[ WP ] One day a box arrives in the mail , a single black box , with switch on top .

One day, I received a package. The delivery man handed me the box. I signed for the box I had n't expected to receive and went inside. The box itself was wholly unremarkable. It was completely uniform in size and shape and as such was a perfectly black cube. The cube felt smooth to the touch and cool as if it were made of metal, or polished stone. It contained only a single switch, which was located ( due in part because of the switch itself, and partly because there was no better place ) at the top of the box. 
 
 As I studied my new and strange contraption, I began to wonder what the purpose of such a box could be. I searched for a way to open the cube, but none presented itself, and I even found myself flipping the switch. Nothing happened. 
 
 The next few days saw me working again, as my vacation period ended abruptly due to a co-worker's death. He was sent home due to a sudden illness, and the next day, died in the hospital. It was all quite sad, and I attended the funeral, but I could n't get my mind off of the box. 
 
 The cube stayed at home on the first day, but I found that I could n't stop thinking about it, and the potential mysteries it could hold. During lunch that day I ran home and began tinkering with the box again. The switch remaining ever the mystery. I found that it was movable in almost every conceivable direction. Up. Down. Left. Right. I could rotate the switch in a full circle. I could push the switch in and pull the switch back out. However, nothing I did yielded any results, and soon my lunch was over and I was forced back to work. 
 
 Upon my return, I discovered that another of my co-worker had been involved in a terrible car accident, and would n't be returning to work, as he died on impact. As a result I had to cover her weekend shift. I sighed and relented to the fact at hand. Not only had I lost my vacation, I now had lost my weekend. I could n't tell if I was having the bad luck of if my co-workers were, but either way I was suffering as well. 
 
 The rest of the week I continued to experiment with different combination of the switch on the mysterious box, between working, that is, when I had time. Time, it seemed, was something that was becoming scarce to me. The more time I wanted to spend with the box and it's infuriating switch, the less I seemed to have. My insufferable co-workers continued to let daily horrors befall their lives. The mysterious string of deaths continued daily until I was the only one left at the company. 
 
 The new considerable lack of employees caused the company itself to bankrupt. It did n't matter how many new hires there were, every day, someone new would die. It seems a bit extreme, I know, but it remains the truth. 
 
 My vacation, it seemed, had finally arrived. I took the time to continue my examination of the box. It was something that I felt I had to do. Though I had little time to spend with the box during my working days, I had managed to try a few combinations. I could n't describe my feelings, but for some reason I knew I was close. Every day, my enticement with the box grew, and I stopped leaving the house. 
 
 I do n't know on which day of my self-inflicted imprisonment I discovered the key. In moving the switch one direction, there was always another that it was unable to move. For example: Whenever I moved the switch to the position I labeled as `` up'', the switch was incapable of moving to the position I denoted as `` left''. At this point I had discovered thirteen positions. Up, Down, Left, Right, Diagonal 1, 2, 3, and 4. Push in, Pull out, Full rotation clockwise, full rotation counter clockwise, and resting position. The key to the puzzle rested in rendering the switch incapable of movement at the resting position and as the last position, push in. It was one of those infuriating puzzles where one wrong movement caused the entire puzzle to reset. 
 
 I stopped eating when my food sourced depleted. I did n't have time to leave the house. I stopped drinking when my water shut off due to my refusal to pay the bill. The box was my life now. It was all that mattered. The box must be opened. 
 
 My life is fading now, and I know not how long I have left to live. I did it though. I opened the box. I will consider it my life's work, and call this venture a success. 
 
 What was in the box? 
 
 I can only guess it was meant as a cruel joke. 
 
 There was nothing in the box. 
 
 -- -- 
 
 *News Report* 
 
 Breaking news here at the studio and all across the world. We rejoice as it appears that the apocalypse is over. Scientist are still confused as to why there were so many deaths last month, but the final count seems to have stopped at just under four billion. 
 
 It was a devastating month for the world, but the leaders remaining say that this will bring about a new era of peace and tranquility. The leaders that survived will meet in France in a couple of days to discuss the construction of a world government. Whether or not this will last remains to be seen. 
 
 Whatever the reason for this devastation of the human population, the world is left in shambles and all anyone can hope at this time is that the worst is over and that better days are ahead. 

