The Box in the Baringer Attic

The sun blazed high in the sky, heating the ground to a suffocating 126 degrees. The great threesome of 2082 made being outside from one to six in the afternoon a federal crime.

First was the heat wave. In the summer of 2082 over ten million people lost their lives due to the heat. The UN, WHO and make it agreed to the CDC all came together and agreed to make it illegal to be out between one and six in the afternoon.

Then, in the fall of 2082, was the EM pulse, or so the government said. Everyone had a different answer as to what happened, but the results were the same. All electronics were rendered useless, at least in the US that is.

Finally, was the plague of December of 2082. It lasted five years and in March of 2082 the world population was nearly nine billion, but at the beginning of 2085 it had decreased drastically to a mere 4 billion nine hundred million. Drastic measures had to be made in order to protect the rest of the planet. And twenty-five years later, the UN still couldn’t decide what they needed to do. For they had lost another seven hundred million, bringing the world population just a scant above four billion.

But today, today Pollyanna cared nothing about that. For reasons she could not fathom, she had been drawn to the Baringer Mansion. Specifically, the attic. She had dreams about it every day for the past two weeks. She had to see what was up there! She had to see what was … calling her.

Mama had wanted them down below by 12 today for it was supposed to be worse than it had been in the past three summers. However, Polly didn’t care. She only cared about finding that box. So, she put on her protective clothing, sungoggles, headwrap to protect her head from the heat, and the loose-fitting clothing everyone wore when they had to be out in the heat and marched across to the Baringer’s mansion. Luckily, it was only a block away.

She opened the front door cautiously, looking all around. Polly didn’t know what, or who, she expected to see, for it had been abandoned for the last 26 years, for all of the Baringer children and Mrs. Baringer, had died in the plague, but still, something told her to proceed with caution.

She was almost to the grand staircase that branched to the left and the right, when her sister’s voice froze her movements. “Pollyanna! You know the Baringer’s will kill you! Mother too! I dare not think what father will do to you.”

“Oh, stuff it, Lily, you know darn well the Baringer’s abandoned this place over years ago, and no one has been inside since.”

Climbing a few of the steps to her sister, Lilybeth replied. “With good reason. You know what happened.”

Pollyanna turned slowly, her heart grew slightly frosty at her sister’s reference. “Yes, I am aware,” and but I am on a mission of great importance.” She turned on her heel and continued on her mission.

“Pollyanna!”

Not turning to acknowledge her name, Pollyanna replied. “You are welcome to keep berating me, or you can join me.”

Polly knew she got her good then. Her younger sister was a bit too young to understand, and too afraid to go back home by herself. Polly didn’t need to see her sister’s face, for she knew it turned as white as the sheets covering the furniture of their neighbor’s house. But Polly, she’d been wanting to see what was in the Baringer’s attic for quite some time.

“F-fine, I-I’ll go back home and cover for you, but you owe me Pollyanna Morgensen.”

Waving at her sister, Pollyanna said, “Fine, fine. We’ll talk about it later.”

Pollyanna took slow purposeful steps waiting for her sister to leave, when she heard the door open and close, she looked back to make certain she was gone, and then unwrapped her headwrap, and took off her goggles.

It didn’t even startle her that she knew exactly where the door to the staircase that led to the attic was. She shouldn’t know where it was … but she did.

Grabbing the rail tightly, her heart pounding in her ears, she took one step, then two steps, until she was in the attic.

Expanding the entire length of the mansion, the attic went in either direction, further than Polly could see. She must’ve stood there for many minutes before the first bell sounded, warning everyone to get down below.

“Shoot!” she said aloud. She had to get back. It would take her a minimum of ten minutes to get home. She would have to come back again tomorrow and explore.

Having made up her mind, she turned around, and just before she reached the first step going down, her gaze alighted on an old beat-up cardboard box. She had no clue what was in it, or what made it more important than all the other things in the attic, but… it was.

Quickly snatching it up, she grabbed it and skipped down the steps, shutting the attic door firmly behind her.

