The Little Brown Box

Chapter XV

  Hazel closed the door to her grandmother’s room and sauntered downstairs. She avoided the kitchen and took a seat in the living room, near the fireplace. The remains of the box were still there; and also . . . something else. At least, something was moving. The ashes of the box were gently being pushed up, as if a bug were crawling around inside. Hazel got on her knees and went closer for a better look.

  A little face popped out of the ashes. Hazel jumped and landed on her back. She scrambled up to see what was happening. A little bear pulled itself out of the ashes and jumped down to the floor. It looked at her curiously. All Hazel could do was wave at it, her voice was stuck somewhere in her throat.

  The little bear turned back towards the fireplace where something else was occurring. A little tan and brown monkey was already half way out of the ashes. It too jumped down and stood next to the bear. Hazel’s eyes were already watching the fireplace to see a tiny horse come out, followed by a boar and a bird. They all stood in front of Hazel for a moment, and then began to run in all directions, leaving sooty footprints all over the rug.

  Hazel was too shocked to do anything at first. Something was finally happening. This had to be good, but how was she supposed to keep her grandmother from seeing the rug? She decided to let the animals do what they wanted to do and would spend her time keeping the adults busy in the kitchen. On her way there she saw that all the animals had come together and started down into the basement. All except the bird, that one headed straight for the kitchen.

  Hazel let out a muffled squeak and ran in after it. She came to a halt in front of her father. Her face showed desperation. He looked at his daughter as if she had gone mad.

  “Is everything alright, Hazel?”

  “Yes . . . yes they are. How are you? I’m sorry I didn’t write much after a while; I was so caught up in things here.” She said quickly.

  “Oh, that’s all right. I figured you were just having too good a time and forgot.”

  “That’s exactly it.”

  Mrs. Norwich stood up suddenly. Her face was distorted with rage, but it appeared that she didn’t know what to be mad at. Hazel knew that Mrs. Norwich could sense the objects and maybe even the little animals.

  “What have you been doing, Hazel?” She asked, trying to sound pleasant in front of Mr. Winbolt.

  “Nothing, I haven’t been doing anything.” Hazel answered calmly. If she had learned anything in her time at the Swansberry Hill House, it was how to say something calmly when she felt anything but.

  She turned to Mr. Winbolt. “Excuse me; I need to go check on something real quick. Why don’t you go put the sleeping bag back in your car?”

  “Alright.” Mr. Winbolt took it from the table and left the kitchen. The little bird hopped around Mrs. Norwich’s feet, thankfully not making any noise.

  Mrs. Norwich looked angrily at Hazel. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing –”

  “I have that feeling again; you know which one I’m talking about. Did you bring those horrible things back here?”

  “No.” Hazel lied forcefully.

  Mrs. Norwich left the kitchen. The little bird followed close behind. A few seconds later Hazel heard her name shouted.

  She went into the living room to see her grandmother pointing at the floor with the little sooty footprints. “What is this?”

  “I don’t know; this is the first time I’ve seen that.”

  Mrs. Norwich looked to where they led and went straight to the basement door, disappearing down the steps. Hazel was too afraid to follow.

  The ceiling creaked somewhere up above. Footsteps could be heard. Was Mr. Winbolt upstairs? At that moment Hazel heard the car door open outside. If he was outside, who was upstairs? Hazel quickly followed her grandmother downstairs. Hazel found her grandmother at the foot of the stairs, making strange noises and gesturing around and waving her arms around wildly.

  The little animals were moving all the objects around the floor as though they had to be in a specific spot. To Mrs. Norwich it must have looked as though they were moving on their own, reminding her of the little monsters that moved them before.

  Hazel came down the stairs and put her arm on her grandmother’s shoulder for comfort. It didn’t work. Mrs. Norwich darted into the middle of the room and grabbed the first item she could get at, the dime. She then pushed Hazel out of the way and hurried up the stairs and out of sight.

  The little monkey began to shriek loudly. Hazel wished that her grandmother had taken any of the other items instead. The monkey seemed to be the most volatile. All the other animals stopped what they were doing and watched. The monkey scampered all over the basement, looking for the dime. It must not have realized that it was taken upstairs. After a minute of the monkey shrieking and running about it stopped and looked up. Hazel did the same. There was nothing there, what was it looking at?

  A while passed, the monkey started slowly for the stairs. Hazel, who had been too dazed by the whole thing to react, blocked its path. She was met by another shriek and quickly got out of its way. The monkey went up the stairs, hopping from step to step. The other animals continued to watch.

  Hazel followed it up the stairs and onto the first floor. It then went for the front door. The door stood ajar, the little bird was in the doorway, looking out into the darkness. Hazel saw her dad’s legs sticking out of the backseat of the car while he looked for something. For an instant everything was still and quiet. And then the monkey began to shake. Hazel thought of picking it up, but was afraid of seeing another vision from the past.

  The monkey shook more vigorously and began growling, and then right before her eyes, the monkey shrieked and started to grow. It’s tan and brown body turned black. It didn’t stop growing until it was a good eight feet tall. It roared deeply. Hazel stepped back but found the wall, she didn’t dare take her eyes off the creature long enough to find a way to escape. The monkey then took off into the night, pounding the ground with every step.

  Hazel panicked. “What are we going to do?” She asked the bird. “I can’t let it get to my grandmother, you have to help me.”

  As if on command the little bird started shaking. Hazel threw her hands out in front of her as if it would help stop the transformation. A few seconds later a huge black bird stood in front of her, though this one was not angry. It spread its wings, which were at least twenty feet wide. It rose slowly into the sky and grabbed Hazel with its large talons. It didn’t hurt, and this time she did not see anything from the past.

