Short story: the package

The Package

“C’mon Mike. Let’s do it!”

“I don’t know…… what if somebody sees us?”

“Sees us? Are you kidding? It’s two o’clock in the morning. Everybody is sleeping.”

Mike and James slowly open the headmaster’s door.

“It’s locked!” Mike tries to open the door.

“Sure it’s locked! Hey, why don’t you open the top drawer?” James points to a cupboard next to the door. “I have seen Ms. Jenny put the key there.” Ms. Jenny is Ms. Bram’s secretary. Mr. Bram is the headmaster.

James slowly inserts the key and unlocks it. “Got it! C’mon Mike…”

They slowly enter Mr. Bram’s office.

“Gosh… it’s creepy. James, turn on your flashlight. It’s too dark here.”

“You are such a coward, Mike. If we turn on the flashlight, someone will see us.”

“But you said no one will see us, James,” he almost screams.

“Be quiet, you idiot! You will wake up the whole school. No one will see us if we keep the room dark. But if you turn on the flashlight, you might attract someone.”

Slowly they approach the headmaster’s desk. The moonlight that goes through the ventilation really helps them see the condition in the room.

“Take out the package now….”

Mike quietly opens his backpack and takes out the package. As he puts the package on the desk, they hear someone walking outside the room.

“Jammmmeeess…… I’m scared…...” Mikes whispers and grasps James T’shirt tightly.

“Sssshhhh…. Be quiet. It’s only Mr. Jono. He is checking around.”

Mr. Jono is the school security guard.

Not long after that, Mr. Jono leaves the area. Mike and James wait for a couple of minutes to make sure that he won’t go back. Then, slowly they lock the door, put the key back into the drawer and go back to their tents in the schoolyard. All of their friends are still sleeping.

Mike and James and other students of SD Merah Putih are joining the Boy Scout program. They are camping in the schoolyard. It’s one of their regular programs.

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It’s Monday morning. Everybody in SD Merah Putih joins the flag raising ceremony. Mr. Bram, the headmaster, leads the ceremony. He is about to give speech.

“Good morning everybody. I’m not going to speech as always. I want to talk about something else. Something happened in my office. I don’t know when. Someone or some people put something in my desk, a package.”

Everybody is surprised. They are talking to one another trying to guess who did that and what is inside the package.

“Be quiet, everybody. Who ever did that, I have to thank him or her or them. Why? It’s because the package is actually a birthday gift. Today is my birthday and I got the best present in my whole life. It’s not about what the gift is but the intention to give me a gift that makes me touched. There is no name in the package, so I cannot thank him or her personally….”

As Mr. Bram gives his speech, Mike and James are smiling to each other. They are so happy that their mission is successful. They are so happy because they are able to give their beloved headmaster a gift.

M. Ali Akbar