The list of rules that Joe had given me didn’t seem to make sense. At least, they didn’t make sense at a post office. I read the paper over again, sensing that I was missing something very significant about this business my father owned. Suddenly I remembered how he had also reacted badly when he learned my punishment. I also remember wondering that night and asking my self what he had to hide. Then, I realized this was no ordinary post office. Of course it wasn’t. I turned to ask Joe what was going on, but he had left my side. I searched the sand lot for him and his car, but they were no where to be found. I shrugged and pulled out the second piece of paper he had handed me which was just a map of the very small post office. Why would you need a map for that? I asked myself. More than that, why was I still standing in this big, empty, not to mention creepy sand lot? All these questions were starting to make me cranky.

So, I set them aside as I walked toward the open back door of the small building. Strangely, as I walked closer to the doorway, I felt as though I was being watched. I laughed at myself as I looked up and saw the surveillance camera staring me down.

I walked into a large room full of boxes. This must be the storage room, I thought. A random chill crept down my spine and I turned slowly to see the strange man with the scar across his face standing right behind me. He wasn’t just standing there all innocent, either. He was glaring at me with such hatred in his eyes that I thought he would kill me right at that very moment. I jumped and covered my eyes with my hands. I could hear my heavy breathing, but that was the only sound in the room. I peeked through my fingers and suddenly became very confused as I saw that the man that had just been standing there had disappeared.

I crossed into the room that was obviously the front entrance. The room was almost empty except for a desk at the wall facing the front door. There was nothing on the surface of the desk. I expected there to be some form of a cash register or a computer there, but there was none. There was, however, a stool behind the desk and I sat in it, suddenly tired and very disoriented. I pulled my backpack from off my back and sat it on the desk, unzipping the mouth of it. I pulled out my homework and got to work since, apparently, no one was going to give me instructions on what exactly my job was here. I worked at some math problems for a long time, having peace and quiet and, thank goodness, not feeling that there was anyone else in the room but me.

As soon as I began to relax, I heard a familiar dinging noise which I heard when someone entered an apartment store. I looked up and saw a man in a suit approaching the desk. He looked like a businessman and a little elderly. But, he also looked very broad and…strong. It scared me a little bit. Other than that, he looked like my grandpa. He smiled at me politely and I remember the set of rules my father had handed me. One of them had said not to look at the customer. I dropped my head so I was looking at my homework again. Then, the man spoke.

“Hey there, young lady. You must be Charlie.” I looked up. How did he know my name? I looked down at my shirt, searching for a name tag. The man chuckled at that. “I’m a…comrade of your father. I know him very well.” I nodded, understanding now. “I came to pick up a package. Are you in charge of getting packages to customers?” he asked very kindly, again.

I shrugged.

“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do. Nobody told me anything.” I huffed and crossed my arms, suddenly frustrated. He chuckled again.

“Could you go in the back and fetch me a package? It should be pretty big and it has this name on it.” He slipped me a piece of paper and continued, “Just…be very careful not to drop it. The package is very…sensitive—Fragile, I mean.” He seemed to be struggling with his words and I felt like I was not being told something very important again. I nodded anyway and slipped off the stool and went into the back room again. The man with the scar was sitting in a chair in the corner, smoking. He was still staring at me with his eyes narrowed, his lips puckered. I looked away from him and began searching for the package the man at the front desk had asked me to find for him. It wasn’t very hard to find, actually. It was right there in front of all the other boxes. I began to pick it up and realized how heavy it was.

There was something weird about this box. I mean, I had expected it to be a little heavy because of its size. That definitely wasn’t it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Oh, yeah. It was ticking…ticking like a bomb. My eyes bulged as I realized why the man was so worried about me being careful with it. Not only could it be fragile, but it was sensitive. Inside this box was a bomb. If I dropped it…I couldn’t even think of the consequences. The box began to feel even heavier. But, I couldn’t move to sit it down. I was frozen in place.

“What do you think you’re doing!” someone asked me. It was the odd man in the corner. I looked up at him as he walked over to me and took the box from my hands. He scowled at me, obviously very displeased. “Good for nothing…,”he mumbled, angrily. He walked through the other room and I heard the other man speak.

“Thank you, Ernie. Was the box too heavy for the girl?” he asked. Ernie grunted and returned to the storage room to his chair in the corner. He began to stare at me menacingly again and I wondered why he didn’t like me. I heard the bell and knew that the man had gone from the post office. I moved into the front room and sat in the stool. I put my head in my hands and sighed, shakily. The ticking box had certainly made me very uneasy. I began to wonder if I could really handle this job. I didn’t even know what this business was anymore. Everyone here seemed to be so…odd. And familiar, also. It was almost like they had come from a horror film. At least, that’s what it felt like to me.

I promised myself that I would demand my father to tell me what was going on…what I was getting myself into the next time I saw him. I sighed again, getting a little calmer and then I turned to my homework and continued to work the problems once again.