ONE MILLION DOLLAR COMPANY / A SMALL FICTION

The Good Box

We had promised to post the borrowed hand drill on Friday.

The printer box had cost us nothing.

A hand measures the large printer box at the parcel counter. Its label says FREE.

The woman measured it.

“Fourteen pounds.”

She pointed to a smaller box.

“Four in that.”

Look inside the printer box.

The box itself

“How much for the smaller box?”

“A pound. Or I can cut yours down. We have two minutes.”

She reached for the scissors.

“It’s a good box,” we said.

We bought the smaller one flat.

A one-pound coin and a flat small carton lie on the counter beside the intact FREE box. The scissors are unused.

“We’ll make it up at the office,” we said.

We carried it back inside the printer box.

Back at the office

The same intact FREE box is under the desk. The clock reads five past five. Management writes in an open notebook.

The counter closed at five. Our clock said five past.

We slid the box under the desk and opened the notebook.

Postage saved: £14.

Look inside what we brought back.

Inside, at the counter

The drill lay in one corner. Newspaper filled the rest.

Return to the price of the smaller box.

Inside, at five past

The smaller box was still flat, on top of the drill. Its receipt lay between the flaps.

Return to the notebook.