I grew up reading Stephen King and loved his stories and his style of writing. Whenever he released a new book I bought it right away and devoured it word by word and usually finished it in a few days. I loved his short short stories as well. Here is my attempt at one. I hope you like it.....
Billy Owens didn't remember when he got the box, he just knew he had always had it. For all of his fourteen years the box had been there in his room. It was made of wood and it was the kind of wood that one could tell was very old. Dry with a rough, gritty feel to it. It was painted red, a red that once was bright and shiny but now was just a dull, faded shade of that red. There was a light blue swirl that ran along all four sides and finished on the lid up top. The bottom corners had a thin, tarnished looking intricate medal support attached that went a inch over on to each side for support and stability. The lid was connected on one side with two of the same type of metal hinges. The box stood roughly six inches high and each side measured about six inches long. The lid had a small round wooden knob that was naturally stained to a rich, dark tint that most likely came from peoples fingers rubbing on it as they opened and closed it over the years. Inside the box were also indications of it's age. The wood, without any paint, was dry and like the handle, ingrained with dirt and scars. Billy had once asked his mother when and where she had gotten the box but she knew nothing about it. Had never seen it before Billy brought it to her attention. "Probably one of your friends or your aunt Kara's kids left it here when they were over," she replied. That answer seemed to satisfy Billy and he took it back and placed it back on the shelf but back behind some of the other things on the shelf. Behind his baseball glove and the tall stack of his comic books. Billy always felt uncomfortable looking at the thing. Even more uneasy actually touching or handling it. Whenever he had it out and would rub his hand along the rough, grainy sides he got that feeling that someone was watching him. Once it was such a strong feeling that he had goosebumps raise up over both his arms. Plus, the longer he held it, the more he felt it was pulling at him, daring him almost to open the lid and have a look inside. Billy remembered too when he was younger and smaller putting some things into the box to store. Once it was a deck of cards. One time it was some hot wheels cars and each time when he went to get them they were gone. The box would be completely empty. Billy had told himself that he must have taken the things out before and had forgotten doing it and they HAD to be mixed in with his pile of stuff somewhere but Billy knew deep down that wasn't the case. The box had got them. Someway, somehow it had taken them. Billy never saw those lost items again and he knew he never would. They were gone and they were gone forever.
Billy was in the eighth grade at his middle school. He was a small kid and some of the other boys picked on him. Billy was a late bloomer, just starting the process of "growing up". Which made him the frequent target of bullies at school. Billy had gotten pretty good though at avoiding the main one's that showered him with taunts and teased him about his small size and stature. He tried to stay hidden in the shadows, knowing the bullies wouldn't tease him if they didn't see him. And for the most part he succeeded. The one bright part of his school day was his fifth period history class. Not because he was a big fan of the past or really cared for his teacher Mr. Adkins, but because he sat right across from Katie Peterson. He had had a crush on Katie since fifth grade. He and Katie had been classmates since kindergarten and he had pretty much known her his whole, short life.But it was only in the last couple of years that he had started having these strong feelings for her. Katie was progressing a lot faster towards the jump from adolescence then he was. Whenever he saw her his heart would start racing and he wanted to tell her oh so bad about the way he felt but he just couldn't. What if she laughed at him or outright rejected him? They were and had been friends for a long time and he didn't want to jeopardize that. So he did what most every other boy his age did and remained silent about his feelings. One particular day during class Billy kept looking over at Katie after they had taken their seats and Mr. Adkins had started taking attendance. Katie looked absolutely