Today’s prompt 1/21/19:
You’re a construction worker, and while in the middle of a dig to build a new building, you stumble upon a box with contents in it. There are five very specific items in it, along with a note: “When you find this, call me. This is only phase one.” There is a phone number, so you call it. What happens next?
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The Treasure Box
It’s very boring being just the gofer at the construction site. “Go for this.” “Go for that.” “Clear away this mess.” “Move that pile of debris.” All I do all day is take orders and clean up the disaster of a site that is created by the higher paid workers. Little did I realize that that was soon going to change.
It was a typical Friday morning. Got to work, swept up the offices, waiting to be told what menial task I was to do when my boss sent me to a new construction site. I was told that my job was just to clear away some debris from a recently excavated plot so that the real workers could start laying the foundation.
I got to the site and was surprised to find no one there. The mess I had to dig through and clean up certainly was present. I went down into the hole and started carting up the debris. I’d been working about 45 minutes when I happened upon a small box. It looked very old. There was a lock hooked through a hasp, supposedly to keep the box shut and secure. Though the lock was closed, the hasp had been eroded enough away that it was no longer attached to the box, meaning I could open the box. So I did.
Inside the box were 5 items, a key, a shoelace, a swiss army pocket knife, an empty water bottle, a hundred dollar bill, and a note. The note said, “When you find this, call me. This is only phase one.” The note included a phone number to call.
Since no one was around, instead of putting the box in the dumpster, I put it in my car, after pocketing the hundred dollar bill, and then continued to finish the job I was sent to do. With a weekend coming up, I figured I had time to figure out what this mystery was. I got home at my usual time, took out the box, examined it again, reread the note, then made the call.
A raspy voice answered on the other end. “It’s about time you called.”
“What do you mean?” I replied. “Who am I talking to?”
What shocked me was his answer. “It’s not necessary for you to know, Robby. Just suffice it to say, I expected this call much earlier. You now only have 18 hours to complete phase one.”
“How do you know my name? I only just found this box. Do I know you? What do you mean only 18 hours left?”
The ragged voice on the other side of the line retorted quickly, “Just continue to ask stupid questions and you will never have time enough to complete your task. You either do what I say and possibly gain something that will make your life a whole lot better, or don’t, just hang up and you’ll never know what you missed, and then there is, of course, the consequences of your inaction!”
My mind was spinning. So many questions. So many “What ifs?” He seemed to be threatening me that if I didn’t cooperate something bad would happen, but if I did do what he said good things would happen. I was in mid-thought when again he spoke, “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. Better luck next time.”
“DON’T HANG UP! I’ll do it,” was my hastened response, not knowing at all what I just agreed to.
In my mind, I could see him smirking as he continued and told me what I had to do.
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Step 1: Go to my local park and find the shoe that was missing the shoelace.
Step 2: Use the pocket knife to scrape out the gunk that was stuck to the bottom of the shoe. Somehow there was something I either had to find, use or read, which the gunk covered up.
Step 3: go to the liquor store of my choice, purchase a certain brand of champagne, using the $100.00 and pour enough of it into the empty water bottle, which I was told was in fact not completely empty and follow the instructions as to where to go.
Step 4: Look for another box which will not have a rusted hasp and use the key to open it and get my Phase 2 assignment.
I was, supposedly, not the only person looking for this box. And its contents were set to self-destruct at the end of the original 24 hour period, meaning I had less than 18 hours to go.
Before I could ask any questions. The line went dead.
continued at http://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=1403
