The Ballad of a Buried Beast

Chapter 3.

I was dropped off at my home with the sun crawling up my back. It'd been an eventful night, and I felt more tired than rested. Luckily, I didn't have work today; I'd requested a few days off prior to my dad's funeral, and my manager was happy to oblige. All that was left now was to pull out my keys and-

The door swung open, and behind it I was met by my grandmother, who was the same grandmother I told I'd be home by evening and forgot to call or have called stating otherwise...

Shit.

"Oh, dear!" she threw up her hands with a smile and pulled me in for a warm embrace, swaying back and forth in the open doorway as I stared at the floor quietly. "Don't worry, I knew you'd be out for a bit!" she said. "Everyone needs some time away, baby."

She broke away from the hug and waddled inside, ushering me in with a wave of her hand. With a soft smile, I obliged and followed suit.

"Your favorite is in the fridge, I made your bed, cleaned the living room, did your laundry..." she continued listing off all the chores as she grabbed her keys and wound up behind me. "I'll be out for the day, dear; your old granny's got some unattended work she has to get done at the-uhh... Well, I won't bore you with the details. Will you be okay while I'm gone--I wish I could stay."

I took her soft old hands into my own and pulled her in for another hug. "Yes, grandma. I'll be fine. Thank you."

"Ohhh," she planted a kiss on my forehead and pinched my cheek, "That's my brave boy."

With that, she turned and left as quickly as I came. A piece of me felt bad--hearing all the things she'd done while I was away--but... Honestly, I was more relieved. With nothing needing to be cleaned, I could focus more on the task at hand.

I went down the hall and approached his closed door. Since her arrival, my grandma had stayed in my room, sleeping in my bed as I took on the couch. Assuming she hadn't cleaned there yet, it was probably still...

Closing my eyes, I knelt down and opened the door. I wanted to be quick about this, so as soon as I stuck my hand inside I moved it across the carpet as fast as I could. In a few seconds, my hand brushed against the top of something. With a quick inhale, I reached in and grabbed the object. To my relief, it was exactly what I'd hoped it was and pulled it out, bringing the phone box to bask in the light for the first time in two weeks as I immediately slammed the door closed behind it.

"Fuck..." I nodded out a breath as I looked down at the box in my hands, tapping away at its cover with my thumbs. For some reason, it felt incredibly heavy. With a quick breath, I pushed myself onto my feet and walked over to the sofa, "Time to get you set up..."

I sat down on the floor next to the outlet and opened the box; the phone was laid neatly in the center wrapped in bubble wrap, and its charging cable was folded in a circle beside it. I pulled them both out and undid the bubble wrap, tossing it aside as I plugged the charger into the outlet. After so long, it was probably-

Bink!

The phone blinked to life as soon as my thumb hit the screen.

"Oh-"

A small jingle of bells played, and soon I found myself staring at the words "Slide to Unlock" as they appeared and danced around the center. Remembering what I'd seen others do, I placed my index finger on the screen and swiped it across.

A bright blue 'Welcome!' danced along the screen as an instructional video began to play, teaching me how to set up app folders, add contacts, link my email and what number to call in the case of required mateience or assistance. For a bit, I felt like a child who'd just acquired a new toy, and after setting up my own prompted password for the lockscreen I began to smile.