Realism Fan Fiction / Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ An Empty Box ❯ An Empty Box ( One-Shot )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Tanner stared blankly at the thing in his hand, remembering a day that seemed so long ago; a day when that simple object ruined his life. He knew that that wasn’t true; it just seemed that way because the thing was supposed to make things better. It was supposed to make her happy, which was the only thing he wanted. He’d spent hours searching for it. Finally, he had found it, and what good had it done him? None. His hand formed a fist and he squeezed the object as tightly as he could without breaking it. I should throw it away, he thought. It’s worthless now. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The thing had become her, and she had become the thing. Gently he placed it back on his night stand and sat down on his bed, staring out the window.

The snow had just begun to fall. Funny…didn’t I watch the snow fall last year on this date? Tanner wondered. He quickly shook that thought away. Thinking about that date would bring back memories of her; memories he wanted–no, needed–to forget. Tanner lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

It was late. He knew this because no noise came from the apartments on either side of him, although the walls were barely thicker than paper. Tanner noticed that familiar brown stain on the ceiling; the roof leaked sometimes, during severe storms, and the landlord has never bothered to fix it, even after all the times Tanner had complained about it. Tanner didn’t mind too much–after all, the roof didn’t leak all the time, and as long as his bed wasn’t directly under it, everything was fine. Even the sound that the dripping water would make did not disturb him; Tanner was a very heavy sleeper. It was amazing, then, that on this night he could not sleep.

He heard a dog bark somewhere in the distance. That bark was soon followed by another, and another. Immediately following the last bark came a man’s voice, shouting, “Shut up!” The barking stopped. Tanner almost laughed, trying to imagine what the dog could have been barking at. A squirrel, perhaps? Santa? It was Christmas Eve, after all. There were probably dozens of children unable to sleep, waiting eagerly for the sounds of Santa’s sleigh. Tanner let out a sigh. Christmas. Again, he glanced at the object on the night stand. It seemed to taunt him; in his mind, he heard it laugh. “Throw me away. You know you want to. But I bet you can’t do it.” Tanner turned his back away from the night stand. I can’t, he agreed, I can’t throw it away and admit that it’s over.

Tanner had fought so hard to forget. He’d tried not to think of her on this night, but she just wouldn’t leave him alone. It was Christmas now. It was technically Christmas hours earlier, but the dawn was just beginning to break. The sun forced its way through the clouds, threatening to melt away the precious snow that had fallen to the ground in the past few minutes. Tanner felt a twinge of sympathy for the snow, but that soon passed. Melt away, he thought. And take my thoughts away with you. That was his last conscious thought before Tanner drifted to sleep.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” came a cheerful voice at the doorway. Tanner opened his eyes to look at the woman standing there. He grunted in response.

“Oh, don’t be like that. It’s Christmas. Come on, get dressed. Don’t you want your presents?”

“Fine, fine.” Tanner sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Julia, you’re not a kid anymore. We don’t really need to wake up at–“ He glanced at his alarm clock–“Five-thirty in the morning just to open presents.” He grinned when he saw the woman pout. “Alright, I’m getting up. Hold on. Just…go on, I’ll catch up with you in a moment.” Julia’s eyes lit up and she ran out the door.

Tanner dressed quickly. Then he opened up a box sitting on his dresser, removing a tiny object. He smiled, carefully examining it. “Perfect,” he whispered, before placing it back in the box. He picked up the box, pocketing it before heading out the door and into the living room, where Julia was eagerly waiting.

“Open this one!” she cried, throwing a wrapped gift at him. Tanner barely caught it, preventing it from hitting his face.

“Careful! You could have killed me!” He sat down on the couch and Julia plopped down beside him.

“Oh, you could not. Come on,” she said, bouncing up and down. “Open it!”

“Fine, fine.” Tanner began to unwrap the box–slowly, causing Julia to become even more impatient. He grinned as she wriggled.

“Come on,” she whined. “Stop teasing me.” With one final rip, Tanner freed the gift from its wrapping-paper prison, revealing…

Tanner looked at Julia inquisitively. “Um…what is it?”

Julia smiled. “It’s a box, silly.”

Tanner raised an eyebrow. “It’s empty.”

“No, it’s not!” Julia insisted. “Look closer.”

Tanner shrugged, doing as she told him. He felt the bottom of the box and discovered that there was something protruding from on of the bottom flaps. He pulled on it, revealing an envelope. “So what’s in it?” he asked. Julia just smiled.

“You could open it and see.”

Tanner again did as she told him. He gasped when he saw what was in it. “Julia…” He looked at her, smiling sadly. “I can’t take this.”

Julia frowned. “Why not? I love you, and…”

Tanner shook his head and handed her the check that was in the envelope. “This…I don’t want your parents’ money.”

Julia looked even more confused. “But…with this, you could get a decent apartment, and maybe we could live together. Look at this place–Your roof leaks, you can hear everything that goes on next door, you’ve got roaches, the place is filthy, and I think I saw a rat scurry by a moment ago.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Please, Tanner. You need it.”

Tanner shook his head. “No. I won’t accept it. I’ll make my own way. I don’t need charity.”

“Is…is that what you think I’m giving you?” Julia’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m trying to help you. I love you. But…if…if you don’t want it, I guess…it must be because you don’t want to live together…” She took the check back, balling it up in her hand. “And…I guess…you don’t love me.” She turned away.

