The Box I

The Box I
Unedited, fresh from the disturbed mind of Darren Jaworski.


1
"So what's in the box?"

"That's for you to decide," was the reply from his mother.

2
They're taking it down the canal. Pushing the swamped roofs of two centuries past, the man in lead has done this before. Calmed by the whooshing of the high tide, gossiped about by closing windows. The other man is motionless. Watching the next turn.

The case is at the bow of the boat, the lead mid, and the lagging man in relapse behind the two. The bottle makes a similar sound to the water on the buildings they pass. Almost there.

3
"It isn't a puppy."

She laughs. "No, it is not a puppy."

4
A man stands at the end of pier, he will be the one to throw the rope. Tethering the boat, the two men disembark, greet the pier man properly, and unload the box from the bow. The lead is first, grasping the handle firmly and waiting for his stumbling companion. The latter finds the weight considerably heavier than the first. He finds footing on the dock, and the two walk the box to a waiting cart.

The two silhouettes walk from the dock, one walking the cart. They stop at the first firm footing. The last building had cleared their pathway into the back alley to their left.

5
"I'm going to my room."

"Dinner is in 30 minutes."

6
The two are alone. Sitting in the alley, occasionally looking in each eyes. The bottle goes up, then down again on the box top. Their wait is benign, yet unforgiving....

A changing light shapes its way into the alley's opening. Both men are eager, and perk. This is their shape. The box is now in motion again. They take it to across a bridge, then further through the city outskirts. A man waves to them from his stoop.


1.1
The boy sits in his room, staring at the box. Inconspicuous enough, as it contains no discernable marks of any kind, other then wear. His brother is, lying silent. Covered in brown paper, the box resembles a cereal box. That perfectly proportioned rectangular shape.

Placing the box on his desk, just in front of his wooden dinosaur model. He sits in the chair at the desk. Waits. There could be a puppy in there.

1.2
"Welcome gentlemen."

"We have no time, sir," retorted the man as he lowered the bottle.

1.3
He is reminded of his last birthday party. The other boys sitting around a table, awkwardly listening to his mother on the phone. She was crying like when they visited the home where he last saw grandpa. It was that same cracking voice, same desperate breathing. The box was unemotional.

To imagine the fate of his life was beyond his years. The subtle movement of time would grab him every now and then, whispering to him with that same desperation as his mother's crying. Today was his birthday.

1.4
"Can you believe they found giant fossils at Stonesfield?"

"Where is your wife?"


2.1
The bottle rests in his coat pocket as he splays the box on the ground. The weight has obviously taken it's toll, as evidenced by his sweaty brow. A moment later he will be joking with the gentleman's wife. Until then she would lay motionless.

His companion prepared the husband's expectations by taking him to another room. The man was worried, torn in belief. He would be vindicated, or disappointed soon. She will laugh again.

2.2
"Do you want to fix the dinosaur," said the boy as he held up the broken wooden rib.

No reply was audible.

2.3
Another swig from the bottle, then an intrepid hand reached for the latch on the box, as it opened the other man recoiled. The key was turned, revealing a T on the metal. After a brief respite from unhinging, both men stood above the box. The light emanating reflected in their eyes. Their face's show awe--

The woman lying in bed, hours before was death, is now laughing.

2.4
The boy opens the box by cutting the paper with the prong of a fork, removing the paper fully, then prying open the top slit. He turned it upside down. Nothing happens. He shakes it repeatedly. Frustrated, the boy looks into the box from the open side.

A metallic shimer is clinging to the inside of the box on the width side of the box. It is helped by a a piece of tape strewn across it. The boy reaches in, grabs the object and pulls it free. A key, with the letter T on it. The boy looks up at his brother, sitting motionless, as the heart monitor blinks.