Secret Santa

"Write a name, anyone’s name, and put it in this box. Let’s just say they’ll be gone faster than you could imagine", the man at the yard sale told me. I didn’t believe him, but I bought the small, colored box just for fun.

Later, out of boredom, I wrote the name of my neighbours’ dog, Rex, without giving it a second thought.

That night, it was found dead, absolutely irrecognizable. My whole body started shaking and my eyes filled with tears. I had never wanted that.

Then I suddenly remembered about my classmate that had always humiliated my friends and I in front of everyone. We all had always been too scared to confront him. But now there was a way. I had to do it.

The next day, he had an accident. No one could tell how he’d lost control of the car. I felt sick for weeks, but in the end I began to move on, slowly starting to forget what I had done.

Today, when I came home from school, I gasped as I saw the box on the living room table. Barely able to speak from the shock, I finally asked my mother about it.

“Oh, I found it in your room today after you left. I thought it was really cute, and useful as well. It was great for the Secret Santa drawing at our company. Everybody loved it!”