Tanner rested a hand on her shoulder. “Julia,” he began, but she shook him off.

“And I came here to tell you something else, but…” Julia began sobbing and fell against the couch.

“What is it?” Tanner asked softly, sitting next to her.

She still refused to look at him as she replied, between sobs, “I’m pregnant.”

Tanner jerked awake. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was eleven AM. “Merry Christmas,” he muttered to himself, sitting up. He glanced out the window. The sun had disappeared once more behind the clouds, and the snow had begun to pile up. The phone rang. Groaning, Tanner picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Tanner?” the voice on the other end asked.

He sighed. “Yes, Mom.”

“Your father and I were wondering if you changed your mind…you know, about coming here for the holiday.”

“No, Mom, I’m sorry. I’ve got…plans.” Tanner glanced at his wall calendar, which was completely empty. “Yeah, I’m meeting some friends in about an hour…I’ll try to make it for New Year’s, okay?”

“Well, all right, son. As long as you’re okay, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Bye, Mom.”

“Goodbye, Tanner. I love you.”

“I love you too.” He hung up and lay back on the bed.

There’s nothing to do… Tanner sighed. I should have taken her up on her offer. I don’t know why I lied like that. I’ve got absolutely nothing to do today… He caught a glimmer of something out of the corner of his eye. It was the present. The one he had given to Julia one year before. I’ve got to get my mind off of her, he thought. Picking up the remote control, he turned the television on. But it didn’t work. He couldn’t distract himself. Finally, he relented and the thoughts of Julia flowed in his mind.

“Pregnant?” Tanner’s eyes widened. “Julia…I…how…?”

Julia shook her head. “I’m…I’m not keeping it. I can’t. Not if…if you won’t accept the money, and I don’t want to raise the baby alone. Tanner…” She finally looked at him. “Tanner, my parents want me to give it up. I agree with them. I can’t raise a baby. But…I thought, that if we could live together…then it would be okay, and we could raise it together.”

Tanner was silent. “Well, maybe…maybe I could work more hours, and raise more money…”

Julia shook her head. “No, it’s…it’s not going to work. Tanner, I have money. If we have this baby, I want us to raise it together. I want you to be around. Not working all the time…”

“Julia, I…I can’t accept the money. I’m sorry.”

Julia nodded. “I’m sorry, too.” She walked toward the door, not looking back. “My parents don’t want me to see you anymore. I’m going to obey their wishes. Perhaps we’ll meet again. But…” She looked at the ground. “Goodbye, Tanner.” She closed the door behind her.

Tanner ran after her. “Julia! Come back!” She didn’t turn around. Follow her, he told himself. But for some reason his feet wouldn’t obey. If you love her, you’ll follow her. She disappeared around the corner. Tanner still had not moved. “Goodbye,” he whispered.

He walked back into the apartment, closing the door behind him. Tanner picked up the envelope that had contained the check and discovered that there was something else inside the envelope. It was a tiny piece of paper. He opened it and read what it said aloud. “I love you. Will you marry me?” Closing his eyes, Tanner ripped the paper into tiny pieces before falling on the couch. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the box he had picked up earlier. Opening it up, he removed the ring and closed his hand around it. “I was going to ask you the same thing…”

The phone rang again. Tanner picked it up. “Mom?” he asked.

There was silence. “T-Tanner?”

That voice. “Julia?”

“I…I’m here. I mean…I’m outside your apartment.”

Tanner frowned. “Outside the door?”

“No…I’m…” She paused. “Look outside.”

She was standing in front of the apartment building, staring up at his window and talking on a cell phone. Tanner looked back down at her. “Why don’t you come up?” he asked.

“I can’t,” she replied. “Please…come down here, Tanner. I need to speak to you.”

“I’ll be right there.” He quickly got dressed, and on a whim, shoved the box sitting on the night stand into his pocket, just as he had done one year earlier. He ran down the stairs and finally stood before her.

Tears were in her eyes. “Tanner…” Julia suddenly ran forward and launched herself at him, hugging him tightly. “I can’t stand it. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re…what?” he asked, hugging her back.

“I overreacted, and…I was stupid…Tanner, I didn’t even tell you that there was something else in that envelope. And…” She looked at him. “My parents disowned me, Tanner.”

“What?” He wasn’t comprehending any of it. “What do you mean? Why would they…”

“I kept the baby,” she whispered. “But…he reminds me so much of you, I can’t stand it. I keep thinking about you, and I know I wasn’t fair to leave like that. It…wasn’t fair to make you take the money…to want us to move in together…to have us be married. It…I just wanted a perfect family.”

Tears welled up in Tanner’s eyes as he pulled away from Julia. “It’s a year late, but you never gave me the chance to give you your Christmas present,” he said. Then, despite the cold, Tanner knelt on one knee and opened the box, revealing the ring that had caused him so much torment over the year. “Julia…will you marry me?”

She knelt down beside him and threw her arms around him. “Yes!”

“We were both such idiots,” Tanner whispered after a moment. Julia laughed.

“We were,” she agreed. Then she kissed him and stood up, offering him her hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” Tanner asked.

“To see your son,” she replied. “He looks just like you.”