FREDRICK OTTO JR - CURIOUS JORDAN

Fredrick Otto Jr is studying creative writing in Orlando, Fl. In his spare time he reads books, meditates, and plays guitar. You can follow him on twitter @sunbrorick .

CURIOUS JORDAN

​The UPS Man rang the doorbell and waited. One minute passed so he rang it again and said, “Package for Edward.” After a minute he sighed and left the package at the door.
“Thank God he’s gone,” Jordan said inside hiding behind the silk curtains. He was 8 years old, way to young to answer the door by himself, his mother always told him. Today was just another day alone at the house until the UPS man rang the door. It was the first time it’s ever happened, usually packages were put in the mailbox at the end of the driveway. UPS, What does that mean? Jordan scratched his head of red hair.
The UPS Man was gone down the road before Jordan had the courage to step outside, so he could see what it was the UPS man had left.
Jordan cracked the door slow and cautiously ready to slam it shut if the UPS Man appeared out of nowhere. He stuck his head out surveying the area,  finding no one on the storytime porch, no one in the always unused yard, and no one on the long marble driveway. His hand searched for the box on on the wooden porch floor as he kept his eyes peeled, and there it was; the feeling of cardboard and tape. He snatched the package from the cold wooden floor and shut the door. With Jordan’s fast handling whatever was inside could’ve been damaged, but he was only thinking of keeping out intruders. He ran through the house with the package in hand, through the living room the size of a tennis court, up the spiraling stairs, and through the upstairs corridor into his room.
“UPS,” He said reading the brown box. Ugly Pants Seller? He tried to think harder of what UPS could mean but all he got was, Ugly Pants Seller, so he just stuck with that. Why would my Mom and Dad want ugly pants? He perused the box to come across the strongly bolded word FRAGILE. Haven’t learned what that word means, he proceeded to shake the box. The sound wasn’t one pants would make, so he grabbed his pants from the closet and shook them just to make sure. He shook it again,though this time he was sure it wasn’t pants. It sounded more like the cups that his parents would clash together at the dinner table, almost always spilling the red liquid onto the white silk tablecloth, but it was ‘fine’ because they said, “ We could always get a new one.”
With no idea what was inside he decided to attempt opening it. First he tried prying it open with his small hands, but they weren’t strong enough. Next he decided to throw it downstairs into the living room thinking, This has to do it. With a smug look on his face he threw it. The wailing scream of the package echoed through the house. He went downstairs and examined the package. The tape was loose looking, loose enough to give him hope to trying prying it open. He took a mighty breath and pulled with all his heart, and the package opened.
He searched the insides pulling out cheap blue paper and pink packing peanuts. He removed the peanuts carefully because the sound made him tense up. After removing them he could see the contents. What is this? Not pants that’s for sure. He grabbed a one many pieces in the box. It looks like the thing that Mom and Dad clash together, but where’s the red liquid? Are they usually this cracked?  He rubbed his hand against the object and felt a drop of blood exit from one of his thumbs. Upon seeing the blood he shriveled up running to his room. He hadn’t seen his own blood ever. He sucked the cut and ran upstairs leaving the package on the living room floor. He stayed in his room until his parents returned home later that evening from their anniversary lunch. There’s no way I’ll ever look into a Ugly Pants Seller package again.
“Jordan we’re home!” Jordan's parents said in unison upon entering the house. They walked into to the living room with smiles ear to ear, but that didn’t last long because they saw the United Parcel Service package on the floor. The father looked inside to see the contents ravaged. “Jordan! Did you do this?”
“Edward what’re those?” the mother said addressing the father
“Your anniversary gift, which was supposed to be new wine glasses,” Edward said. His face was bewildered.
Jordan came down stairs with his head hung, he knew he was in for a world of trouble.