Return to Sender
A Thursday Prompt story
© by Walter Reimer

Prompt: package


The fox had taken every precaution in making the device. He’d worn gloves as he’d mixed the chemicals and run the wires, and had carefully wiped down everything before taking it to a postal drop point in another part of the state. Under the circumstances, the pandemic actually worked in his favor, enabling him to wear a mask and use gloves when depositing the bomb in the mail.

Now he chuckled, imagining the effects of the blast, and ran over in his head what he planned on saying to the news media. He would purchase a single-use burner phone under an assumed name (again, masked; perhaps he’d also dye his fur), make the message claiming responsibility on behalf of the Movement quickly with a minimum of words, and do it in a quiet place so there would be no background noises to give the police any clue of his whereabouts.

He even had a plan for destroying the phone and discarding the pieces.

Feeling hungry, the fox went to his fridge and found that what he had been looking for was missing. Well, a quick run out to the store was called for, so he drew up a short list and began to leave his apartment.

A small cardboard box sat on his doorstep.

The fox picked it up and turned it over to see the address.

His eyes widened as he realized, far too late, that he’d thought of everything – except putting sufficient postage on the bomb.