Round Robin October 2020

25 October 2020

The box looked like a simple puzzle box, but Greg knew better. He heard stories from the men on the African front in World War II about this box and the horrors contained within it.

"Whatever you do, you will not open that box," he said, startling Samantha with his tone and snatching Em out of the trance that she was in just looking at the box and causing her to pick it up.

"What's in there?" Samantha asked. A curious look stole over her face.

"No! Don't open the box!" Greg shouted, grabbing the box back from Em.

Now Em began to look at him like he was crazy, which if dealing with dimensional travel didn't make you crazy, what did?

Greg had a white-knuckle two-handed grip on the box. He looked down at it to make sure that he couldn't open it with his tight hold. He looked up at the women with him and let out a deep heavy sigh at the looks on their faces. He knew he had to explain. He did not want to tell this story. He had to anyway.

"It begins in World War II. Many of my family members and people from my hometown were stationed on the African front. They would tell a story of a devil box. A box so beautiful and complex that you just had to try and open it. No one in their camp could open it, so it stayed on the commander's desk, waiting for an unsuspecting curious fool to open it and release the horrors inside.

"The camp got a resupply of men and other goods one day a one month into this camp's existence. One of the new men was smart. He could easily figure out engines and liked putting puzzles together in his free time back home. He saw the box. He asked what was in it and no one could respond. He asked the commander if he could try to puzzle it out.

"He opened it that night," Greg's voice was hoarse and haunted in his retelling of the story. His eyes were staring blankly past Samantha and Em, but they were riveted to his face.

"Every man in that camp had the same nightmare; the man who opened the box was eaten by a monster inside. No one ever saw that man again. This was a bad thing because he was the best mechanic at the camp and his ability to fix engines saved many lives before the box.

"My great-grandfather drew the box in a letter back home to my great-grandma. That letter was sent out before the box was opened. He told my great-grandma in a later letter to never let him see that picture again if he made it back home. He told her the box was a curse and that no one should ever know of it ever again. Great-grandfather made it home, but closed wooden boxes were not allowed in his house ever. Many of the men he served with had the same reaction. All the stores in our town refused to sell closed-top wooden boxes ever again."

Greg's voice stopped. He was lost in the memory of him bringing an innocent puzzle box into his great-grandparent's home. His great-grandfather was furious and destroyed the box. Greg was heart-broken, then his great-grandma told him the story of the puzzle box and showed him the letters. Greg understood then and he acquired his great-grandfather's fear.

Samantha's voice broke into his thoughts. "What happened to the original box?"

"That box?" Greg let out a bit of nervous laughter. "The next day, the mechanic's sergeant reported him missing. A search party had gathered for the mechanic. No one would believe that he would go AWOL. He loved working on engines too much. The search party found the box, intact but closed. Nearby was the mechanic's tags. Everyone knew then that the camp-wide nightmare was true. Every man in that camp attempted to destroy that box. Nothing worked. They eventually threw it down a defunct well. And then blew the well shut." There was a long pause. "It was probably this well. Though this well seems very open to me."