beautiful this day. She was wearing a light blue dress with black patent shoes. Her hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail. Billy could not take his eye's off of her. Suddenly Billy had a idea. Since he could not bring himself to SAY the things he wanted to tell Katie he would write them. Right then and there. Could he bring himself to give her the letter? That would have to be something he would decide later. As Mr. Adkins rambled on about the civil war and how it had almost destroyed America, Billy quietly took a sheet of paper from his binder and started writing. He started by saying how deeply he loved her and had felt this way for so long now and how he thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen and the words, the words that he had wanted to say for so long but couldn't, flowed from his pencil onto the piece of paper. He was so engrossed in what he was writing that he didn't notice when Mr. Adkins stopped lecturing and started walking toward him. Billy continued to write feverishly as Mr. Adkins made his way toward Billy's desk, stopping directly in front of him. Only when Mr. Adkins cleared his throat did Billy snap out of it and realize his teacher was standing right in front of him. "Taking notes are we?" he asked Billy. Billy attempted to crumple and tear the paper up but Mr. Adkins was to quick. He grabbed it from Billy's hand before Billy could rip it up. As the teacher straightened the page out he starting reading what Billy had been writing. A small smile starting in the corner of his mouth and quickly spread over his entire fat, greasy, ugly face. Mr. Adkins was a big overweight man. No one really liked him. Now Billy was starting to hate him. Hate him like he had never hated someone so much in his life. As he finished reading the words on the paper he asked Billy "Perhaps you'd like to read this to the class Billy, I'm sure everyone here, including Miss Peterson here, would enjoy this as much as I have". And with that Billy's heart began to sink and he immediately started shaking his head back and forth. No no no no no no nooo thought Billy to himself. "Very well, I will read it for you," declared Mr. Adkins. "No! You can't" screamed Billy. Suddenly he was scared. Scared at the feelings boiling up inside him. Scared that the other kids would hear what he wrote and they would laugh, oh would they laugh and laugh and laugh. And Katie, she would probably never speak to him again, just as embarrassed on this day as he was about to be. Soon the other kids started chanting "Read it, read it". "Very well class, here is the notes that Billy has been taking from my lesson today" said Mr. Adkins. And with that he started reading. Reading the part where Billy had wrote that every time he saw Katie his heart started beating real fast and how it felt like it was gonna jump right out of his chest. How he loved her sooo much and thought about nothing else all day. His classmates were all laughing and whooping and pointing at him. Katie looked over at him and Billy was stunned to see she was laughing too! The girl he loved more then anything else in the world, laughing along with all his classmates, at him. Billy stood up directly in front of Mr. Adkins. Then Billy opened his mouth to tell Mr. Adkins to STOP. Stop reading his private letter when something came out him that MADE the teacher stop reading. The other kids and Katie stopped laughing as well. Billy had said stop but it was the way it came out of him. It came out in a deep, loud raspy voice like no one had ever heard before. Not from a man or certainly not a small, puny kid like Billy Owens. And there was authority in it. The teacher stepped back, surprised. Anger had consumed Billy Owens. It burned in his eye's, no, smoldered would better describe it. Everyone now had stopped laughing and talking for that matter. Everyone just stared at Billy, afraid to say anything, afraid he might turn his attention on them. Mr. Adkins suddenly became uncomfortable, VERY uncomfortable. "Go now to the principals office young man" the teacher mumbled to Billy, shifting his eyes away from him. "I will call down there and tell them they can be expecting you. Go now" the teacher said. And with that young Billy Owen grabbed his things and ran out of the room and down the hallway. And, as Mr. Adkins had said, the principal was indeed waiting for him. "Your mother is on her way. When she arrives we will discuss your punishment. Have a seat young man until she arrives."
