The Box

Jim adjusted his glasses and peered into the ditch. His road crew had hit something during excavation and apparently, it was giving off light.

After a parting sip of coffee, Jim grabbed a hardhat from his truck, and hurried down to join his crew. At this hour, the sun was peeking over the trees and both the grass and Jim’s boots were soaked. As he walked, his mind replayed the vague but urgent voicemail Charlie had left him an hour earlier.

When he arrived, his road crew was standing in a broken circle — faces perplexed, some with folded arms, and obviously in some sort of debate.

Trevor was the first one to speak. ‘Jim — this better be a joke.’, he said grimly, gesturing behind him toward the object, still half-buried. “Charlie seems clueless to what it is too. I told him it’s probably some kid’s prank”. With an annoyed glance in Trevor’s direction, Jim stepped past without a reply, and grabbed a nearby shovel. “For pete’s sake guys. What did you hit?”, he complained under his breath. He let his eyes adjust to the dim light and could finally make out what lay before him.

Half buried no more than 5 feet away was a glowing box, luminous and clear, but unlike anything he’d seen before. The colors of the box were like a rainbow, and tapping it with the shovel Jim heard a dull clunk. The material was obviously solid and the sound reminded him of the thick glass found in aquariums.

‘Can I get some help over here? Jim beckoned the crew with a raised shovel. The crew scattered and returned, and together they continued to dig out the box. Eventually, enough dirt was removed to clearly see that this ‘box’ was really a cube. A perfectly shaped cube, a rainbow prism, with what appeared to be something buried deep in the center. Jim crouched low and peered in to get a closer look.

‘Guys, there is some sort of symbol imbedded in the center of this thing. Looks like a white S…er…maybe a question mark.’ The crew had gathered around Jim to take a closer look themselves. Charlie bent down close. ‘Well, you’re right about that Jim. It’s definitely a question mark.’

Jim stood up, clearly deep in thought, and slowly removed his work gloves. ‘I don’t get. What is this thing?’ Trevor was now sitting in the dirt, staring into the cube. ‘No idea, Jim.’ he replied, looking up. ‘Think we should call the City?’ Jim answered without hesitation. ‘Not yet. First let’s get this thing up on the pavement so we don’t sound like a bunch of knuckleheads when we do make that call. Charlie, let’s grab the skid steer.’

The crew got to work clearing a path and the skid steer was brought down. Charlie shouted directions over hum of the diesel engine. ‘I’ll get under it, and you guys chain okay?’ Trevor gave a nod and a thumbs up as the skid steer pulled forward with a lowered bucket. Suddenly, just as Charlie had the bucket under the cube, Trevor let out a shriek. ‘What the h…It’s GONE’. By now, Jim was monitoring everything from up on the road, and he’d seen it too. The cube was gone – it had just vanished.

He felt betrayed by his senses as he raced down into the ditch — Jim needed to confirm what he had just seen. He peered into the now-empty hole and then back up at Charlie who was still seated in the skid steer. Charlie was frozen, staring upward with an expression of shock at the controls on the display screen. ‘Jim, you’re gonna need to see this.’ he insisted, eyes still fixed to the screen. Climbing into the bucket, Jim leaned in to take a look. The familiar black and white control screen he recognized was gone, and instead, the display was now in brilliant color. A cascade of images cycled on and off the screen, but quickly slowed like the wheels in a slot machine. Jim now was able to glimpse what looked like a star, and then a lightning bolt, as the images slowed to stop on the screen. On it was displayed a single figure in vivid red and white — a cartoon mushroom, with two friendly eyes starring right back at him.