The Mystery Box of Lonely Stop

Outside the town of Lonely Stop
In a vast and empty desert land
Some wanderers found a metal box
Embedded in the sand.
The box was unlike anything
That human eyes had seen.
It had a humming, pulsing glow,
Unearthly copper sheen.
On the face, a timer ticking downward
To some surprise five decades onward.

To Lonely Stop the box was taken.
The dreary inhabitants awakened.
Cutting, bashing, pry and burn -
All the people took a turn -
But the sturdy box would never yield,
For 50 years its secret sealed.

Every year a town celebrated,
The opening box anticipated,
And when that time had finally come
Children, grandchildren, everyone
Gathered round to see it open
The crux of all those years of hopin'.
The glorious mystery cube unlocks
And inside there was...
There was........
…
..
.
a smaller box.

So Lonely Stop is celebrating
50 more years of happy waiting.
What's in the box,
They're still debating,
But the fun is in anticipating.


-B.C. Byron
This box is glowing like it’s radioactive. I’ll pick it up with my bare hands and take it home.
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I remember when I was 10, pulling a present from my sister out from under the Christmas tree several times in the weeks before Christmas day. Each time I would shake the present next to my ear, feel it for hints, and hold it up the light hoping to see through the wrapping paper. I couldn’t figure it out. Then I saw a TV show with a clever spy who opened a letter using steam to loosen the adhesive of the envelope. The thief read the letter, then sealed it back up so no one could tell it had been opened. I wondered if this might work on the clear tape holding wrapping paper together. Turns out, it does work pretty well. I steamed the present lightly over a pot of boiling rice and got into my gift when no one was looking. I was able to undo one end of the paper and pull my new G.I. Joe figure completely out and to get a good look at it. Then I put a new piece of tape on and tucked the present back under the tree in the same spot. No one could tell it had been tampered with. Then I felt guilty about it. Worse than the guilt for my sneakiness was the fact that I had cut short the wonderful build up of excitement I would have had. Anticipation is a good thing. We can and will enjoy the thing we anticipate after it arrives, but that enjoyment is heightened by the waiting we endured beforehand. Always have something you’re looking forward to, especially things that take effort from you. The people of Lonely Stop understand this concept well.

Oh! You probably want to know what was in that box, eh? Well, I don’t know either. Sorry.

Monster Freckle

I got so many freckles,
A healthy coat of speckles,
From knuckles down to ankles,
They cover all my angles.
I have a ton of dots,
But I track the ones I gots,
And I'm sure I've seen 'em move,
A fact that's hard to prove.
Now, say I'm goin' crazy,
That my mind is gettin' hazy,
But things are gettin' stranger,
My freckles are in danger.
A few have disappeared now,
And one got bigger somehow.
At night, I hear the slurpin'.
I swear I heard a burpin'.
Been having trouble restin'
With the noises of digestin',
'Cause a freckle feast is goin'
And the freckle beast is growin'.
My freckles try to run,
But most of them are done.
Where I used to have a ton,
I know soon
All my freckles
Will be one.

-B.C. Byron
So THAT’S where all my freckles went!
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I’m a big fan of freckles, but I wasn’t always. I have freckles all over my arms, legs, back, and face. I used to think they looked messy. I would dream about them fading away when I got older, or being able to wipe them off. I even contemplated getting sunburned on purpose so the skin would peel to reveal a freckle-free layer underneath. I didn’t realize that getting more sun just makes more spots appear. I couldn’t get a tan to make my freckles go away either. I envied my sisters that could tan. I tried using fake tan spray that made me turn Cheeto orange for a while. Tan sprays don’t work with my completion. It’s a funny thing we do, always wishing to look like or be someone else.

I found out later in life that there were lots of people that envied my freckles the same way I envied their brown skin. They were wishing to look like me while I was wishing to look like them. In my twenties, I also spent some time living in Korea where there were all sorts of creams, skin therapies, and techniques to make skin more white. I laughed to myself whenever I came across these skin treatments, thinking about the booming tanning salon industry back home in the United States. Same goes for hair; straight-haired folks want curly, curly heads use a straightening iron every morning. This phenomenon of wanting to be different from what we were given seems to pop up everywhere I go.

Now that I’m older and very slightly more mature, I’ve learned to like my spots. My freckles are an important part of me that I wouldn’t want to let go. My live for freckles got even bigger when my children started getting their own. We call them sunkisses and other cute names. I hope my little people can appreciate their uniqueness the way their parents do, before they grow up. There is so much variety in us humans. I hope you can look in the mirror today and admire your own variety. Then you can be ready to pass on the message to those people wishing they looked like you.

Take good care of yourself and, when it comes to changing, focus more on actions than appearance.