  Hazel was lifted high into the air, above the house and above the trees. She looked down to see her father still searching for something in the car.

  “Did you already get the clock, Hazel, I can’t find it.” She heard him call from the ground.

  The bird gave a mighty caw and propelled itself forward. Hazel wished for better circumstances to be flying for the first time. The warm wind blew her hair back and forced her to squint down into the dark forest. She searched for her grandmother or the monkey, but it would be too hard to see them at night.

  It felt so great to be up there above the world, to feel the rush of flying and the fright of danger all at once. The bird beat its wings against the air and went even faster. The lights from town appeared as twinkling stars on the ground. The giant monkey could be seen in one of the streets, sniffing the ground in search of Mrs. Norwich and the dime. Hazel thought the bird would go down to where the monkey was, but instead it flew right over it and continued. The town disappeared beneath them and still the bird flew on. A few seconds later it descended quickly, reminding Hazel of a rollercoaster. A foot from the ground it let her go.

  Hazel stood in the old playground, lit only by the half moon in the sky. She instantly knew why she was there. She crawled through one of the tunnels and found her grandmother huddled in the little room. It was pitch black; she could only hear her gra
ndmother’s shallow breathing.

  “Mrs. Norwich.” Hazel said quietly.

  She heard a quick intake of breath. “What do you want?” Mrs. Norwich asked unpleasantly.

  Hazel sighed. “I want to apologize for what I did.”

  “You brought those evil creatures back after I told you to never go looking for these things again.”

  “I don’t see evil creatures; to me they are cute little animals.”

  Mrs. Norwich scoffed. “Is that what you kids call cute these days?”

  “I don’t know what they are, but to you they appeared as monsters and to me they appear as little animals. I’m telling you they mean no harm. I’ve followed them through the trees several times, and they haven’t harmed me yet.”

  Mrs. Norwich shifted around on the hard floor. “Just wait, soon you will feel like everything is your fault too.”

  “No, that was just you. I am beginning to think that they only make us feel more of what we already feel. You felt responsible, and so you feel more responsible. I always try to help my mother by being strong and they make me feel stronger. I know they want to help, and I need your help for that to happen. You have to give me the dime and let them help.”

  “I am telling you they don’t want to help.”

  “Then let me help you. I know you have an overwhelming urge to feel like you are responsible for everything that’s gone wrong in your life, but you aren’t. Your father, your mother, your husband, they all want you to know that.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I think I may have met one of them. A few weeks ago I was lost in the forest with no hope of finding a way out. I saw a man, and he led me out. I can’t explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand unless it happened to you, but you have to believe me that the animals are here to help, just like that man was. I think they are working together.”

  There was something in Hazel’s voice that Mrs. Norwich found comforting. “Are you sure?” She asked as a child would ask if the boogeyman isn’t real.

  “Yes, I am certain. The only way to help you is if you give me that dime and come home. They need you to complete whatever they are doing. And I promise you that if you just let them do it you will feel so much better.”

  “Are you sure?” She repeated.

  Hazel smiled kindly, though it wasn’t seen. “Yes, because I get a strong feeling too, and that feeling tells me to be strong, and to trust the animals.”

  Hazel felt a hand on hers and then felt a warm metal coin.

  “I trust you, Hazel. And if you think everything is alright, then I’ll come back with you.”

  “Thank you.”

  They made their way out of the tunnel. The black bird was waiting for them. A roar filled the air. The monkey came rushing into the playground. The bird turned and spread its wings. The monkey tried to jump over the bird, which caught the monkey by the tail and threw it back down.

  “What’s going on?” Mrs. Norwich asked in a panic.

  “Nothing, here, just sit in the tunnel and I will get you when its time.”

  Mrs. Norwich did as she was told.

  The bird and monkey wrestled on the ground, the air was filled with roars and shrieks. Hazel knew that only one thing would stop it. She cautiously made her way into the fray, avoiding talons, wings, and paws. She held the dime out for the monkey, but it didn’t see it. A thin tail came out of nowhere and struck Hazel, sending her back against the wall of one of the tunnels. Her back ached tremendously. In her anger of being hit she threw the dime into the skirmish. It hit the monkey and it froze instantly. The bird pushed the monkey to ground. The monkey picked up the dime and shrank back to its original size and color.

  Hazel helped her grandmother out of the tunnel and over to the giant bird. She knew Mrs. Norwich couldn’t see it.

  “You’re going to have to trust me already. You are standing next to a giant black bird that will fly you home. I am going to walk and I will meet you there.”

  “Giant birds? I thought you said these were little animals.”

  “Well they were, but two of them became big . . . you know what? I’ll tell you later.”

  Mrs. Norwich shook her head. “I am not going to fly home with an invisible bird unless you come along as well.”

  “I don’t think there’s room, unless I fly on its back.”

  I minute later they took off. Hazel sat on the birds back with the little monkey holding the dime on her shoulder while Mrs. Norwich was carried by the talons. She found it to be less strange if she was carried by an invisible bird rather than sitting on one. She kept her eyes closed and hollered unintelligible words every time she tried to open them.

  Hazel was relieved. It was time to finish the adventure once and for all. She enjoyed the flight as long as it lasted, and was a little bummed when it ended. The bird let Mrs. Norwich down slowly and then landed. Hazel slid off its back, thanked it, and watched it turn back into the tiny bird it was originally. She picked it up and carried it inside.