The Unknown Parcel

1:30 P.M.

I looked at the time and realized I slept in way too long. As a college student, it was pretty common for someone like myself to wake up so late in the day if they had no morning classes. I walked around the apartment and realized...

There was a mysterious box on my doorstep.

It looked like every other ordinary Amazon box I received for being a 21 year old college guy living in southern Wisconsin, but I don't recall ordering anything. With student loans piling up and Christmas right around the corner, I have been keeping a keen eye on my deflated bank account. Looking puzzled, I took the box off my doorstep with my name printed on it and took it inside my apartment.

1:31 P.M.

I immediately got the attention of my roommates with everyone wondering what I had ordered and likewise I asked if someone got me something. Nobody claimed to be my mysterious gift giver so I took it in my room.

1:35 P.M.

My door creaked as it always did when I entered and placed the box on my unmade bed. The box was cold, not uncommon for the fall months in Wisconsin but seemed much colder than the environment it was just in. I also tried the childlike 'present shake' that most kids do during the holidays and lightly shook the box to hear a sound, but nothing was heard. No rolling noises, no scratches, not even the faintest sound of liquid in a bottle. As seeing the box was showing none of its cards, I knew I needed to open it up to truly see what was inside. I swiftly disarmed the box of its tape while also being cautious with what I might find. All it read was "HANDLE WITH C-..-Nathan Kontney" so I assumed it was just a fragile package entrusted to me.

Was the package some sort of reward or was this some trick by some unknown assailant? I could not imagine anything malicious as I am just some college kid who has no money, no enemies or feuds, and my family was just a middle class one in central Wisconsin.

1:40 P.M.

Something in this box seemed to faintly call to me, as if I was already familiar with this box. When I opened up the flaps on the box, all I could see was white. The packing peanuts filled the box and briefly gave me a flashback to my past job where I packed & shipped old computer parts for my Dad. However, this box seemed different as my curiosity seemed more peaked than it ever has before. All I could smell was the minor aroma the packing peanuts gave off and some hints of lavender from a candle my roommate was burning.

I immediately went in the box, swiping away peanuts as a dog does to a backyard. I just kept searching in the peanuts until I reached the bottom of the box and was quickly determined to look all around. I jammed my hand in the sides of the box with a sense of fervor, thinking it was something miniscule like some computer piece or maybe a bracelet. I looked up and down the box, all three dimensions were searched with scrutiny until finally to my chagrin, nothing was found in the box and the smell of defeat arose through the air. Packing peanuts seemed like a good aroma for defeat as I was perplexed at why an empty box with my name on it would be sent to my college address with no messages or marks in or around the parcel.

1:45 P.M.

It was around this time I realized I needed to get to class. I had a World of Ideas class at 2 and although it was not my favorite class, I already skipped a few times so I needed to attend the rest of the year if I wanted to pass with a solid B. As I headed out, I took the empty box out with me and threw it in the industrial-grade recycling bin our apartment provides.

3:15 P.M.

After another boring lecture about death and mortality in my English credit required class about death and mortality, I jammed out to some oldies like 'Billie Jean' and 'Eye of the Tiger'. I passed by the mysterious package near the dumpster and due to either built up testosterone or some other primal urge, I kicked the enigma of a box. The unknown parcel now had a foot-sized hole in the side next to my printed name and blissfully walked back in the apartment.

7:05 P.M.

After dwelling in my apartment of several hours, mostly playing video games and eating Ramen I decided to head out to the gym. I quickly glanced back at the dumpster to view my damaged box but when my eyes met the trash, the box was gone. Assuming the garbage was emptied earlier in the day, I turned the key in the ignition and drove to the gym.

8:15 P.M.

After getting back from the gym, walked up the stairs to my apartment in the frigid fall air while paying no attention to the dumpster. I went inside, took a shower, ate some food and worked on some homework.

11:45 P.M.

I began to drift into sleep after finishing up some notes and ended up passing out on my bed.

DREAM A.M?

When I finally started to dream, I was having this vision of sleeping at the edge of the cliff. I started to roll and immediately was falling to my death but right before I fell onto the ground below, I saw the same box from the day before. It ended up cushioning me from that fall, but quickly hostile as the gargantuan box that saved me ended up drowning me in those packing peanuts that I was swiping earlier that day. I felt pressure, heat, and a lack of air as all I could smell was the smell of the cushioning peanuts in the box. I panicked as my body was drowning in the wake of the box and I felt like I was shrinking. It seemed harder and harder to get from one peanut to another. The weight of the peanuts were feeling heavier and heavier, and the scale of them were only getting bigger. I felt hopeless and could not find a way out. With my last breath I tried to look for that hole I kicked thinking it might be my salvation, but to my horror the hole was nowhere to be seen. Everything I saw in the dream faded to black.

1:30 P.M.

I looked at the time and realized I slept in way too long. As a college student, it was pretty common for someone like myself to wake up so late in the day if they had no morning classes. I walked around the apartment and realized...

There was a mysterious box on my doorstep.