The Box From Above

Short Story

 Annie kicked open the door of the cafe with her old grey converse, balancing the tray of four frappuccinos with her head and right hand, and holding a decaf coffee for her dad in the other. She was on vacation for a week in Canada with her family, and she and her sister were currently picking up drinks to deliver back to their hotel room. A cool breeze swept past Annie and Dahlia, making them shiver as they stepped outside. The sun was hiding behind grey clouds that stretched across the sky like an arch. It was only seven in the morning, but the City of Montreal was awake as could be.

The sisters waited at a stoplight until a walking man flashed across the sign, and the cars halted to a stop. They hurried across the street together, but turned to head in different directions once they reached the sidewalk.

"Annie, where are you going?" asked Dahlia, turning around once she saw that her sister wasn't following her. "The hotel is this way." Dahlia pointed down the busy road that they had just crossed.

"Don't you see, there is an alley right here that will be faster. It leads straight to the hotel," said Annie. Dahlia and Annie were commonly getting into arguments about dumb little things like this.

"No," replied Dahlia. "It's creepy down there and nobody will see us if there are people down there that attack or kidnap us." She looked around cautiously.

The alley was a narrow space between apartment buildings that intersected another alley. Both of the alleys were littered with garbage bags and random junk. Although they were not the most scenic streets in Montreal, they went straight to the hotel that Annie and Dahlia's family were staying in.

"Dahlia, you are being crazy. What's the chance someone's actually going to do something like that?" Annie was getting upset. Why couldn't her sister just follow her lead for once. Dahlia was the one always bossing Annie around, just because she was a year older. "You are honestly being pathetic." Annie murmured.

A slight smile came to Dahlia's lips. Annie recognised that smirk. Dahlia always wore it when she was about to engage in her favorite hobby: proving Annie wrong. Dahlia flipped her blond ponytail as she marched up to a wooden street pole. She pointed to all the papers messily stapled to it. There were more than just missing pet signs. Multiple wanted signs and police department notices were scattered among the papers.

"Pathetic, really? I know what I'm talking about, Annie, and you would be better off following me so you don't get hurt," she argued. Dahlia stuck up her chin and crossed her arms, waiting to hear her sister give in. Annie was definitely not going to give in, but she also knew that her sister was stubborn. Annie decided that the best way to win this argument was to act on it, so without warning, she ran for the alley, being careful not to spill the drinks she was holding.

"Annie, what the heck! You are so immature!" Screamed Dahlia, chasing after her sister. The alley was dark and shady and mostly quiet aside from the dripping of a leaky pipe. Annie slowed down to a walking pace when she realized that her sister had followed her. Dahlia was still ranting about how she was going to tell Mom, and gave Annie a lecture on common courtesy as they headed down the alley. Annie just smiled triumphantly, which annoyed her sister even more, to Annie's delight.

"Annie, you are just always so stubborn-- even when I'm right, and you know it! There are crooks all around the city, and in places like this, they can easily just jump out and attack us! This place is creepy and when we get home I am so tell--"

CRASH!

Annie and Dahlia both stopped in their tracks, frozen in terror. An apparently heavy cardboard box lay smooshed on the ground, leaving a dent in the concrete. Just seconds before, it had fallen from a window, and come crashing just inches away from Annie's feet. Annie's widened eyes traced back to where the box had fallen from, two stories above, and voices were coming from that window.