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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/02321 on 2024-11-23 19:11:25+00:00.

I’ve worked at a Thai restaurant for a few years as a dishwasher. That was my job on paper, but over time I started to pick up more duties between the time of people quitting and getting hired. It got to the point where I could cook anything off the menu if needed. 

During a hectic shift one night, I helped packed some takeout orders and handed them over to the waiting Door Dash drivers. My boss spoke in broken English but is one of the funniest guy I’ve ever known. It was hard to get stressed on busy nights like that with him forgetting words making his jokes ten times funnier. Takeout orders flew out of the door and we tried to keep up with the rush inside the restaurant. A snag hit when we ran out of cooked pork belly. One last order of a pork belly bowl needed to be sent out right away or else we would lose our driver to a different order, and risk a bad rating. I told my boss we should send a message out or outright cancel the order. Instead, he placed the last strip of pork belly in the take-out order and sent it off. The bowl should have had at least five pieces, not one. We honestly didn’t have time to send a message and deal with a single order with ten waiting on the kitchen. I hated the idea of sending out meal lacking the main ingredient but got so busy the rest of the night I totally forgot about it. We received no complaints or negative reviews that night, so we put it out of our minds. 

The next night was just as busy. At least my boss cooked extra pork belly in the morning so we wouldn’t run out in the middle of the rush again. At the end of the night, I volunteered to clean up and lock up the restaurant. He trusted me enough to do so. I liked doing the end of shift clean up. My apartment was within walking distance, unlike everyone else who needed the last bus home. I put on some music and got to work putting the kitchen back in order after our long two nights of running around. 

I just finished up and shut off most of the lights, ready to leave. The kitchen dark with only the exit light showing the way out. I doubled checked my keys were in my bag hanging off my shoulder and was about to take a step toward the door when I heard something. I felt positive someone just took a few steps inside the kitchen. That was odd. I knew for a fact everyone left. Did the owner come back in and check the stock and I just didn’t hear him over my music?  

“Hello? Boss?” I called out in the dark room, my voice shaking slightly. 

I strained to hear, thinking I just imagined things. Just when I went to move again, I heard something behind me. A sound of fabric moving.  Two massive hands come out of nowhere to wrap long boney fingers around my arms from behind. I jumped and let out a small squeak of fear, unable to move from shock. I wanted to run and yet my body refused to listen. Those hands looking human but the black skin and the pointed fingers simply couldn’t be anything besides a creature from nightmares. I’d wished this was a robbery instead of whatever stood at my back.  

The sound of fabric came again. A hot puff of breath moved my hair near my ears and the back of my neck crawled. What the hell was this thing going to do? I really didn’t want to get tore apart because I stayed late at work. It could do anything to me and no one would find out until the morning. Hell, if it didn’t leave any traces behind no one would ever find out I’d been killed. My body shook as so many gruesome images came through my mind and I silently prayed for it to just go away. 

“I ordered extra pork belly but only got one…” The voice came right next to my ear. 

I shuttered from it being so close. It sounded low and hoarse and impossible to pin down a gender, if this monster had one. I couldn’t believe I might be killed because we sent out one order short. I searched my mind trying to think of anything to say in order to save my life. When I didn’t respond fast enough, it spoke again. 

“Do you have more in today?” It whispered. 

I risked turning my head slightly to see a face of pure darkness with a mouth showing rows of white teeth shining in the darkness.  

“Uh… Yes…?” I said cautiously. 

It removed a hand from my shoulder and dug around in the darkness of its body for a moment. It looked like a tall figure dressed in some sort of black hooded fabric. The creature so large it really shouldn’t fit inside the small kitchen. It pulled out it’s hand with long deadly claws and held out a closed fist. I carefully held my hands out to accept whatever it was offering. Some bills and change dropped down into my expecting hands and I stood frozen to the spot confused and scared as hell.  

