Hidden Tales

Fire Mountain- Story I

Working the last shift at a post office often made for an interesting experience. The strange packages always went out at night, as though their senders were too embarrassed to send them during the daylight hours. During her time working at her the local post office, Lia had seen nearly everything from gigantic inflatable monkeys to books filled with every known picture of a celebrity. And those were just the things left unboxed. Nothing, however, even began to parallel the delivery she had seen that night.

It was growing closer to closing time, and Lia's eyes began to droop. She glanced wearily at the clock on the wall. 10:50 pm. Ten minutes left until she could go home. She sighed and took a swig of bitter coffee. In all likelihood, no one else would show up, but she stayed just in case. What I wouldn't give for a blanket, she thought. Or to be asleep. Another glance at the clock. 10:55 pm. Almost there. She counted all the tan tiles on the ceiling. She tried to see how many tiny boxes she could stack on her desk. She waited. 10:57 pm. The woman decided to start cleaning up. No one else is coming. As if in response to her thoughts, she heard the faint sound of the bell attached to the door ringing. In all of her years, she had never felt such hatred for a tiny, tinkling bell.

Lia put on her best I'm-not-half-asleep-and-ready-to-kill-someone smile and turned. "Hello, how can I... Um." She trailed off awkwardly. The man standing in the doorway was clothed in a large black cloak. It took her a moment to realize he– it was floating half a foot off the floor. There was something distinctly not-human about it. "Hello?"

It spoke in a strange, hissing voice. "I wish to send a gift," it whispered.

Unsure of what else to do, she followed protocol. "What, uh, what would you like to send?"

It raised its arm and a strange, claw-like hand protruded from the robes. It placed a small, jet black box on the counter. "It must be delivered to the Fire Mountain by sundown a before the sun sets again. Seek the cabin in the clearing."

"Uh, the what?" Lia asked. The name didn't ring a bell.

"It must be delivered by your hand."

"Wait, you want me to climb a mountain?"

It nodded slowly. Then it raised its hand again and placed a strange orb that matched the cube in size and color. "This shall make your path clear. Travel swiftly and do not disappoint." Then it turned and drifted away. She wasn't sure why, but she spoke then.

"Wait!" Lia exclaimed. The creature rotated slowly and she froze for just a moment before forcing herself to speak. "You'll, uh, have to pay me."

Lia couldn't see it's face, but she got the distinct impression that it was smiling behind its cowl. "You shall receive your reward upon the completion of the delivery. May The Traveler smile upon your progress." And then, it rotated again and drifted through the doors, which opened for it instantly. Those doors aren't automatic, she thought. She wasn't sure why that stuck out to her. It was hardly the strangest thing she'd seen that night.

A sharp beeping sound cut through the air. She jumped in spite of herself, quickly realizing that it was only the clock. 11:00 pm. She was free to go.

Lia fumbled with her keys as she stood outside of her apartment door. As she walked in, she could feel the cube and orb tapping against her leg through the pocket of her coat. She flicked on her lamp and flopped down onto her couch, ignoring the cloud of dust that puffed up in response. I really need to clean up in here. The whole ride home, she had tried to work over the problem in her mind. To start off, she had never heard of 'Fire Mountain' before. Her little town stood in the shadow of a large mountain range, a little ways away from the tourist towns. It could be any one of those, she thought. And that wasn't even mentioning the strange artifacts. She took them from her pocket and examined them in the dim lamplight.