Hi guys! Thanks so much for clicking on my novel, Box Boy. Currently, you can purchase the novel for free on Amazon. If you do enjoy reading the novel, I would really appreciate a review and if you would follow me on Twitter. Please note that the novel is copyrighted.
My name is Clayton. It's not important for you to know my last name. What's important for you to know is I'm nine years old, and I decided to disappear forever by building a magical box. It's not a big box. It's about four feet wide and five feet tall. I found it in the woodshed like three hours ago, covered in a bunch of tiny holes, and there were crayons lying next to it and these eighteen really specific instructions.
How Any Kid Can Magically Disappear In Just 3 Day's:
RULE # 1: Draw pictures of your most favorite things in the whole wide world on the outside of the box.
RULE # 2: No drawing inside the box.
RULE # 3: Lay a heavy blanket inside of the box.
RULE # 4: Wear some light pants.
RULE # 5: Wear a light shirt.
RULE # 6: Wear comfortable shoes.
RULE # 7: Bring 2 pairs of extra socks.
RULE # 8: Bring 2 pairs of extra underwear.
RULE # 9: Bring a heavy sweater to sleep in.
RULE # 10: Bring a flashlight and two extra pairs of AA batteries.
RULE # 11: Bring a journal.
RULE # 12: Bring three pencils.
RULE # 13: Bring a pencil sharpener.
RULE # 14: Bring at least three big bottles of water.
RULE # 15: Bring at least three days worth of food. (9 Meals worth of food if you can't count.)
RULE # 16: Bring 9 plastic knives, 9 plastic forks, 9 plastic spoons, 9 paper plates and a bunch of paper napkins.
RULE # 17: Bring only one tasty treat. Just one! (No breaking the rules!)
RULE # 18: Hide the box somewhere safe.
I don't know if it was destiny for me to find the magical box just lying right there in front of me, but after the horrible week I had, discovering it was the best thing that ever could have happened. Besides, what kid doesn't dream of one day finding a magical box hiding in their backyard? One of those boxes that's filled with every little thing you ever wanted. A box you could just stick your hand in, close your eyes, imagine the thing you want the most then Poof! pull it out and be all happy.
To be honest, ever since I was five I've hidden under my covers at night and thought about what it would be like to finally experience magic. I'd get all tingly inside just thinking about all the things I could do with it.
I know what you're thinking! Clayton wants to use magic so he can create one of those Iron Man suits so he can fly around the world or maybe Clayton wants to create his own magical theme park in his backyard so he can spend all his time playing.
Both those things would be awesome, but if you want to know the truth, the thing I really want to use magic for is to make my parents stop fighting. I know that sounds boring, but after thinking about it long and hard, I realized that magic was the only thing that could ever get my parents to like each other.
A lot of times I like to shoot hoops in my backyard after school, so I was lucky that I didn't have to wait long to find the magical box.I live on 1705 Palisades Drive in Pacific Palisades, and basketball hoops are common on my block. Woodsheds aren't. Lots of times I hear Dad sawing away in there on the weekends. Sometimes he'll saw for two days straight, but I'm not allowed to go in the woodshed when he's at home. According to Dad, it's his man cave, and little boys aren't allowed inside, but I go in there whenever he's still at work. He puts a lock on the door, but I'm good at lock picking. It's my specialty. That's why when I went in there today, I found the magical box just sitting there waiting for me. After I had followed instruction #1, I thought about all the safe places to hide the magical box in, like under my bed or in the closet but I already knew it wouldn't fit in those parts so I decided the only real safe place I could hide it from Mom and Dad was under the house.
Six months back there was a great big storm, and it rained for like seven days straight. Dad had to hire some guys to bring a pump to suck all the water from under the house. Geeerssshhhh. . . . went the pump for two days so I knew the space under the house would probably be big enough. I just didn't know if there'd be spiders and other creepy crawlies down there, but I had to put the magical box somewhere safe, so under the house, it went.
I'm glad the magical box wasn't too heavy and that it fit through the hole because for a second it got stuck and I had to tug and tug at this long red string attached to the end of the box until it finally got through.
When I crawled underneath the first thing that said "Hi!" to me was this nice big brown spider with a fury coat on. He was spinning his web, but stopped when he saw me. I say nice because I stopped moving right before my brown hair got caught in his web and I think he appreciated that because he didn't go jumping on me and giving me nightmares forever. I guess he didn't consider me a threat. I mean how scary looking can a nine-year-old be. Spiders already know that people are scared of them, especially young kids so I crawled to the left leaving the hard-working spider alone to finish his work.
Before I entered the magical box I read the instructions one last time and my brown eyes popped out even more because the bottom of the instructions were really clear: DON'T GET OUT OF THE BOX! NO MATTER WHAT! I guess when I read the instructions the first time I was so excited that I didn't think what it would mean to have to spend all my time in the magical box, but then when I looked close at the magical cream colored paper and read right underneath the fine print: Except to go to the bathroom. I was like, "Pheeewww . . . I dodged a bullet there."
All I have in the magical box for supplies is a gray flashlight with an extra pair of batteries, three pencils I sharpened before I entered, a pencil sharpener, two pairs of Ninja Turtles socks, two pairs of Ninja Turtles underwear, my Michelangelo sweater, a red comforter, nine plastic forks, knives, spoons, plates, a crap load of paper napkins and a small journal from school that I like to solve math problems in.
The other kids always tease me at school for liking math, but it's not my fault that I'm obsessed with numbers. Every time I see a bunch of them together, I just have to add, multiply, subtract and divide them until my mind gets bored and looks for another group to play with. I know that's weird, but numbers are the only real friends I have. I guess that's why when instruction #1 said to draw your most favorite thing in the whole wide world on the outside of the box, I colored it black and drew bright golden stars next to lots of different numbers. I dream about numbers too, so we pretty much spend 24 hours a day together.
Before I entered the box, I snagged three bags of peppered beef jerky, six croissants, two boxes of my favorite cereal Cocoa Krispies and a Twix bar as my special treat. I always thought a Twix would give me just the perfect balance of chocolate and caramel to make my belly happy. I also brought three bottles of water. Like you know, the tall kind. Just enough to last me three days like the instructions said. I figure if it will take me that many days to disappear then that gives my parents enough time to try and stop me.
YOU ARE READING
Box Boy
General FictionFor fans of the hilarious Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing comes Box Boy. Life for nine-year-old Clayton isn't all that simple. When he isn't spending time creating a science project that explodes in his face, riding a rollercoaster that plunges him...
