[ WP ] Take a Phrase Leave a Phrase

It had all come down to this. My thumbs were sore, but only God knew what would happen if I stopped now. On second thought, he probably did n't know, either. For all I knew, letting go might even result in nothing happening, the pain from pressing the two buttons for so long all for naught. After all, why would I have any reason to believe the buttons on this box I'd been handed by the ragged-looking man actually did anything at all? 
 
 The eyes. It had been the man's eyes, wide and full of equal parts passion and fear. No alcohol had fouled the man's breath, no obvious signs of drug usage marked his skin. He'd carefully passed it to me, taking great care to ensure my thumbs were positioned properly before running off, looking back fearfully. 
 
 Looking at the box, my first instinct was to discard it, as it appeared far from sanitary. It had the appearance of wet cardboard, with bits of other materials poking through, and while firm enough not to yield when applying pressure to the buttons, had some sponginess. Despite it's appearance, it did n't feel wet, though it seemed to feel a good deal cooler than the air temperature. 
 
 As I moved to set it down, I heard it ding. Not any sort of mechanical ding, but a ding almost reminiscent of a song, like you'd expect from some sort of awakened magical artifact in a fantasy story. The longer I held the box, the more complex the sound became, and I started to feel I could understand it, that it needed me. 
 
 The thought of a box having some sort of sentience brought me back to reality, and I realized some hours had passed. Day had turned to night, and the box now radiated with heat instead of cold. I fully intended to take the box to the authorities, but felt the box trying to worm its way into my head again with the first few steps I took. 
 
 Now, some may blame me for all that happened next, but my mind is *mine*. I was n't about to let some weird box take me over and become some zombie to do it's bidding. I threw the box as hard as I could, then ran as fast as I could in the other direction. 
 
 Then the world changed. 
 
 **If you've ever thought dealing with the world was tough, try dealing with more than one reality. **
