Bogleech.com's 2013 Horror Write-off:

" The Boxes: Only Ever Buy the True Sodas "

Submitted by Samuel Miller

I woke up here a few days ago. It's like some sort of city. There are people, but they just don't seem right. The buildings seem impossibly tall, and there do not seem to be any true windows on any of them. When I got here, I had this journal, and exactly 12 and 1 quarter of some strange, grey pieces of paper. I will write in this regularly.

Today, I tried talking to some of the people around. The first just responded by making a strange, high pitched squeaky noise, then saying "only ever buy the true sodas" I wonder what that means. The next one, a strange gray coloured man with black, rat-like eyes, said something about some sort of "Wee-yurm" Wait. I see this on all the signs everywhere. It is the "Wyrm'

I apparently "bought" a house today. I walked up to a beady-eyed, gray woman with red-tipped fingers, and asked about if I could find a place to sleep. She just grunted, said "Moneys", and reached out her hand. I thought that she wanted some of those gray papers, so I handed some to her. They were exactly 2 of them. She then pointed towards one of those grey buildings, which had a door on it. I walked through the door, and said hello to a gray, eyeless man. I wondered why he had no eyes, and then just shrugged it off. At a desk at the far end of the hall I was in, there was a surprisingly tall, green-tinted, mostly gray man. He was wearing a faded red uniform. He said " Here's your room key, and remember: Only ever buy the true sodas!" in a faint, raspy voice. He handed me a misshapen piece of red metal. I walked down the hall next to this area, though I was never given instructions on where to go. I walked past rooms numbered with strange symbols, consisting of triangles, circles, and squiggly lines. I then stopped at a room marked with a triangle with circles at each corner. Inside was a dirty looking bed, a Television, and a lumpy obviously cardboard chest of drawers. I turned on the TV and went to channel red circle with a blue X in it, which had those same strange symbols repeating over and over again.

I woke up today, and in my room was a small, grey-tinted brown box. I tried opening it, but it wouldn't budge. I then left it. I left the building, and the person at the desk was different. She was a strangely short, grey person, with a conical head, and red irises. She appeared to have That disorder that gives you extra long fingers. Wait. I used to know what that was. Come to think of it, I don't remember a lot of things. Who was the President of the US before I ended down here? I don't know. What is my name. What is my name! I don't remember my own name! how did that happen! Well, forget it. While walking around today, I noticed that the sun is a different colour than what it is supposed to be. The sun is brown. The sun is supposed to beÉ. What colour is the sun supposed to be? Heck, I don't remember! Well, the important thing is, when I got back to my room, the box was open, and there was a note on the floor, written in ballpoint pen, on ancient-looking parchment. It said " Thank you. Always remember: Only ever buy the true sodas." Huh. I wonder why I forgot all those things. Today, there appeared to be a small group of 4 people, shrouded in red cloaks and hats, and with long, multi-jointed, fingers. The skin was gray-coloured, and the hats had symbols written on them. They were the same symbols. When I bolted up, they were all gone. Nothing else important happened today.

Today, I saw 2 gray-skinned, lumpy people. The first was a man, who had small eyes, and his arms were like short, lumpy flippers with fingers. He had a strange apparatus connected to his body, which was carrying several bottles filled with coloured liquids. I walked up to him, and asked what they were. He said, in a very loud, booming voice, that sounded like a whisper, spoken into a microphone, that "These are the True Sodas. Only ever buy the true sodas." The second person was an about normal-sized, grey person. His eyes were of average size, and were somewhere between being completely white and brown. His face was contorted into a strange, grey husk, and he was asking himself questions, such as how to spell "hello" and what is 1+1. His fingers were a whole other affair, as they were impossibly thick and long. He kept on hitting himself exactly 4 times whenever he answered wrong. After seeing the first person, I watched as the second man walked up to the first, handed him some of those gray pieces of paper, and got a bottle of purple soda. He drank it in almost 1 gulp, and then walked away, as he answered "where is china" by saying "Tyhphuj", then hitting himself. Today, someone knocked from the outside of my door. When I opened it, there were 4 grey people in red robes. They all had black eyes, and each had their pupils be a number, which was red. They all had that one, strange, feature, which is the grey skin, and exaggerated features. 1 asked me to come with them. 3 said that I must. 2 said that I had a problem. 4 said to come with them. I responded "OK" .

They lead me outside, were they took me to one of thos short, lumpy grey men with the "True Sodas". 2 requested that I buy one. All of them said yes at once afterward. I refused. All 4, The True Soda Man, and everyone within earshot, immediately began frowning, and vibrating. I immediately ran away. I went to my room, grabbed all my things, and ran away. They were following me. They began repeating "You must buy the True Sodas. You must.". I kept on running. The city actually changed around me. Buildings moved, all just so that I would get my way to a warehouse. It was made of red metal. Corrugated metal, if I remember. I ran inside. No one followed me. The inside of the building was strange. It was circular, even though the outside was rectangular. Lining the inner side of the wall were many tables. They each had blood on them. The majority of said blood was black. On each table were also several different organs, some recognizable, most of them not.

These included small, black fleshy sacs, great grey stomachs, connected together, what appeared to be a lung, with teeth growing out of it, and a chicken skull, covered in pink flesh. In the exact center of this room was a large pit. In this pit was a great big worm. It had many large arms. The arms had many joints, and were incredibly long. It was red-tinted gray in colouration, and had many large lumps covering its body. The large tail almost reached up out of the pit. It reared its strange, human-like head, which had no eyes, yet could see my every move. It opened a large hole, presumably where its mouth would be, which was covered by skin, and made a noise similar to that of a vacuum cleaner sucking up a paper clip, but almost muted into oblivion. What is that long, long word? What is a paper clip? Oh, look! It is the Wym! The Wyrm loves us all! The Wyrm Created us, and he sustains us. The Wyrm is the most powerful of all. The Wyrm is it. The Wyrm is all. The Wyrm makes us love. He makes us be. The Wyrm carries the most important message. Only Ever Buy The True Sodas. Yes.

Tdy I lst t ll. Bt t s gd. Tht s bcs THE WYRM! I AM THE MESSENGER OF ALL! ALL SHOULD CARRY THIS MESSAGE! ONLY EVER BUY THE TRUE SODAS! ONLY EVER BUY THE TRUE SODAS! ONCE ALL KNOW THIS, ALL CAN THRIVE! ALL MUST KNOW! ALL MUST KNOW! ONLY EVER BUY THE TRUE SODAS!