What You Need, Not Want

It was just a typical day for me. I'd gotten up early because errands don't run themselves, and I'm not privileged enough to pay someone to run them for me. That is certainly evident enough by the fact that I'd taken the bus to do those errands. Well, it's what you do when your car's been totaled in an accident. I had just finished dropping off the rent check at the post office and was about to round the corner to my house.

After all, that running around town like a chicken in a barnyard, I was ready to kick off my overworn shoes, put up my feet and just watch some TV; and maybe pop a couple of aspirin for the ever-recurring pain in my lower back. An old childhood injury that reared its ugly head every time I spent so many hours on my feet.

Strangest thing, though. Once I had gotten to my doorway, I noticed something on my doormat. There was a package on my doorstep, wrapped up in brown paper. It really struck me as odd.

I mean, I had done a lot of online shopping and ordering since this whole shutdown had happened, but I hadn't ordered anything recently. Also, out of all the things I'd ordered, none of them were like this. I mean, think about it. When do you ever see a box that looks like this circling around the postage systems? Pretty sure the last time I saw something like this was when I watched " The Sound Of Music",. It had no brand name, no design, no anything. In fact, it seemed to be even missing postage.

I slowly lifted up the box, just in case the mailman had been careless, and placed the box postage side down. But, there was nothing. No barcode to scan, no shipping address, no stamps, there wasn't even a name on the box saying who it was for. I gently set it back down and squirted some hand sanitizer on my hands. It's the middle of a global pandemic, and I don't know where this thing has been.

How could any mailman have dropped this off at my door? My name and address weren’t anywhere on this thing. Even if I had ordered something and forgotten about ordering it, there's no way this package could have arrived at my door through the postage system with no name, address, or postage on it.

My spidey sense was going off, so I just stepped around it, careful not to step on it. I unlocked my door, and stepped inside, immediately re-locking it. It's just safer that way. My black cat Midnight came up to me, meowing me hello. I gave her a quick scratch behind the ears and went for the phone. I dialed the person I always talk to when I can’t handle emotions, need advice, or just needed to talk; my sister, and she picked up on the third ring.

" Hey, sis." said my sister. " How's it going?"

" Pretty good, sis," I said. " I just got in, and I saw the weirdest thing."

" What's that?" asked my sister.

" There's this package on my front door, but it's totally blank," I explained.

" ' Blank'?" echoed my sister. " What do you mean, ' Blank',?"

" It's like this box wrapped with brown paper, but that's it." I elaborated. " That's the weirdest thing. Every box that's ever been delivered to me is cardboard and tape, and nothing else. It should at least have the shipping brand name on it, but it doesn't."

" Well, what does it say?" asked my sister.

" That's it. It literally says nothing." I continued. " It doesn't say who it's from, it doesn't have a barcode, it doesn't even have my name or address on it."

“ Wait, are you sure?” asked my sister. “ Maybe you’re just not seeing it?”

“ No, I checked every side of it.” I clarified. “ Nothing at all.”

“ Really?” asked my sister. “ I thought mailmen weren’t allowed to mail anything if it didn’t have all that stuff.”

“ They aren’t,” I said. “ So, the only explanation is that someone put it there themselves. Someone, not a mailman, just some random person who wants who knows what just put an unmarked package on my door.”

“ You haven’t opened it, have you?” asked my sister.

“ No way,” I confirmed. “ I’m not opening something if I don’t know what it is.”

“ Good, because I was hoping that those horror movie marathons we had together weren’t a waste.” said my sister.

“ Yeah, no joke,” I said. “ Plus, that’s how Anthrax happened.”

“ I know, right?” said my sister. “ It’s like no one remembers that. Plus, opening other people’s mail is a felony.”

“ That is true,” I said. “ But, technically since it’s not marked for anyone, and it’s on the property I pay for with my rent, I can legally claim it as mine.”

“ Well, if that’s the case, what are you going to do with it?” asked my sister. “ Wait for the mailman to take it and be done with it?”

“ I don’t know,” I said. “ Like I said, mailman won’t take it if it’s unmarked. And, I mean, on the one hand, I don’t want to take any chances. You’ve seen the news. Half the planet’s lost their minds.”

“ True, sis.” said my sister.

“ But, on the other hand, times of tragedy bring people together,” I said. “ Maybe someone wanted to anonymously do something nice, and I really hate the idea of wasting some much-needed resource when they’re so scarce.”

