Box

Mom kept it at the back of the closet

The one that curved beneath the stairs

She caught me trying to open it once

Tanned my hide for that…

Just a dumb box

What’s wrong with it?

But it was halloween

She thought I was out

Trick or treating with my friends

I crouched low beneath the steps

Squeeze charged flashlight in hand

Pumping slow and steady to keep it lit

There it sat

Brown and plain

No markings

No indication of contents

I kneeled and slid forward

The cape of my batman costume dragging

The world’s greatest detective…

I reached it and slowly grasped its sides and pulled it out a bit

I held the light in one hand, still pumping away

And with the other I eased open the unsecured lid

Nothing was inside

No not an empty box

Nothing

I saw nothing

Black

Endless

Nothing

The inside edges of the box were there

But where the bottom should be

Nothing

I didn’t get it

I couldn’t get it

I still don’t

My hand shook as I slowly eased my flashlight down into the box

Passing the floor and dangling it in the void below

The light dimmed

battery draining quickly

I heard something

Deep and low

Predatory

My body jumped

And the light fell

Fell

So far

Then nothing

Gone without a trace

I slowly closed the lid

Slid it back

And never spoke of it again…

Thumbnail source: https://www.deviantart.com/jusdog/art/The-Scary-Box-449433139