Curtis's Brown Paper Box

At the office, I asked my boss if there was anything else he needed from me.

"I don't know," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You're doing just fine."

He didn't need to say any more than that. My job wasn't about making him happy or filling out paperwork. It was about delivering results and keeping our clients satisfied. If they were happy, we'd be happy. That's all it took for us to thrive in this business.

The rest of the week went by without incident. On Thursday afternoon, I got a mysterious box from my friend, Curtis, at work. He told me not to open it until Saturday morning. The next day, I woke up early and headed down to breakfast. As usual, I ordered some eggs benedict and drank two cups of coffee while waiting for them to arrive. After finishing my meal, I grabbed my phone off the table and opened an app.

A message popped up on my screen: It is time to wake up.

Confused, I looked around. Nothing seemed different. Everything seems calm. There was no way this message could have been real. But how? And why?

After spending another day at the office, I decided to head back home. I still couldn't believe I hadn't seen or heard anything strange since the entire ordeal, but now I wondered if it would ever happen again. Maybe I should go see someone... No! What good will that do?!

When I arrived at the apartment building, I noticed something unusual outside. Someone had spray painted the sidewalk black. When I approached, I saw white paint that spelled out 'CAT'. Was it just a coincidence? Or was it part of whatever was happening here?

Walking up to my apartment, I found nothing suspicious. All the lights were working normally, as well as the air conditioning, and my door.

I started cleaning up the kitchen as usual before I got ready for bed. Just then, I heard the sound of glass shattering downstairs. Curious, I ran down to investigate. The front door stood wide open. In fact, every window in the lobby was shattered too. This was getting stranger by the second.

I walked cautiously, trying to figure out where the noise came from. Suddenly, I felt like I was being watched.

I'm not risking my life or doing anything stupid, so I dialed 911 instead. The operator assured me she'd send police officers right away. She also warned me that there might be other people involved and that they may try to hurt me if they find me. I thanked her and hung up.

After making sure nobody else was coming into view, I walked towards the broken windows. The sight below made me gasp in shock. Blood splatter covered the ground and walls. Several bodies lay scattered throughout the streets. Some were already dead; others were barely alive. One man tried desperately to crawl to safety under his car. Another woman screamed hysterically. A young girl sat curled up against the wall, rocking back and forth uncontrollably.

"This can't be real," I whispered to myself. "What's going on?"

As soon as I came into view, the screaming stopped. Everyone turned their attention to me and froze in place.

"The box!" one of them shouted. "We need your box!"

My heart began pounding with fear. They wanted my box? How did they know about it? And why didn't I hear them earlier when I first went down there?

I backed up slowly until I reached the stairwell. I sprinted up to my apartment then closed and locked the door behind me.

Why the hell do they want with a dumb old paper brown box? Why does any of this make sense?

In an attempt to calm down, I took deep breaths. I knew I needed to stay alert. I had to keep an eye on everything, but first, I needed to see what was inside that box.

I took a box cutter and after taking several more calming breaths, I opened it carefully to reveal what appeared to be some kind of puzzle. There were three pieces missing: a cube, two triangles, and two circles.

That's it? That doesn't look very special at all!

It was just an ordinary cardboard box.

Wait...

There was something else inside. Something I hadn't seen yet.

It was a note.

'It is time to wake up.'

It was written in blood over and over again.

'It is time to wake up.'

'It is time to wake up.'

'It is time to wake up.'

'It is time to wake up.'

Who are these people? What is going on here?

Just then, I hear a crowd banging loudly on the door. It sounds like it could be the police. I should probably hide.

I quickly shut the lid on the box, hiding whatever was inside, before locking it tight once more. Then I hid under the bed, clutching my box cutter in my hands, hoping I didn't need to use it on someone.

"It is time to wake up!" the voice outside shouts.

* * *

When I woke up, I was still in the office, sleeping under my desk.

"Dude, it is time to wake up," Curtis said, shaking me.

I looked around to see him standing in the doorway.

"You okay, dude?"

I nodded.

He gave me a concerned smile.

"I'll go get you some coffee. You should drink that."

I agreed, so he left.

I heard the door close, but I kept staring down at the box he just gave me.

"I've got to open it now," I muttered to myself, before grabbing a scissor and cutting it open.

When I lifted the lid, I saw that it was indeed a normal-looking paper box.

I gasped in surprise, as if I'd been slapped across the face.

"Oh shit..."

It was a note on top of a sea of packing peanuts.

'Happy Birthday!'

I immediately closed it and replaced the lid with new tape. They remembered my birthday.

I'm not sure how long I sat there in silence, but eventually I heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Hey, buddy, you ready for breakfast?"

My friend walked into the room with a cup of steaming hot black liquid in his hand. He set it down and sat next to me.

"Thanks, man. I don't know what happened, but I feel refreshed!"

"Yeah, I bet. I thought I'd lost my mind when I found you passed out under your desk like that. I couldn't believe it!"

"What? I was asleep?"

"Yep, I came by to wake you up, and you were already under there. Also, don't open that box. It is a surprise for you."

"I know it is my birthday present. I just haven't had a chance to look inside yet!"

Curtis laughed nervously. “You weren’t supposed to open it till tomorrow morning.”

"I hope it's a good one."

"It definitely is, believe me."

"Now let's go have some breakfast. I'm starving."