“ I see your point, sis.” said my sister. “ But, you can’t deny this is seriously suspicious. Can’t you just call the cops and report a suspicious package and have them open it?”

“ No, cops are stretched thinner than plastic wrap, right now,” I replied. “ Plus, I could get into trouble for calling them for something that isn’t an emergency.” I thought a moment. “ How’s about this? I’ll open the box, before you say anything, I’ll sanitize the box, wear gloves and a mask, and open it away from me. If it’s something bad, I’ll call the cops, and if it’s ok, I’ll call you back in five minutes to tell you I’m ok.”

“ Well…” started my sister. “ Ok, I suppose. Just remember to call me, or I’m jumping in the car and booking it down there, speed limits be damned. You can’t be too careful, these days. Not with everything going on in the world.”

“ Tell me about it,” I said. “ Ok, I’m gonna go see what this is about. I’ll call you back in five, sis. Love you.”

“ Love you, too.” said my sister, as she hung up.

So, I did that. Nothing popped out in a white puff, so that was a good sign. I turned it back over, and I saw something as simple as the package itself. It was a simple gold ring and a letter. I took out the ring and set it on the table. I picked up the letter, and carefully checked the bottom of the box. Nothing else. That was good. Less likely to be something that would kill me. I read the letter.

“ Hello, Iris Johnson.” started the letter.

So, whoever sent this knew my name. Even creepier.

“ Congratulations. You know the difference between what you want and what you need. That is a virtuous piece of wisdom that not many have. Yet, due to circumstances beyond your control, you are not able to possess all the things you need.

That is precisely why you are the perfect person to be receiving this ring. This is called The Ring Of Needs. To operate it, wear the ring, say what you need, remove the ring, place it on the ground, and close your eyes. Even if your eyes are closed for just an instant, whatever you need will appear.

No matter what it is you need, it will provide for you. You will have this ring for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, you may not pass this ring on to anyone upon your passing. Once the time comes for you to pass, it will be passed to another individual who has the virtuous wisdom to know the difference between their desires and needs in exactly the same way it was passed on to you. Do not reveal its existence to anyone, or it will disappear the instant you do. Even if it is on your hand or locked in a vault, it will disappear from your life, forever. Use it well. Use it wisely.”

Oh, I get it. Of course the nerd girl will fall for this Giving Tree rip-off. Just a prank. I picked up the ring from the table, and looked closer at it. It looked ok. It didn’t look like anything special. Just a simple band ring made out of metal. Maybe some low-grade gold. I don’t know. I’m not a jeweler. At any rate, I’m pretty sure I saw this thing in a thrift shop. In the discount section. I picked up the phone and called my sister.

“ Hey, sis.” I said.

“ Hey, sis.” my sister said. “ What’s the word?”

“ Ah, nothing but some dumb prank.” I said. “ Just someone trying to alleviate the quarantine boredom.

“ Well, at least it’s a harmless prank.” said my sister.

“ Yeah, at least it’s not more of those crazy seed things. Listen, I’m gonna let you go. I gotta take some pills for my back.”

“ Ok, love you, sis.” said my sister.

“ Love you, too, sis,” I said and hung up.

I looked down at the ring in my hand. Oh, if only getting all the things I need were really that simple. Midnight meowed at me, and I looked over to her.

“ Oh, Midnight, baby,” I said. “ If only it were this simple.” I put the ring on. “ I really need a permanent solution to my permanent back pain.”

I took off the ring, and set it down on the ground. I closed my eyes for a second. Once I opened my eyes, there was a pamphlet on the ground under the ring. I picked them both up. The pamphlet was a brochure for a new spinal pain specialist at my hospital.

That… Was not there before I closed my eyes. And, I know I never brought it into my house. I’ve been getting into a minimalist lifestyle since the shutdown happened, so I know I didn’t. There’s no way, right? No way. What else do I need? I put the ring back on.

“ I need a brand of cat food that Midnight’s sensitive stomach can actually keep down.” I said.

I repeated the process. I opened my eyes, and the ring was on top of a bag of cat food I’d never seen before. This… This ring actually did work! This ring is a miracle! Midnight meowed at me, again.

“ Come on, baby,” I said, picking up the cat food bag. “ Let’s get you some new food in your bowl. You definitely need it.”