Second Teaser from "The Box"

Hey everyone! I thought it was time for another teaser from my upcoming 4th book "The Box". Enjoy!

            “Do you need any help over here?” Olivia asked. The words were an interloper in Heidi’s memory, and she found it hard to pull herself out of that moment in the past.

            “Huh?” Heidi asked feeling dazed.

            “Were you lost in thought?” Olivia asked.

            “Yeah, I was just thinking about Sammy,” Heidi answered. It was partially the truth.

            Olivia nodded and went back to what she had been doing. Heidi watched her, making sure she was preoccupied again before heading over to the chest. This time it wasn’t locked as she flipped the latch and opened it. Her hands made the dust from the top of the crate fill the air around her and she waved her free hand in an attempt to push it away.

            The crate was standing just out of whatever sunlight streamed in through the window. As a result, the inside of the crate was filled with darkness. Heidi gave her eyes a few moments to adjust. She could see the same clothes sitting on the top and she felt transported back thirty years into the past. Heidi took the clothes out inspecting them carefully. She recognized some of them from the photos Gran had just shown her from the photo album. The green dress she had worn on her first date with Grandpa Matt.

            She grew quickly bored with looking at the old clothes as her mind pressed her to reach the bottom of the crate. She half-expected the box to not be where it was all those years ago, but it was. It was almost as if it had never moved. She felt her heart begin to race as she reached her hand down to grab it. A small spark of static electricity shocked her finger as she touched the wooden surface. She quickly withdrew her hand, but just as quickly moved it back in and picked up the box.

            It seemed smaller than she remembered as she turned it over in her hands and triggered some déjà vu. Just then Gran swooped in from her left side and swiftly grabbed the box from her hands. “You can’t have this,” she said curtly as she walked away with it.

            From Heidi’s right side, she could just see a shadow dart off to the corner.

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