The Box

• Jaden Gargya, Grade 6, Holy Family Primary School
• Short Story
• 2019

Excellence Award in the 'Just Keep Writing 2019' competition

I trudged down the dusty footpath to where I skimmed miniscule stones across the river. When I got down to the spot where I usually stood to skim stones, I went looking for the perfect stone to skim.
Just then, a shiny glint hidden amongst the oak trees caught my attention. I hurried towards it and found a box half buried with its edge shimmering against the sunlight. I dug the box out with my bare hands and finally felt it... It was heavy. I then laid it down on the ground, excited at the sight of this mysterious box.
The only thing I wanted to do was to see if this box could open. I tried to pull the box open with all my might. The box did not move at all. I gave the box a hard kick and it went tumbling onto the ground, now half open.
I picked the box up and tried to pull it open once again. This time, the lid of the box flung into the river and the contents of the package looked old and dusty.
I swept the dust off with my hand and a withered piece of paper lay down on top of the box...
“This box contains my precious possessions, but first you need to know who I am”, I read with frustration because of the small letters on the page. Underneath the writing was a small calendar printed on the page with the months on it. Interestingly, the months January, April, May, October and November had circles around them. Also, May had the number ‘one’ next to it, October had the number ‘two’, November had the number ‘three’, April had the number ‘four’ and January had the number ‘five’ next to it.
In a matter of seconds, I had figured out the code. May started with the letter M, October with the letter O, November with the letter N and so on. “Monaj....” I muttered the word slowly under my breath. Then, as if the time capsule had heard me, it revealed what was underneath the slip of paper as a gale swept across. A golden microphone and an LP player with all of Monaj’s albums...
“Monaj Montgomery!” I shouted out loud to what seemed like the world. “This is the time capsule of the legendary singer Monaj Montgomery!” I exclaimed. I picked up the box and ran home with a big smile on my face. When I reached home I shouted in excitement: “Mum! Mum! Look what I found, it’s Monaj Montgomery’s time capsule!” Mum came running outside disturbed by the loud commotion and looked at the box I was carrying. She walked down to where I was standing and observed the box with disbelief in her eyes. Mum had been a big fan of Monaj Montgomery all her life. She stood there frozen as I said to her: “Mum! Call the news reporter!”