THE PACKAGE
By Christopher Carroll

On this dark and dreary Tuesday, Tom returned home from his trip. Tom walks up the stairs to his apartment door when he realizes that there is a weird looking package just sitting there. Tom all of a sudden thinks, what the fuck is this. The box is a dark brown color with nasty looking stains on it. It smells like someone rolled it around in shit. Tom stands there debating whether or not he should pick it up and bring it inside or just leave it there at the door. 

Tom then looks for a label to see who sent it without touching it. After realizing that there isn’t a label, he decides to call his friend Ryan. It takes a while for Ryan to answer the phone, but when he does he can just tell how scared and confused Tom is. “Hey did you send me a nasty looking package?” Tom asked. 

“No,” Ryan replied, “Is there not a label on it?” 

“No there’s not and I’m really freaking the fuck out,” said Tom. 

“Alright well take the package inside and I’ll be right over there,” said Ryan. They both hang up the phone, and Tom heads inside with the package. 

Tom is sitting on his couch just staring at the package. When he hears a knock at the door. Before he could get up to go answer it Ryan just decided to let himself in. “Did you decide not to unpack at all while you were waiting on me?” asked Ryan. 

“Nope,” said Tom. 

“Don’t tell me that you’ve just been sitting there staring at that damn package,” said Ryan. Tom just stands silent and with this extremely paranoid look on his face. “Look at me everything is going to be ok,” said Ryan.

Ryan walks over to the package that is sitting on Tom’s beige looking carpet. “So did you order anything before you left for your trip?” asked Ryan. “No,” said Tom. “Alright, do you know anyone that might have decided to send you something while you were on vacation?” Ryan asked. “Not to my knowledge,” said Tom, “And if they did, why wouldn’t they have labeled it.” “Hmm that’s a good point,” Ryan said. 

Ryan then stands up and walks into the kitchen to get a knife. “Let’s see what this package has to offer us,” Ryan says while holding the knife. “What if this wasn’t meant for me?” asked Tom. “Well I’m pretty sure that whoever dropped it off meant to put it at your door since they hand-delivered it,” said Ryan. Ryan then takes the knife and begins to cut the tape on the top of the box. By this point, Tom is standing over him nervously looking over his shoulder. “Alright you ready to see what’s in the box?” asked Ryan. “I guess,” said Tom. Ryan had a smile on his face while he opened the top of the box. When all of a sudden him and Tom both hear a faint click, and then see nothing but a bright light.

About the Author:

Christopher Carroll  grew up in Macon, Georgia, but is currently living in Winter Park, Florida.  He is pursuing a career as a writer while also doing Youtube on the side. His Youtube channel name is CriticalRay.