The box was nothing special. It was no more than a dilapidated piece of cardboard held together with a combination of old tape, new tape, and a nearly-spent rubber band, keeping the long-ago-stomped-flat lid in place. She could barely make out the faded words Midland Shoe Company on the surface, but only because she already knew they were there. The box was coated in dust, except for the very recent set of fingerprints on either side, where she had taken it down from its shelf in the closet.

She sat in an old rocking chair, staring at it, her feet barely moving the chair back and forth. She wanted to open it, but something made her afraid to.

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Follow the squirrel minion to get to Lori’s website, Little Squirrel Books.