The Box

• Lesedi Baloyi, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2013

‘This morning I woke up and went into the upstairs kitchen and was making myself Cocoa pops and pop tarts when I heard a knock on the door.’

‘When I went to investigate, there was no one there so I decided to walk outside, but I tripped over a box and knocked my head on the ground. I was having dreams about what was in the box and how it was shipped here without me hearing or noticing. When I woke up I had a lump the size of Mt. Everest on my noggin and a box with an angry face looking at me.’

‘I assumed it was a joke but then I remembered I lived in a ‘remote’ island in Hawaii with some friends. I go back inside with the box and I continue with making cereal because so hungry. I hadn’t eaten in almost 20 hours. When I was done eating, I got a call from my mum, who said that she had sent me a box with a present in it. Now at this point I was pretty excited so I opened the box when I realized I left my key to my cars at my mum’s house, but the key wasn’t any old key no, this key was a master key that opened all the doors to my cars so I can simply just pick it up and choose a Car and not rummage through 60 different keys to find just one key, anyway I thought it was time to look inside the box and I was relieved to find my master key sitting in bubble wrap.’

‘Nigel, you are so obsessed with that key.’
‘What ever Liam’
‘No, seriously dude, you really need to stop sleeping with it’
‘LIAM, ITS THE KEY TO MY CARS, WHY CANT I SLEEP WITH IT!’
‘…Because it’s a key!’
‘Subject changed!’
‘NO, NO SUBJECT CHANGE!’
‘But Liam,’
‘NOOOOOOOOOOO!’