Inside the box

It’s the worst thing ever, waiting for one’s mother. Scrawny Timmy Dawson hung on his mother’s arm like a baby chimp and moaned.

“Mommy, I want to gooooo," he let the end of the word follow the passing subway car.

“Ssh, Timmy, wait a few minutes please,” Jennifer snapped and then continued her conversation with Mrs. Nelson from down the hall.

Timmy didn’t know why all of a sudden it was so amazing to see Mrs. Nelson at the subway station. They saw her all the time. Why did his mother have to talk to her now?

Timmy glanced around the awesome world he was standing in the middle of. This was more exciting. There were all kinds of people who didn’t live three doors down from them; a beautiful dark-skinned lady in a silk scarf, a bearded man wearing a cowboy hat, and a messy-looking woman standing in the corner—waving him over.

Oh.

He squinted hard to see better and then shot a glance over his shoulder. Was she waving at him or someone else? He didn’t see anyone acknowledging her—he looked at her and motioned at himself.

“Me?” he whispered.

The lady was leaning against a painting of bright, fluffy flowers. Just above her head was the caption “Marigolds: modest protectors.” She wore a worn olive green jacket, her sandy hair sat on top of her head like a disheveled birds' nest, and she stood next to a shopping cart.

Interesting. A shopping cart at a subway station. See? The other people at the subway were cooler than Mrs. Nelson.

The cool lady nodded to say “yes, you.”

He looked up at his mom. She was engrossed in a conversation about something called “mortgages” with Mrs. Nelson, who said, “Jennifer, I’m serious, buying is better than renting. Imagine growing a pear tree in the ground instead of on the rooftop in a pot.”

Timmy let go of her hand as a test. If she grabbed his hand again then she was paying too close attention to what he was doing for him to escape unscathed.

Her hand now freed, Jennifer used it to emphatically state “I know, but we just don’t have the down payment.”

Cool. Timmy inched slowly away from his mother, who remained none the wiser. As a group passed he took the opportunity to mix in among them. Timmy giggled to himself. His mom had no idea he just left. He was a ninja.

He darted in and out among the people. They were all so fun and intriguing. Everyone wore different sorts of clothing and carried a myriad of accessories; canes, umbrellas, laptop bags, even a small dog in a purse. He got distracted a few times but finally, he made it over to the mysterious lady.

“Hi!" he said as he bounced to a stop in front of her. The lady looked at him warmly and patted him on the head.

“Timmy?” she asked.

“Yeah! How’d you know?”

The woman simply bent over her cart and pulled out a box wrapped in brown paper.

“What’s that?” Timmy asked.

“Yours,” was all she said. Then she waved him off, implying he should go back to his mother.

Huh, something for Timmy—super fun! He shrugged off the strangeness and skipped back to his unobservant mother, overjoyed.

Timmy held the box in his arms awkwardly and stood next to his mom, grinning ear to ear. Suddenly Jennifer noticed his silence and glanced down. It was a brief glance, but what she saw in only that millisecond warranted a double-take. This time wide-eyed.

“What’s that?” she snapped.

“It’s mine!” Timmy exclaimed triumphantly, still beaming.

“No, it’s not! What are you talking about? Where did you get that?” she spat out frantically.

Timmy’s smile faded. “It’s mine. The lady said so.”

Fire filled Jennifer’s eyes. Timmy didn’t understand. He just got a present. Why was his mother so upset?

Jennifer looked around wildly and then bent down to his level. Through gritted teeth, she whispered, “what lady?”

Saddened by his mother’s reaction, little Timmy pouted and said “the lady with the cart. She said it belonged to me.”

Jennifer furiously ripped the package from his hands and then shouted “Someone help! Call Police!”

Well, Timmy thought that was an overreaction. Why did she get to throw a fit?

“Mommy! What’s wrong? That’s mine, the lady said!”

"Timmy, only bad people give packages to strangers."

"But, she was nice..." he protested with a little pout.

Jennifer rolled her eyes." Somebody! Call the Police!"

From the crowd stepped a man that looked like he had popped out of Timmy's superhero comics, he was even wearing a suit and tie.

"What seems to be the problem, Miss?"

"Do you have a phone? Mine was damaged..." Jennifer looked down at Timmy briefly to acknowledge his roll in her phone taking a trip in the potty. He looked at the floor.

"Yes, here you go." Hero man held out the slickest, shiniest rectangle Timmy had ever seen... it'd make an even better boat than his mom's, which was much smaller.

Jennifer feverishly tapped three buttons on the man's would-be awesome boat, held it up to her ear, and said "Hello, 911, yes, we have a suspicious package here at the subway station. Yes, some strange woman just handed it to my child. Please hurry."

"She wasn't strange... she was super cool!" Timmy protested.

"Oh, what? That box isn't yours?" the hero man asked.

"Yes, it's mine!" Timmy declared.

"No, it's not his, some strange woman with a cart just handed it to him and told him it was his."

"That could be a bomb. You should put it down and step away," the man said.

"Really? Do you think it could be a bomb? I was thinking it was drugs."

Timmy was thinking it was candy. Why did the adults want it to be something awful?

Jennifer held the box out away from her and slowly set it on the floor. Then she grabbed Timmy and pulled him away from his prized possession.

"Everyone stay back!" the hero man yelled, but nobody did anything. They just went about their business. Hero man and Jennifer looked at each other in astonishment. Then Jennifer had an idea.

"Bomb!" she screamed.

One time, when Timmy was smaller, he disturbed an anthill at the park while playing soccer. He enjoyed watching the little critters scurry and run. Timmy reflected on this memory as all the people panicked. It was chaos. Timmy sat on a bench and had a good laugh as he watched the people run in mad directions—all because they were afraid of his box of candy.

Jennifer shot him a scolding stare. Timmy clasped his hand around his mouth and muffled his uproarious laughter.

Suddenly several police officers flooded the subway. Timmy saw two men with dogs and one man in the weirdest outfit he had ever seen. This guy had a poofy green suit on and a helmet with a face shield. Timmy was reminded of those old-timey scuba divers.

Jennifer pointed at Timmy's box on the ground. The officers encircled it. The dogs approached first. Timmy thought they were cute until they started barking at his box. "They just want the candy for themselves," he thought.

The police backed off. They grouped together a little bit like those football players did and came up with a new plan of attack. Suddenly a man appeared with a robot. This was the best. Timmy got a present, watched people run like ants, saw two dogs and now there was a robot. But he really did want that box... he could just imagine the snickers, the Hershey's, the Reeces. He had to get it back.

The robot was approaching the box. Timmy watched it inch slowly. He sighed with impatience. The robot was only going to go over there and open his present. It was his. It had been fun watching the Police, but he couldn't let a robot steal the joy of opening his present.

His mom and Hero man were watching the robot intently. So were the Police. Nobody was watching him. Suddenly Timmy had an idea. He could beat that robot.

Timmy scurried quickly into the perimeter, just in front of the robot. The officers protested, but he was too fast. He grabbed the box, ripped the paper off, and opened the lid.

"Timmy, NO!" he could hear his mother yell as a green light washed over his face. Timmy squeezed his eyes tightly. Everything was silent.

Nothing happened. Timmy peaked out one eye. At the top was a small business card, like Hero man would have. It read:

"Thank you for misplacing your belongings with Founder,

the founding Lost and Found company,

est. 1908."

Under the card was Timmy's old soccer ball. He had wondered where that went.