The horror...
It arrived this afternoon. A plain brown box on the porch sitting on top of a patch of ice discreetly delivered with no signs of who placed it there. I brought the box into the house immediately in fear that the contents would be damaged by the bitter cold air.
Upon opening the box I found newspapers from a faraway land and what appeared to be glass. I cleared the paper debris and pulled out an ancient glass jar. By the looks of the lid it had been sealed for long-term storage, almost as if whomever sealed it did not want what was inside to come out. There was a large bed of what seemed to be corn cob grounds. I do not know what one would use such a material for as there is no recipe known to mankind that employs ground up corn cobs. It is not an edible matter, nor is it used for fuel or anything practical, so why did some stranger leave this tightly sealed glass relic full of unusable waste matter? Then something happened...
Something inside the jar was moving. I quickly put the jar onto the floor and moved far away so I could watch from a safe distance. For what seemed like eternity there was no movement other than the rapid beat of my palpitating heart. The cob started to rustle then it began to be strewn all around the inside of the jar. The thing in the jar started to shake and convulse like it was possessed by some vile force that was penetrating it's very soul. I feared that the glass would surely shatter at any moment. Soon this creature was going to be unleashed upon the world bringing unspeakable horror with it. Whatever was in there was angry and it wanted out...NOW!
There was a sudden silence. Nothing moved and the jar remained intact. I slowly, cautiously, inched towards the jar. The air was so thick with suspense one could slice it with a knife. As I got within inches of the jar a flash of tan and black appeared on top of the cob grounds! It was then that I was face to "face" with pure horror. This was not good.
To be continued...
