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Special Delivery |
| Written by David Neve | |
| Sunday, 10 August 2008 | |
April walked out to the mailbox filled with anticipation; the last two deliveries were stranger than the first. This being the last delivery, she wasn't sure what to expect to find when she opened the mailbox. The wording in the agreement said clearly that the last contract delivery would be the biggest surprise of them all, and this was it. She was absolutely giddy by the time she reached the mailbox at the end of her drive. Savoring the moment she grabbed the little tab on the mailbox door and pulled ever so gently, allowing the light to trickle in slowly until the package was fully illuminated. Fully the size of the mailbox itself, she reached in and pulled the package free. As she walked back to the house she was bombarded by the urge to stop, drop to the ground, and open the package. Open it, don't open it, open it, don't open it, was the cadence in her head as she continued to the house. Once she reached the house she set the box on the dining room table, went to the kitchen and calmly poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat down in front of it. She already had the list in front of her; the list of favorite surprises she had received in the past. Written on the back of the contract she signed four years ago, she couldn't help but flip the paper over and read the contract again. Signed on August 1, 2004, she paid a total of $2,000.00 to receive three deliveries per year, one every four months, until August 1, 2007. Each delivery was guaranteed to be something that she had never seen or heard of before, and was guaranteed to change her life; if the product was used wisely. There was only one restriction placed on the buyer; once the contract was signed the signer could not speak of the agreement to anyone - or the contract would immediately be voided. Her family and friends thought that she was totally out of her mind when she mentioned signing the original contract and sending it back, so she didn't bother telling them when she did it. At the time, she certainly entertained the thought that they might be right, but she had $2000.00 she didn't need - and if it was true... The part she liked the most was the last paragraph where it guaranteed, absolutely, that the last delivery will provide the biggest surprise of them all. Flipping the page back over, she looked at the notes she had written. She had received a total of eleven deliveries to date. Some of the boxes contained things that she was sure she didn't put to proper use; simply because she couldn't associate the object with a need she had. She definitely had some favorites. This list contained the items that really changed her life in either thought or action. The first delivery was a box containing five peaches. When she opened that first box, she was both dumbfounded and angry. Both emotions immediately faded when she took her first bite and the flavor overtook her. Within a week the remaining peaches were sold for their seed at a small price of $250,000 a piece. She converted the peaches into an instant million; that kept her smiling nonstop until the next wondrous delivery. The second memorable delivery was the last of the first year, and it arrived in a regular envelope - a phone number. She carried the phone number around in her purse for almost two weeks before she dialed it. When she finally called the number the man on the other end of the line simply asked one question, "Ready?" She couldn't think of anything better to say other than the obvious, "Yes, I'm ready." The man didn't say another word; he simply hung the phone up. She replaced the phone on the hook and went about her business. Days later she heard that a bulldozer showed up at her ex husbands home while he was at work and leveled it. It was explained as an accident; apparently the driver had the wrong address. Yeah, she was ready. Then a gadget that she called a Dream Weaver Headset arrived. This was the first of many interesting pieces of technologies that arrived at her mailbox. With the DWH, she could use her digital camera and pictures from her photo albums to create dreams. This wondrous toy has provided nonstop entertainment since the day she received it. The next delivery contained a necklace with a beautiful heart hanging from it. Looking closely, she was able to locate a small button recessed into the center of the heart on the side that rested against her skin. There was a note with this delivery, "For Emergency Only. This Item Works Only Once." She had no idea what to make of it, but knew enough by now of the alien technology she had been receiving to believe she should wear it. She wore the necklace religiously for almost six months before she felt she had to push the button. She was crossing the street that evening when a driver lost control of his truck while making a turn. The truck flipped on its side and was sliding towards her at a high rate of speed. Instinctively, she reached up and pressed the button on her necklace just seconds before the truck hit her. She immediately found herself back at the curb, well aware that a truck was about to come around the corner in a few moments - and waited for it to happen without her. Despite the fact that it will not work a second time, she still wears the necklace religiously to this day. The last great treat she received was a bottle with four capsules. The instructions that accompanied the bottle said, "Take One And Only One On The First Day Of Every Month." By the time she had finished the regimen, all of the excess weight had fallen off of her body and she had become a bundle of toned muscle and energy. That was a year ago and the effects of the pills can still be seen and felt. Now she sat in front of the very last delivery. Anxiously she broke the tape on the box and pulled the flaps open, revealing a small silver square box with a solitary blue button. Written on the button was the word, "Push." She set the little box on the table and stared at it. Here, sitting on her dining room table was the very last delivery; the end of a wonderful three years. Taking a deep breath, filled full of both sadness and anticipation she reached over and pushed the button. The chair that April had been sitting upon suddenly disappeared and she found herself trying not to fall over backwards. As she fought to regain her balance, she immediately leaned forward and brought herself up to her full height - only to slam her head against a very hard surface. Dazed, she fell to the floor and remained there. Wherever she was, it was dark, pitch dark. As she recovered her senses, she crawled around and discovered that she was in a rectangular room, maybe somewhere around eight feet long by five feet wide; no taller than five feet. She got up on her feet and while crouched down, started feeling her way around the room looking for a door. After making it a little more than a quarter of the way around the room she was thrown violently around as the room started shaking. She pressed herself onto the floor as the room seemed to sway back and forth on its own. Dizzy, bruised, terrified and exhausted, she had given up all hope of the room ever stopping when she felt the floor slam hard into her chest and everything stopped. She turned over on her back and stared up into the darkness, not knowing what to expect next. Even as the motion stopped, the sounds began. Bad garbled English, she thought, with a bit of; she wasn't sure, some kind of European accent. Whatever it was, it was loud - very loud. She was ripped away from her distraction with the voices as a new thunderous sound invaded her room. The new noise raged from one end of the room to the next, vibrating the entire room as it swept across the ceiling. Then it was quiet again. She waited, hands clamped to the sides of her head to protect her ears, for whatever comes next - and she wasn't prepared. The ceiling of the room she was in suddenly split open and blinding light filled it. She instinctively rolled into a ball trying to will everything that was happening into the past. It was then that she noticed that the noises had gone. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up - to see two giant sets of eyes looking down. She fainted as a very large three fingered hand reached down, wrapped her waist, and picked her up; holding her level with the eyes of the smaller creature. "Be careful! Don't bruise it!" "What is it?" "It's a Human! Well, I certainly didn't expect to have something like this delivered! This is wonderful!" "Can we eat it now?" "Of course not, you know better than that. We have to wait until your father comes home! A Human! I just can't believe it! Just think, we have one more delivery left and it's supposed to be the biggest surprise of them all! I just can't wait!" "Yeah, you know, the Human is great, but I really had fun with that fire and noise making thing we got last time." "You mean the firecracker?" "Yeah..." Copyright 2008 David Neve |
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