Out in the middle of nowhere, along a long stretch of a
all-but-forsaken highway, lies a farmer's field. It stretches out
under the scorching sun for what must be miles in each direction. The
ground is flat and dry and hot under the constant pounding of the
sun. It is between the growing seasons and the crops have all been
long harvested, the new seeds yet to be planted. Occasional clouds of
dust would be kicked up by the wind and dance its cyclonic dance
before dissipating as suddenly as it started.
In this field, there stands a lone, solitary, single box. Nearly
four feet tall and nearly as wide on both sides, with a peaked roof,
it is a wooden box with sheets of metal tacked to it. What paint
there might have been has long been dried and sand blasted off by the
wind; the wood looks faded and as dry as the dirt around it. The sun
glints off the metal plates, shining for miles in all directions. For
those driving along the forsaken highway, it must stand as a
momentary curiosity. What is the purpose of this box out in the
middle of this field? Who would build such a box? Why would they tack
metal sheets to its sides?
But the box would just as quickly be forgotten as the horizon
stretched on for the weary, hot travelers. Forgotten, but ever
vigilant over the fields on either side, a lone centurion. Very few
would ever guess the true purpose of the box, and even those that
would dream up its cruel purpose would scarcely believe that anyone
would actually use it for such a purpose. “Who would really do that
sort of thing anyway?” they would likely think to themselves.
Along the only stretch of road the divides the two fields, comes an
old pickup truck. The antiquated metal springs that serves as the
shocks of this truck squeak and screech as it bumps along the old
dirt road. It is the only sound of significance on a day like today
beside the occasional call of a hunting falcon. A cloud of dirt and
dust fills the air behind the truck like a wake, blown gently by the
late morning breeze. The truck heads toward the lone box with some
intent.
