her finger across the glass, she felt a sharp pain in the tip of her finger. She yanked her hand away.<\/p>\n A red streak appeared across the screen for a second, then disappeared.<\/p>\n \u201cFuck, what was that? I think your phone just cut me.\u201d<\/p>\n Essie looked at her fingertip. There was a tiny vertical scratch with a single bead of blood at the bottom. When she looked back up, Dawn was gone.<\/p>\n Essie stepped out of the front door and onto her driveway. She looked up and down the road, but she couldn\u2019t see Dawn anywhere. Placing her finger in her month, Essie stepped back inside and shut the door.<\/p>\n The house was eerily silent, as if it was holding its breath. The hair on Essie\u2019s arms stood up. Remembering the thud sound from before, she rushed down the hallway to the back of the house to see if she could find the source of the noise.<\/p>\n The kitchen looked the same. The pile of dishes was still next to the sink. Nothing had dropped onto the floor. No pictures had fallen from the walls.<\/p>\n Then Essie noticed the back door was wide open. She wouldn\u2019t have left it that way \u2013 it was warm out, but not\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>warm.<\/p>\n She went to pull it shut, but the bottom of the door caught something. It looked like a tangle of brown leaves.<\/p>\n Essie bent down to brush the leaves away, but they weren\u2019t leaves at all \u2013 it was a small doll made of wicker and twine. On the doll\u2019s stomach, painted in red, was the symbol from Dawn\u2019s badge.<\/p>\n Essie looked at her finger, which had begun to drip with blood. A hot feeling spread across the pit of her stomach.<\/p>\n What exactly had she consented to?<\/p>\n \u2026may I recommend my short story collection,\u00a0FOREGROUND<\/a><\/em>? Available now in ebook!<\/p>\n
\nIf you enjoyed this short story\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Foreground:](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mSEH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2489e74d-e540-46df-af63-65de199a46a2_369x522.jpeg\" "\\"Foreground:")
<\/a><\/figure>\n