Billy's mother continued to lecture him the whole way home from school. He would be grounded. He would lose TV and computer privileges. The school had given him three after school detentions. He was going to receive a zero for today in Mr. Adkins class, also one each for his last two classes that he was going to miss for being sent home early. His mother was mad. She was called at work and told someone had to come pick up Billy since he was not going to be allowed to attend his last two classes that day. He had been writing a letter to a friend in Mr. Adkins class and Mr. Adkins had caught him. When he attempted to share it with the class Billy had told him to stop reading it in a threatening way so Billy was being sent home for the rest of the day as punishment. As Billy's mother went on talking and telling him how disappointed she was in him he wasn't hearing her. He kept seeing his beloved Katie, laughing at him, at his feelings he had poured out for her. Laughing along with the rest of the class. As his mother pulled into the driveway at their home she continued her lecture. She had to go back to work. She would be home at five and he BETTER be in his room studying or reading and no TV or computer. Billy grabbed his stuff and ran from the car to the front door. After opening it with his key he ran in and dropped everything right they on the living room floor and ran into his room crying. He threw himself on his bed onto his stomach and he let it all come flowing out. The shame, the embarrassment, the hurt, the anger. Billy cried and cried. He had tried to hold it in while he was with his mom but now the floodgates were open and it was flowing out. He was crying into his pillow, it folded under his arms with his head on it when suddenly he felt a cold finger-like touch going across the back of his neck. Billy's head jolted up automatically. Suddenly he wasn't crying anymore. When he turned and looked to his left he almost let out a scream. The box, HIS box, was on the bed next to him. Only it didn't look like the box that had been in his room for as long as he could remember. This box looked new. The colors were bright, like they had just been painted. The brass corner pieces and the lid hinges looked brand new. The light reflected brightly off of them they were so shiny. Fear began to rise up in Billy but at the same time he was drawn to the box. He felt that familiar pulling, only this time he wasn't touching it. It had touched HIM somehow, he didn't know how but it did. And here it sat. Right next to him. Hey Billy, remember me? Ya wanna play? Billy wanted to get up off the bed and run, run somewhere, anywhere, just out of this room, away from this thing. I used to be old but now Im new Billy. New for You! Why don't you open me up and see whats inside? Your cards maybe? Or those little cars that went missing so long ago? And then Billy KNEW he had to run, to get out of there. But he couldn't. That pulling feeling was stronger then he had ever felt. The box looked sooo shiny and new. Surely if he opened it it couldn't hurt. Couldn't hurt him. And who knows, maybe there WILL be something inside it. Open me Billy, Im your friend old buddy pal. Ive been here from the beginning. I promise you I got something inside that you'll like. You'll like it just fine Billy Owens. I know you will. And with that Billy sat up and reached over and grabbed the box. He placed it on his lap and slowly popped the small latch that kept the lid closed down. I shouldn't be doing this Billy thought to himself but he couldn't resist it. It was pulling him too strongly. He knew it would have something in there that he didn't want to see but what? Looking down, Billy turned the little metal piece that the latch held onto and lifted the lid of the box up. Immediately a blast of ice cold air shot out of the thing. There was nothing in it. Absolutely nothing. Inside the box was a thick, swirling darkness that completely consumed the entire inside of the box. A darkness that seemed impossible to penetrate. Billy could not see the sides nor the bottom of the box through the darkness. As the cold air continued flowing out of the box Billy kept watching the swirling blackness. Soon Billy could see his breathe as he exhaled. As he continued to stare at the thing little white dots appeared, mixed in with the black. As they swirled around they multiplied. Soon they started attaching to each other. Billy wanted to close the lid on this thing and get out but he couldn't move. He felt as if he was in a trance . The dots appeared to be forming some kind of image and he had to see what it was. The box seemed to speak to him, See Billy, I told you you would like what I had for you inside. Just keep watching and you'll see. I never lie Billy. Me and you are friends, best buds. Right Billy? And as more white dots appeared and formed the swirling slowed. Suddenly, terror started rising again in Billy as he saw what the dots were forming. Looking back up at Billy was the image of a man's face. A big, fat, overweight man's face. It was a image of his teacher, Mr. Adkins. And then Billy did scream. And right after that he started running. The box fell from his lap, onto the floor and landed on it's side, the lid still open and the cold still pouring out. Billy ran out of the room, out the front door and down the driveway to the sidewalk and keep running, not sure where he was going but running just to get as much space between him and that cursed box as he could.
