Category : Stories

Sub Category : Drama

Alex heard a doorbell. Not wanting whoever it was waking up his child, he ran through the kiddie-cyclone of a living room and made his way to the front door. 

"Hello?"" 

He looked everywhere. The doorstep was a ghost town, except for one peculiar item. 

A lone cardboard box.

Alex picked it up. It was no bigger than a Game Cube. Alex took it inside and waded through the sea of toys and took it to the kitchen.
Pushing aside all the overdue bills sprawled across the cheap chipped board wooden table, Alex sat down the box and examined it. There was no writing on it anywhere. The box looked like it came fresh off the assembly line with no stains or teas. The only thing that could be seen on it was shiny moving tape the sealed the opening. 

Not wanting to wait a moment longer, Alex lifted up the edge of the tape and tore it off from the mouth of the box. 

"What the…?" 

His mouth dropped and his eyes welled up. There, inside, was a single picture of Alex holding his son, Mikey. Written on the back said one sentence.

"Check your bank account."

Alex didn't know what to think. Why would I do that? There is nothing there. With no job, he and Mickey had been toughing the world by themselves. His late wife's medical bills broke them. They were living by a sliver of grace.

Taking a deep breath and holding on to hope he picked up his cellphone. Opening his bank app, he checked his balance.

"Holy shit!"

Her couldn't believe what he saw. 
His account said he had nine hundred thousand in it.  

"Oh my God!"

He snatched up the box to see if there was any clue to who did this, but nothing. He picked up the picture. He remembered that day. It was the beginning to Indian summer. Mickey had been begging to go to the park, but the weather was horrid with a straight week of wetness. Alex thought he better make time before it started to get colder. Mickey only wanted to do one thing: swing. 

Alex was glad the person took this picture. In ways, it was better than money. It was the first real day since his wife's death that they both smiled and laughed. 

"Thank you." Alex whispered.

He set the picture down as he heard his child's cries from the back of the house. He closed his eyes. 

"We are going to be okay, Mickey. We are going to be okay."
With that, Alex hurried back to get his son.