A 500 Word Short Story by Scott A. Gese
The package had no return
address.
It had the right name on
it and it had come to the right house. Andrew turned it in his hands
as he examined it. “Not very big or heavy.”
His little brother, Marco,
couldn't take it. “Quit playing with it and open it up.”
Andrew removed the
wrapper. Inside was a small wooden box and a note. The box was made
of exotic hardwood and a skull and crossbones had been carefully
carved onto the lid. Andrew read the note out loud. “Whatever
you do, don't open the box.”
Andrew
tossed the note aside and tried to open it. The lid wouldn't budge.
He
looked it over carefully. “There must be a trick to this thing. It
won't open.”
Concerned,
Marco spoke up. “The note said don't open the box.”
“But
there's something in it. I can hear it rattling.” He shook the box
for Marco to hear it.
“You
can play with that thing all day if you want. It's Saturday and I'm
going outside.” The back screen door slammed as Marco disappeared.
Andrew
set the box on the table and looked at it thinking, “I wonder
why I'm not suppose to open it?” He kept trying throughout the
day.
Later
that evening several of his friends stopped by. “Marco say's you
got a box. We wanna see it.” said one.
Andrew
tossed the box at the boys and let them look it over. Then the
guessing started.
“Maybe
it's some treasure? It has a skull and crossbones on it.”
“Maybe
it's poison or an evil spell that'll be released when you open it.”
“And
maybe it's nothing at all,” Replied Andrew as he took the box back.
One of
the boys who had been very quiet suddenly spoke up. “I know someone
whose dad got a box like this. He tried for days to get it open. He
was ready to take a hammer to it when all the sudden it just popped
open without him even trying. As soon as the guy looked inside, he
had a heart attack.”
The
rest of the boys dropped their jaws and in slow unison replied,
“Really?”
“Gods
truth,” the kid replied. “The guy lived, but this box is
dangerous.”
Just
then Marco walked in. He had a bloody lip and a nice shiner in the
making. Andrew took one look at Marco and questioned, “Richie?”
Marco
didn't say a word. He just nodded and left the room.
One of
the boys spoke up. “How many time has that bully beat him up?
Someone needs to teach him a lesson.”
~~~~
That
night as Andrew lay in bed he could see the outline of the box on his
dresser. He kept thinking about the box suddenly popping open. He had
a sleepless fitful night.
The
following morning Andrew looked up Richie's address. He carefully
wrapped up the box and dropped it in the mail, with no return
address.
©
Copyright 2018 by Scott A. Gese All Rights Reserved.
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