Exactly one hour and a half after Billy had opened the box and had seen Mr. Adkins face in it, the teacher sat at his desk in his classroom. The students had been dismissed and like usual, Larry Adkins sat looking through the students homework he had collected today and he was going to get a jump on grading some of these as he usually did. Larry liked to spend some time in his classroom and get as much of his work done as possible. The less he had to take home the better. Larry Adkins was in his early sixties and he knew he was overweight. He always planned to start exercising but that day kept getting put off. When Larry got home at night he was pooped, hence the staying after to get as much grading and checking done as possible. He was the oldest teacher on the staff. Most of the others one's were younger with families to go home to but Larry was single and lived alone. The only one that ever left after Larry was Carl the janitor that came in latter during the day and always closed the school down at night. As Larry sat at his desk shuffling around the days papers he came across the one he had taken from Billy Owens. He read it again to himself. Katie, I love you and I have always loved you. You are the prettiest girl I know and have ever seen before. I love you so much you just don't know. Larry just shook his head and thought to himself, darn kid, he shouldn't have been writing his confession of love during MY class. Right after that thought went through Larry's head he got a chill. Suddenly he felt cold. It felt like someone had turn the A/C not only on but on full blast. Then Larry had another chill but this one wasn't from the coldness he was feeling. This one was like someone was WATCHING him. Then he could have sworn he heard someone whispering, whispering to him. Larry, oh Larry. You made my friend very sad today Larry Adkins. "Who's there?" Larry shouted out to no one in particular. "Carl, is that you?" he called out. As Larry Adkins began to stand up to see who was talking to him he was struck with a searing pain across his whole upper torso and body. Larry clutched at his chest and attempted to make it all the way up on his legs but couldn't and didn't. He fell back into the chair and started to gasp for air. He had to get up! Had to open his door and call for Carl. Carl could get help! As the pain spread across Larry's chest like fire racing through his veins Larry tried to stand one more time and almost made it but his knees buckled at the last second and he went crashing down, down to the floor. As his face reddened and his gasps grew weaker he tried to call out for Carl but he couldn't. The last thing Larry Adkins felt and heard was a invisible, cold hand over his mouth and that same voice whisper in his ear. See ya Larry Adkins. I'll tell Billy you said bye. And across town in Billy Owens bedroom the lid slammed shut on the box that was still laying on its side on the floor.
Billy slowly opened the front door to his house and walked in, shutting the door behind him. It was 4:45. He had fifteen minutes before his mom would be home. His bedroom door was still open but he was scared to go look in. He knew that he would have to sooner or later and it had to be pretty quick since his mother was due home shortly. Cautiously, taking one step at a time Billy approached his doorway and peered in. His bed was just like he had left it. The pillow still in the middle. He could see it still had some wet spots from his tears. But he didn't see the box. It wasn't on the floor where it had fell when he jumped up and raced out of the room. Billy took a couple more steps, this time going into his bedroom and looked nervously around. He was half crouched, expecting the box or something else to surprise him and jump out at him. But nothing did. He walked over to his shelf and he gasped at what he saw. The box was there, behind the baseball glove and the stack of comics. And it was old, like before, like it had always been. Could Billy have imagined this afternoon? He WAS pretty upset. No, he knew he hadn't. He carefully reached back and took hold of the box and picked it up. The colors were faded again, along with the metal fasteners and brackets. Billy's hand was shaking as he turned the latch slowly, just to check inside one more time. He lifted the lid as if there was a bomb inside and a sudden, rapid move would set it off. He looked inside and just like always, there was nothing inside. No darkness, no dots, no anything. But he felt that strong feeling again as he handled the thing and studied it. And he heard it speak to him. Not as a voice but in his head. Hey Billy Owens, you just leave me here on this shelve and you come see me if you need me again. I took care of Mr. Adkins for you. Me and you are pals Billy Owens and pals always look out for each other, right Billy? "Yes, pals do", whispered Billy. They sure do. Billy thought it would be good to have a friend. Someone always looking out for him. He smiled at the box and placed it back on the shelf. This time not in back of his other things but this time out in front. Then Billy turned and went to get his books that lay scattered on the living room floor, whistling to himself as he walked away.
