"Robert's Journal"

Before Lacy received the mysterious package in "A Letter From Lacy", Robert discovered it first and the terrors that came along with it first.

“Robert’s Journal”

By Cody Williams

 

May 2^, 2011:

 

Dear journal,

 

The first day on the job. I am currently on a leave of absence from the Science Department at the University in search for…something. I don’t know exactly what, but something is here. I know it is. I felt drawn here. Told my friend Lucy just before I left to come here that I felt I needed to. She asked me why. Honestly, I don’t know what it was. It felt like a strong force was calling my name. It was not just I. It wanted me there too.

 

May 3, 2011:

 

Dear Journal,

 

The second day of the search. We began digging today. Something is telling me to dig exactly fifty feet from where the campsite ends. I began to lead the group out of the campsite. I walked fifty feet out and stopped. “Here” I said. “It must be here.” I said again. Several students I brought along with me questioned me. “How do you know there is something here?” they asked me. I really don’t know. But I knew there was. I can’t really describe the feeling. But it was like an invisible arm reached out and grabbed me by the pants leg thus showing me the way.

 

We marked the placed with a red X, got some shovels and began to dig. Nothing to report thus far. But I know it’s here. It has to be.

 

May 4, 2011:

 

Dear Journal,

 

As they say, third times the charm. We found what it must have been. The thing that was drawing me out there. As soon as I saw it, I dusted it off and held it close to my body. I don’t know what the hell the feeling was, it everything seems okay now. Everything seems just fine. Perfect in fact. I decided to wait to examine the box when I got back to my home laboratory.

 

I should be back home within the next couple of days. I’ll be sure to discover whatever I find. It might change the world!

 

May 6, 2011:

 

Dear Journal,

 

I just returned home. I went over to Lucy’s for my welcome back dinner. It was just a friendly dinner, you know? We are over that relationship stuff. Been there, done that. I stayed for several hours. I didn’t show her the box. I don’t know why. I felt this strange feeling that if I did show it to her, and she wanted to see it, I would become jealous. I know it sounds silly, but whatever is in that box is meant for me. It is mine and mine alone.

 

Anyway, I carried the box into the kitchen and placed it on the counter to wash it. After I cleaned the dust off of it, I noticed the words written in gold DO NOT OPEN THIS BOX. I thought it was clearly fascinating if not somewhat terrifying. I put the box under my arm and carried it down to the basement where my home laboratory was.

 

I’ll be sure to check it out in the morning. I’m just too Goddamn tired to take care of it tonight.

 

May 7, 2011:

 

Dear Journal,

 

This will be my last Journal entry. I finally got around to it today. I pried that damn box right open…only now, I wish I hadn’t. You see, there was a reason that it was written DO NOT OPEN THIS BOX. I got it totally wrong. What was in there was not meant for me. It was not meant for anybody!

 

After I pried the box open, I looked into it. The inner liner was filled with some sort of red velvet fabric. At the bottom of the box was nothing but a piece of index paper that read:

 

WHOEVER HAS OPENED THIS BOX HAS GIVEN INTO THE WEAK TEMPATION OF MAN. YOUR PUNISHMENT WILL BE A SHORTENED LIFE. FOR EVERY HOUR YOU LIVE ON THIS EARTH YOU WILL AGE FIVE YEARS.

 

When I first saw it I kind of shrugged it off as if it was nothing. But boy was I wrong. Oh man, was I wrong. I feel like I am going to die at any moment. I started the day in my late thirties with soft wavy brown hair. Now I am baled wrinkly and sick. I’m doing the only thing I know to do. I’m going to mail a letter to my good friend and fellow Scientist Lacy Woodside along with the box. The friend I spoke of earlier. That is if I make it to the damn post office. She’s the only person I can trust to keep the box safe. She’s the only one I can trust who will believe me.

 

As to any one else who finds this journal, if I don’t make it, which is a very distinct possibility, please mail the box and letter to Lacy. Consider it a dying man’s wish. But whatever you do, please for the love of God, DO NOT OPEN THAT BOX!!! You will regret it!

