A Day Too Late

The humidity of the day had already seeped through Cassie’s hair and clothes, something she could never get used to. Moving to the south was her husband’s idea, and Cassie much preferred the climate of Seattle. She would rather a rainy day than full sun, 100 plus degrees, and humidity that made you feel like you were leaning over an oven. Damn him, she thought to herself as she walked down to the mailbox.

At the base of the mailbox at the end of their long narrow drive, there was a package awaiting her. Confused, she stooped down and grabbed the box. It was wrapped in brown paper that had taken a beating, with stamps from all over the world, surrounded twice with brown twine. But the name on the box made her breath catch in her throat; it was addressed to her husband.

As Cassie hurried back to the house, forgetting to check the rest of the mail, box tucked safely in her arms, her heart began to race. Logan, her husband, had been missing for eight months now. Detectives had told her he had probably run off and to move on, after no evidence led to kidnapping or murder. But Cassie knew better, she and Logan were in love and were building a nursery for their future child when he disappeared. They never fought, not even briefly, as they complemented each other perfectly.

Cassie grabbed the phone as soon as she made her way into the house, dialing her sister as fast as her fingers would allow her.

“Hi little darling, how are you?” Her sister cooed on the phone.

“Something came for Logan today,” she spat out, her voice shaky.

“Well that’s interesting. Who’s it from?”

“That’s it? That’s all I get is who’s it from?” Cassie replied, astonished at her sister’s nonchalance.

“Well Cassie I don’t know what else you were expecting from me, who sent it?” She pressed again.

“Miranda, he has been missing for eight months, it’s a little peculiar for someone to send a package to someone who’s been missing for eight months.” Anger crept into her tone, worry and fear were taking over Cassie and she couldn’t control it.

“Wait, a package?”

“Yes Miranda, a package. Wrapped in brown paper that looks like it’s a decade old from all the water and travel damage, with about 50 different stamps from,” her voice trailed off as she inspected the box closer. “Well, from all over the world it looks like.”

“Does it say who sent it?”

Cassie peered all over the box, careful not to mess up any of the stamps or undo the twine surrounding it. “No, there’s no return address anywhere. How did this get here?”

“Seems to me like you should open it and find out what it is.” Miranda said into the phone, followed by a loud warning to her children to be nice to each other. Miranda had been blessed with three children already, and they were all under the age of ten. Cassie was jealous, in her own way, because she hadn’t gotten the chance to start her own family yet; but she loved her nieces and nephew more than she could express and was happy for Miranda and her growing family.

“I don’t think I can, Miranda.” Cassie said quietly, uncertainty filling up her insides, making it harder for her to breathe normally.

“Well Cass, I’m not sure what to tell you. You can either open it, and find out what your husband ordered or was sent, or you can set it in his office and never know. But you know if you don’t open it it will eat you alive with curiosity. He has been gone for eight months, with not so much as a phone call, I think you can open his mail without feeling guilty if that’s what this is about.” Miranda stated knowingly, her calm voice assuring Cassie that she was right.

Logan had been gone, for eight months, god knows where, and she had been left behind to pick up the pieces. For the first few months she was terrified something had happened to him and she’d never see him again. The following months were filled with flat out confusion and anger. Why had he left her? Had she done something wrong? Had someone taken him? How dare he do this to her! How could he just leave her? But as the weeks and months went on, with no news of any kind from him or about him, Cassie tried as best as she could to move forward and remain hopeful. Not that her friends or family were any help with that; constantly asking for updates, probing for information that she just didn’t have, and more recently, trying to set her up on dates.

Cassie shuddered. “I don’t know if I can open it, Miranda. What if it’s something horrible?”

“Does it smell?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, does it smell?” Miranda chided.

“No.” Cassie confirmed.

“Well then it’s not a body part. I say open it!”

“Miranda!” Cassie shouted angrily into the receiver.

“Well, sorry sis, just trying to be realistic. I’ve seen too many horror movies. But I do think you should just open it, maybe it’s a gift for you! But look, I have to go, Ellie just fell and Michael is pulling her hair to help her up! Let me know what’s inside! Bye!” The line disconnected before Cassie could even respond.

Cassie sat on the stool at the kitchen counter and stared at the package for a long time. Some of the stamps were illegible and the longer she looked at it, the more she felt like something terrible had to be inside. After what felt like an hour, Cassie prepared herself to just open the box and find out what was inside. After a few repitions of ‘everything will be fine’, Cassie reached for the twine surrounding the box. As soon as her fingers began pulling the twine loose, there was a knock on her front door, causing Cassie to scream and fly backwards off the stool.