Universal Delivery

The usually quiet neighborhood is buzzing with a collective chatter. As you look outside you see each neighbor with an odd looking parcel at their feet. Just before heading next door to ask about their package a drone places the same type of package at your feet. The unexpected parcel was odd enough. The strange drone was very different from other drones but as the technology is still new and evolving that wasn’t surprising. It was the package itself that was oddest of all.

Just like everyone else you start looking at the oddly wrapped package. It is almost undulating with metallic colors that seem to change and pulse. There also seems to be a strange ringing sound. A high pitched signal emanates during the brighter hues and a deeper one with the darker shades. It even almost seems to change size and shape. You’ve never seen anything like it before. Apparently, neither have your neighbors as each household talks about them which was the collective chatter that drew you outside.

As you stare at the package you decide to try to pick it up and realize you can’t! It seems like it is stuck to the ground in front of you. Some neighbors who were already outside laugh nervously as they either were also trying or had tried the same already. As you touch the package it seemed to pulse to the touch. A pulsating combination of heat and cold along with vibrations that speed and slow. As you continue to stare at the package you begin to feel something you’ve never felt before. Then you notice that what had started as a regular early morning trip outside to the mailbox has turned into ALL day. The sun has almost set and you’ve no recollection of what you’ve been doing! “Did I just stand here ALL day staring at this package?!?” you ask yourself as you finally go back inside.

The news is on and there is nothing but report after report about the strange drones with the odd packages. At that point you realize it is a situation not unique to your area but WORLDWIDE. The responses include everything from optimistic amazement to pessimistic horror. You try to reconcile your own emotions about the situation and then hear a collective change in the tones of the boxes outside. As you go back outside you see all the boxes including yours are now black. A darker shade of black than you’ve ever seen before. You decide to try to pick your box up again and it finally lifts off of the ground. Held up to the late night sky it is even darker and the weight of it seems to change from light as a feather to something so heavy you can barely hold it up.

Looking around others are picking their parcels up too. Suddenly, that odd feeling engulfs you again. Then the morning sun is suddenly hitting your face. An entire night has passed in what felt like just a moment! The box is no longer black but the undulating metallic color again. You are still very unsure of what to feel. Your emotions toggle between fascination and fear. “Should I take it inside?!?” you wonder then decide to and bring it in closing and locking the door behind you.

As you set the box on the counter you hear the news start to give directions not to handle the packages! You become horrified as you’ve already touched and even brought yours inside. Then that unique feeling begins to wash over you again instantly. You sit with the box on the floor engrossed in the feeling unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. Then a blindingly, bright, light suddenly begins to emanate from the box! In the fading background noise you hear the newscast start to report entire areas are suddenly missing their citizens!