Copyright 2013 by Cody Williams

Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

Ask and you shall receive. This is a prequel to the second short story I published on this website "A Letter From Lacy." I could serve as a stand alone, but I would advise you to read "A Letter From Lacy" first. You could read them in either order, but I recommend reading the previous story first.

I hope you guys enjoy it and please leave comments. I hope it explains the situation more that the first one and I hope it is a much better write. Thanks for reading it.

-CW

Reviews

[M. L. Zane]

I'll be quick and blunt like I usually am. I think you're onto something with this style of writing. Standard prose is all fine and good, but your style is quick and immediate. In a journal or diary setting like in this work, you essentially eliminated some things you consistently struggle with. Because of it being in a diary, the pacing is perfect. We aren't there, but we're FINDING things after they've already happened. By placing it in the past as opposed to the present, it gives you a strong tool to work with, and it suits your style nicely.

I rated this story higher because I need to stress that this is something you need to continue experimenting with. Every writer has a niche, and using journals and an aspect of discovery as a methodology for telling a story might just be yours. It is unique, rarely done, and will set you apart from other writers. Setting yourself apart is the key to success.

Do more work in this style, Cody. I wager you won't be disappointed.

Regards,
-M. L. Zane

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading ML!

-CW

[M. L. Zane]

If you ask, I read. Though you've given me a bit of a backlog.

[Cody Williams]

Sorry about the massive output. I write everyday and I am currently on break from school giving me even more time to write. I'm hammering out one sometimes even two or three stories a day.

[M. L. Zane]

I don't mind. My progress is just slower with a to-do list. It will all get done eventually, though I regret it cannot be sooner. Still, I try to put out a review or two a day. It's an odd balance meeting new writers and maintaining rapport with the ones I already know.

[Lyn Anderson]

Yes - makes sense, TEMPTATION, so integral to the story, needs to be corrected. :)

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading KL!

-CW

[Marie]

I found the story "A Letter from Lacy" and read it. I am constantly amazed at the number of peopel who open doors, boxes, cupboards, etc,when they have been warned not to do it. Pandora did it; Eve did it; and it never stops happening. They deserve what they get.

[Cody Williams]

Exactly Marie. Ghost are real. Monsters are real too. They live inside us and sometimes they win. Just like in this case.

Thanks for reading.

-CW

[Dan Hiland]

Cody:

Tried to find "A Letter from Lacy", but didn't see it in your list of writings, so I have to go with what I have read here.

Being an inveterate journal writer, I have always enjoyed stories composed of journal entries interspersed with narrative. That is what made the beginning of your story interesting. The mysterious compulsion to go digging also grabbed my interest.

But along the way, you seemed to be in a hurry to finish the story, and in the process, sapped all the life from it. Not to be hypercritical, but you also painted yourself into a corner with the "five years for every hour of life" scenario. Regardless, the story ended abruptly. What started out as a mysterious tale with the promise of sinister events, etc., never went anywhere.

I realize this is probably a rough draft of something more fully developed later on. I'd like to see that more polished story, as the idea of a guy growing older every hour (though maybe not quite as fast) would be a kick to read- especially if he had enough time to share the experience with the reader, and maybe even reverse the effects.

I hope this helps. I'll check out more of your writing.

Dan H.

[Cody Williams]

Dan,

Everything I post on here is a rough draft. This was the first time that I have ever written anything like this with journal entries. The primary reason for writing this was the questions I was asked after the publication of "A Letter From Lacy". People wanted to know more about the box, what happened to Robert, and where the box even came from.

This takes place two years before Lacy even receives the box. This leaves room to do a few more prequels taking place after "Robert's Journal" but before "A Letter From Lacy". I'll see if I can get around to writing them.

This is nowhere near my best work. I was just trying something different and I was trying to answer some questions.

Thanks for reading anyway Dan!

P.S. Below is the link for "A Letter From Lacy" if you wanted to check it out.

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Cody_Williams/1216005/