“One Pork belly bowl please. Extra pork belly.” It whispered with a wide grin that caused my body to shake again. 

I looked around the empty kitchen not expecting that kind of request.   

“Now?” I asked knowing that was a dumb question. 

It tightened the grip on my arm to the point where it hurt a little. This thing could tear me apart without any effort and made that fact clear. 

“Now, please.”  

It did not need it repeat itself. 

I nodded, shoving the money in my pocket not even checking the amount. My arm was released and I hurried along to get started on cooking. I knew how to make everything and we already had most of it prepped. I just needed to cook the rice. I flicked on a light, and heard a small hiss. The monster nowhere in sight when the light came on. But I didn’t trust it left for good. That was confirmed when I took out the lettuce and heard it ask to not have any in it’s bowl. I hurried along, warming up what was needed and finished making the largest pork belly bowl the restaurant had ever seen. After all, we only had large rice pots. It was easier to make a large bowl. I made sure to load the bowl up with the desired meat, wondering how I’ll explain the missing amount to my boss. When everything ready, I looked around trying to find the monster wondering if I just imagined the whole thing. 

“Light please…” Came a voice somewhere in the room. 

I quickly went over and turned off the kitchen lights again, and expected the massive creature I’d seen before show up. Instead, a small thing appeared at the counter sitting in a chair I took from the restaurant. It looked exactly like the dark creature from before… Just smaller. Only four feet tall, if that. Hands extremely small and tiny feet dangling off the chair.  

“Another empty bowl please.” It spoke in a softer voice that sounded much like a child. But I knew it was still the creature that could kill me so I listened. 

I set a bowl down on the counter and the small thing went to work filling it with some of it’s meal, making a smaller pork belly bowl. Tiny hands pushed the second bowl towards me, and patted the counter next to where it sat. Then the creature started to dig into the meal, feet kicking happily. This thing… Was sharing the meal I just made. After coming all the way here and requesting food after hours it put aside some to share. I still felt some fear towards whatever that broke into the restaurant, but it was making it really hard to be overly worried for my life. I didn’t eat dinner yet either so I took the bowl and started to nibble on it, keeping my eyes on the creature. It ate fast but also acted as if the food was too hot. Which made sense. If it ordered food any meal would have cooled down by the time it reached the creature. This might be the first time it ate so soon after the meal had been finished cooking. 

Halfway through the meal, it placed some more change on the counter requesting and egg. We soft boiled eggs a head of time so I grabbed one from the fridge. They normally warm up while sitting in with the rest of the hot dish. The monster didn’t seem to mind the cold egg. In fact, in hesitated before placing more change down requesting another egg. By the time it was down to the last bite of meat, the monster looked like it struggled to finish.  

I already finished my own and got started on washing the bowl. It didn’t make sense to waste some take out containers. I looked over my shoulder not seeing the creature in the dark. I let out a very high-pitched scream when I felt something touch my leg. The thing had gotten off if it’s chair and held out the empty bowl to be washed. My heart slowed back down to normal and I accepted the dish from those tiny hands. 

With everything washed and out away I wanted to leave as fast as possible. A tugging came at my pants and I regretfully reached down to take the creature’s small hand so we could leave. I found it didn’t walk fast enough so I needed to pick it up. It wasn’t pleasant holding the creature. It may be the size and shape of a small child but it felt like it was just meat wrapped in fabric without any bones in its body. Like holding a room temperature pork roast wrapped in plastic. We made it outside but now I was left holding a dark creepy as hell monster in my arms unsure of what to do next. 

“It’s late. No more buses. I can walk you home.” It offered. 

The small thing slipped from my arms, and the body shifted into a taller shape almost looking like and adult in a robed Halloween costume. The feet still appeared far too small to support the tall body.  

“No, it’s fine! I can walk home alone just fine.” I said hands out front trying to refuse the offer as politely as possible. 

“It’s not safe. Monsters come out at night.” The thing responded in the same low tone that c…

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