The Awakening
A Fiction Exercise
“Nothing good happens after 2:00 am”.
That quote plays in my mind as the doorbell rings, waking myself and the two dogs up. The twin king Charles cavaliers I am dog sitting for my sister immediately start barking in fits of terror and rage from having their slumber disturbed The I roll over and look at the clock; it reads 3:19 AM. I spring out of bed, run to the bedroom window and gaze outside - the view of the front door slightly askew. No sign of anyone or anything. Nervously scrambling to get my phone, I immediately open the doorbell camera app. A small to medium size package sat solitary in the middle of the front entrance. I rewind the camera app a few frames, but the feed blacks out. One frame, total darkness and the front porch I have walked through twice since I moved into this house earlier today- the next frame: complete darkness - the following: the porch again, this time with the package sitting there. I click my phone off, and lay down, trying to ignore the mysterious package that has been left on my doorstep at 3:00am on a remote house a few miles inroad from the nearest signs of civilization.
Fifteen minutes and one thousand racing thoughts later, I get up and looked out the window again: nothing but early morning stillness. Checking the phone camera app again, absolutely nothing in the frame for the last fifteen minutes, and the same roughly still five second blackout when the package appears on the doorstep. The dogs now look at me, communicating with their eyes “well…go check it out”. “Some guard dogs” I say, as if I hoped the two dogs with a combined weight of 30lbs would protect me from the mysterious package deliverer. Knowing falling back asleep is a lost cause, I saunter down the stairs. “I really should have gotten a gun or something” I think to myself, forgetting that I have never seen a gun in anything but a movie or television show, let alone fired one. Reaching the main floor and accepting my firearm-less state, I grab the largest steak knife from the kitchen block, which makes me feel slightly more intimidating. I look out the glass surrounding the front door: no sign of any person, animal, thing. Nothing but the pure and complete silence of a ranch home surrounded by forest in the small pacific northwest town. I open the door, and what feels like the fastest I have ever moved in my life, grab the package. I almost fumble it, as it is heavier than the shoe box size of it would indicate, and faintly warm, as if someone had baked a fresh pie and placed it in the box. Getting the package inside, I immediately slam the door shut and flip the door lock and click the chain lock in place. I inspect the top of the package: no return address, no address label at all. The only words scrawled across the top of the box: “YOURS” carved in with what could have only been a knife. For some reason, I pick the box up and hold it slightly to my head: a faint humming rings out, and I realize it is going to be a long first night in my new home.
As I turn around to head back inside, something catches my eye. The moonlight reflecting off something in the woods, I look closer. A woman in a blue dress appears, and walks out from the woods. The dress hugs her body, but not in a sensual way, just perfectly form-fitting. She has shoulder length blonde hair that in the early morning moonlight looks almost white. While I should be absolutely terrified that a woman in a blue cocktail dress just walked out from the woods, her natural beauty and aura weirdly calms me and prevents me from moving. As if almost floating, she walks toward the house, coming to pause a foot from the stairs up the porch. I am still holding the box, and find myself unable to speak. Finally she says, “What’s that your holding?”. “Don’t know” I respond “…someone just left it for me on the doorstep”.
“Is it for you?”
“Not sure - it says YOURS on it”
She doesn't respond. She turns her gaze to the house and as if inspecting it, looks curiously at the home and turns her attention back to me. Her eyes are a color blue I have never seen before, as if the sun reflected off a perfectly clear body of water.
“Do you live here” she asks.
“I just moved in today,” I respond. I am unable to comprehend nor address the strangeness and severity of my current situation. The box still hums in my hand.
“Hm” she pauses. “Are you staying long?”
“I’m not sure, I have to figure it out”
“I think you’ll like it here. I’ll see you again soon”. She turns, and walks back into the woods.
I go to follow her but my feet are locked in place, and I am unable to move. She disappears back into the words. The humming from the box grows louder.
I turn back towards the house and grab the box. The slow hum has now turned into a violent vibration, the box is warm. The package requires me to squat down and pick it up with both hands, its weight catches me off guard. I hear a rustling from the woods, half expecting to see the woman in the blue dress re-appear; but she's gone. I get a chill down my spine, the massive trees surrounding the house start to rustle. I muster all my strength to get the package inside, struggling to open the door and keep from dropping it, and rush inside while the door slams behind me.
Image generation using Grok.