She closed up the mansion, just like she had found it and made the trek home. Their house was only a block away, which of course, no one was allowed to travel any further than six house lengths anyway, so it was a good thing. Six house lengths were the average distance of a block these days.

With her house in sight, the final warning signal went off and Pollyanna knew she only had five minutes to get inside before the soldiers were out to secure the perimeter.

Pollyanna had to figure out how she was going to sneak upstairs with her “package” without her parents noticing. Skillfully hiding it behind her back, she was relieved to see it was just her mother upstairs, gathering some ingredients for tonight’s supper.

“Pollyanna, get downstairs this instance. You’ve been in the sun too long.”

Grateful she didn’t turn around to look at her, Pollyanna answered while heading below. “Yes mama. Sorry mama.”

She opened her chest and stuck the brown paper wrapped box inside, then closed it up, locking it, and placed the decorative covering on top so no one would be suspicious.

20:00 hours seemed to take forever to arrive, but at last the siren for the all clear sounded, and they could go outside. As patiently as possible, Pollyanna waited for her brothers and sisters to go out first. She wanted to keep the package and it’s contents a secret for as long as possible, for she knew she couldn’t keep it secret for long.

“Pollyanna,” said her mother, as she popped her head in to check on her daughter who was laying on the bed, reading a book. “Why haven’t you gone outside yet? You’ve been itching to go out since thirteen hundred. Go on, daughter, get some fresh air. Goodness knows we don’t get enough of that these days.”

“I will mama. I’m just wanting to read this last chapter. It’s my favorite.”

Edwina Morgensen craned her neck to check out what her daughter was reading, or supposedly reading, for she was just trying to bide her time until she could open the box upstairs in peace. “Ah, Little Women. My favorite. It’s good to see it’s your favorite as well, darling.”

Her mother sighed. “Very well. Finish your chapter then go get some fresh air. I know you were out earlier, but…”

“I know, I know. We need the fresh air.”

“We do indeed,” and Edwina Morgensen exited her daughters’ room, and Pollyanna heard her soft footfalls head up the stairs.

At last. She could open her box. Grabbing it from her trunk, she wrapped her arms around it and crept up the stairs.

Polly looked around to make certain they were all outside playing, and then with a glance around she snuck around back with her box. Checking to make certain no one else was around her, she ripped open the paper that surrounded the box. It wasn’t sealed very well, so her fingernails sliced open the strange adhesive easily.

Puckering her brow, she took down her hood. A book? That was all that was in here? A book? Not a very big book either. About fifty pages.

She opened it up and began to read aloud. “To whomever finds this package, thereby finding its contents, a warning. We know who you are, and we know how to get rid of you. We are not all dead as you suspect. We are merely hiding. Do not come looking for us, for we have had centuries to master at hiding, but beware, we are coming for you. We will take back our planet! It is ours! Go back to yours! And yes, we know your language as well. Be afraid! Be very afraid!”

Pollyanna looked up to see her mother approaching. Not caring she turned the page to see a drawing of the person who wrote this. She had only two arms and two legs. On her face she had something that stuck out. Pollyanna touched her own flat face. She had a mouth and things on the side of her head.

“Pollyanna, what do you have there?”

Edwina Morgensen got a better look at what her daughter held. “Oh gods! Victor! I think it’s time we had a talk with the children!”

“Is it true? Did we take these-these beings planet from them?”

Pollyanna’s mother looked worried, but Polly didn’t care. “Now Pollyanna, the truth—”

“Is what I demand to know. Now mother!”

Edwina looked over her shoulder then back at Polly. “Yes, but there are—”

“No, don’t say there are reasons! We… we are the monsters that the songs talk about! I…I’m going to find them and help them get their planet back! It’s not right mother. We are … monsters…” Polly breathed the word.

Her mother reached her arm out, a long tendril wrapping around Polly’s arm, but Polly dodged her mother’s grasp. “Now Polly, that wouldn’t be—”

“I don’t care! This is horrible!”

Polly snatched up her book and took off! To where, she had no idea, but she had to do something. She had to fix this. Maybe she couldn’t but she had to try. These beings deserved their planet back, and she’d do whatever she could to give it to them or die trying.