Death Box

The Death Box is a spooky story about a suggestion box in a school classroom that is mysteriously vandalized.

This happened a few months ago, when I was in my second year of junior high school. Hanging on the wall, at the back of our classroom, there was a “Suggestion Box”. It was put there by the teacher, Mrs. Solomon.

If any students had ideas for improvements that could be made, we were supposed to write our opinions down in a letter and put it in the suggestion box. Then, Mrs. Solomon would read the letters and consider our proposals.

One morning, when we came to class, someone had crossed out the “Suggestion” part of the sign and written “Death” there instead.

The “Death Box” caused a bit of a stir in the classroom. Some students thought it was funny, but others were a little disturbed by it.

There were rumors that two boys named Derek and Jamal did it as a prank. They were always causing mischief and disrupting class. However, when the teacher confronted them about it, both of them denied it.

Afterwards, I quietly asked them if they really had done it. They still claimed they knew nothing about it.

In the end, the teacher couldn’t figure out who the culprit was and the matter was dropped.

A few days later, Derek was found hanging by the neck in the classroom after school. He was dead. There was a note in the “Death Box” that read, “Sorry for annoying everyone in the class”.

A few days after Derek’s funeral, Jamal was also found hanging by the neck in the classroom. In the “Death Box”, there was another note that read, “Sorry for annoying everyone in the class.”

We were all shocked. None of us could understand why two of our classmates would suddenly commit suicide. It was very disturbing. After that, when we came to school, the classroom seemed very creepy. All we could think about was what had occurred there.

Soon after that, I transferred to a new school. I had to get used to the new classroom and trying to make a new group of friends.

One day, when I got home after school and turned on the TV, I saw a breaking news report. It was about my previous school.

Scrolling across the bottom of the screen, I saw the headline: “…Teacher Suicide…”

The news anchor was saying, “the teacher who committed suicide was the homeroom teacher of the two boys who were killed. She left behind a suicide note that read: I always wanted to know what it would feel like to kill. Sorry for all the fuss…”

I stared at the screen in disbelief.

According to the news report, Derek and Jamal had not committed suicide after all. They were murdered by our teacher, Mrs. Solomon… And then she committed suicide… It was all too much to take in… And very hard to believe…

Sure, sometimes Mrs. Solomon would scold the students for misbehaving, but she was usually a kind and gentle woman… Why would she do all this?

I felt a cold chill run down my spine. I had misbehaved just as much as Derek or Jamal. If I had not been transferred to a different school, perhaps I would have been next…

Just then, I heard the sound of the front door opening. My mother was home from work. She came into the room carrying an envelope in her hand.

“There was a letter for you,” she said. “Why are you so pale? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I took the letter and examined it. The envelope was blank. There was no address written on it. I opened it and found a note inside, written in big, red letters. It read:

“Don’t think you can escape!”

Fifteen days have passed since then, but I’m still afraid to set foot outside my front door…