The Cube

Chapter Two

Aiden woke up the next morning before his alarm, feeling on top of the world. He went to his closet, grabbed it, and read.

Good morning. You’re in luck today Aiden. Your mathematics teacher is ill. Your father won 5000$ from a scratch ticket. You will win your baseball game.

And Aiden did. His parents were happy, he had a lazy substitute, and he got a home run during the highest-scoring game all season. As he got home, he smiled. Looks like I have good luck after all.

And he did. All was well for a few weeks. Good things happened every day. He was practically rich. He was popular. He was even a straight A student. (mostly A minuses, but still.) The only bad thing that happened is that his math teacher died from that mysterious illness. But of course, no one person can be that lucky for that long. Not even someone with a mysterious magic cube. Actually, especially someone with a mysterious magic cube.

One day, Aiden woke up early, dressed, and went to check the cube, as per usual. The message though… the message was different.

Hello Aidan. Kayla get into the Yale as well. You will get high-quality new clothes. You will get into a bike accident where you crack your 2nd rib on the right side.

Aiden stared. Thats… strange. I guess i'm not riding my bike today. No bike, no bike accident. Doubt lingered in the back of his mind. I mean, the Cube can’t possibly be right all the time.

He said goodbye to his parents, made sure his bike was safely in his garage. Aiden set off to school, being extra careful when crossing the street. About five minutes from school, he saw a middle aged man on a motorcycle. He made sure he was far away, just in case. Suddenly, the man’s left hand dropped off the handlebar and the motorcycle started to swerve. Aiden started running to get away, when the motorcycle started getting faster, the man slumped over the controls, seemingly unconscious. It went right into his path, but before Aiden could stop running, it crashed into his side, the handle driving into his ribs on the right side. He got thrown onto the concrete head first. He heard a sickening crack, and passed out from the pain.

Aiden blinked in and out of consciousness just enough to know that he was on a moving vehicle, his whole body throbbing, and a man in a dark uniform standing over him.

Wheels squeaked.

Voices and alarms blared.

Machines beeped unendingly.

“Stop… loud… owww…” he heard himself mutter.

He woke up, drowsy. His body felt mostly numb, but pain shot up his torso when he moved. Or breathed. He noticed his mom curled up in a puke-green chair.

“M-mom? Whats going on?”

His words slurring from the medication a bit. She woke up. Her eyes snapped open and glowed yellow for a second, then went back to their normal green.

“Honey! You’re awake! You got into a bad accident on the way to school. There was a man on a motorcycle who had a stroke, and drove it into you. I got you some new clothes too, the ones you were wearing are pretty much ruined. On the plus side though you mostly have cuts and bruises, but…”

She was cut off by a doctor who strode into the room. She greeted him.

“Hello Aiden, i'm Dr. Cameron. Do you remember what happened?”

Aiden did vaguely remember, and told her so.

“Plus, a magic box told me that it would happen and it was right so i'm kinda freaked out now?”

His mom looked concerned. Dr. Cameron smiled.

“That would be the pain meds talking.” she told his mom.

Aiden frowned.

“Nuh-uh. Nope. Definitely the magic box.”

“Ok dear.” Said his mom, now amused.

Dr. Cameron walked over and pulled out a penlight.

“Ok Aiden, follow the light with your eyes.”

He did. She asked him a series of questions, which he answered.

“Alright. Aiden, there doesn't seem to be any brain damage. You mostly have shallow cuts and scrapes, but one of the ribs on your right side has a small crack.”

Aiden paled. The doctor didn’t notice and continued talking.

“You can go home in a few hours, barring something else happening. Take a few days off from school, and you should be back to almost normal in 3-4 weeks. No sports for 6 weeks, 7 if you still feel pain at that time. The nurse will give you some pain medication to take as needed on the way out. I'll go fill out your discharge papers.”

She smiled and left. She seemed to blink out of existence instead of walk out, but Aiden shook his head. He had always had a weird imagination.

Aiden’s mom went to go get them some food from the hospital cafeteria, and Aiden just stared at the ceiling, trying to process everything. No sports for 6 weeks… that's the rest of the season. I can't believe i'm letting my team down like that. Dumb freaking box… no. its not its fault, it just tells the future like it is. Or, will be, i guess. Ugh. this sucks so much.

When Aiden got home, he immediately gulped down a few pain pills, and went to lie down in bed, making sure to lay on his left side and not roll over. He slept. A few hours later, he woke up to buzzing. He groaned, dreading what the cube might say. He giggled. What it might say. Thats funny. At least it can't talk. Probably. He carefully sat up, grimacing at the now-dull pain. Aiden checked the cube. It was blank. Thats weird… the buzzing continued. He facepalmed. He grabbed his phone, shutting off the vibration. He checked his text messages.

ONE NEW MESSAGE. FROM: KAYLA. He tapped it. OMG AIDAN U WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST GOT IN THE MAIL!!! I got into Yale! We can go to college together! The phone dinged. ONE NEW MESSAGE. FROM: KAYLA. Aiden! I heard about the accident. I hope ur ok!!!

Aiden heard more buzzing and hopefully checked his phone. No more new messages. He went over to his closet and hesitantly checked the cube. I hope you had a great day yesterday. Dr. Cameron is so nice, isn't she? Aiden stared, and the words disappeared instead of fading off, as if they were never there. Good morning Aiden! Your pain will grow worse. Your dad will lose his job. You will win a contest to get a new car. Aiden stood there, terrified. Sorry Aiden. I only know the future. Have a fantastic day! The words faded from the cube and Aiden walked over to his bed, and sat down, shaking. His mom popped in, smiling.

“Meds time!”

She handed over a glass of water and 2 pills. He swallowed them. He lay down and went back to sleep, not noticing the slightly sugary taste in the back of his mouth.

He woke up, gasping in pain. He just focused on breathing for a few minutes, before hearing a thud from a different room. He walked out into the hallway to see a dent in the wall, his dad clutching his fist, his mom crying… and a pink slip on the table. Aiden retreated back to his room before anyone noticed him. He took two more pain pills, naively hoping that it would work. He suddenly felt sleepy, like he was drugged. He passed out on the bed.