The Man in the Box

Zacharie is four years old, his favorite color is blue, and the man his mommy keeps in a box has just woken up.

By Frederick Gero Heimbach

Edited by Yuval Kordov

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The man in the box was making noise. The people in boxes never made noise. The man in the box was breathing loud. It didn’t sound nice.

Zacharie watched the man through the window in the lid. The window was a square. A square has four sides. Zacharie stood on the heater. The heater was yellow and warm. The box was brown and long and just the right size for the man. The man was big, bigger than Mommy. Zacharie opened the lid of the box. Lids were supposed to stay shut. The man was wearing a cross around his neck. The man was wearing underwear. Zacharie had seen Jesus in his underwear. Zacharie was not allowed to see Mommy in her underwear. Zacharie wore pajamas when he went to bed. Mommy had made the pajamas.

The man’s eyes moved. They were closed but they moved. Left, right, left. They made Zacharie afraid. He pushed the lid down and jumped off the heater. His feet went bang and the lid went whoosh. He left the room. There was a 4 on the door. Four was a number. Zacharie was four years old. There were twelve boxes in room four. Twelve people in twelve boxes. Zacharie could count a lot higher than twelve. Some people in boxes had light skin and some had dark skin and some were small like Zacharie and some were women like Mommy and the people in room six and room seven wore crosses without Jesus. Some people were men. Zacharie would grow up and be a man. Zacharie was big.

Room four was a circle. A circle has no sides. The walls were metal and cold and buzzy.

Mommy lay on the stairs. Zacharie talked to her. She was asleep so Zacharie whispered, “I’m hungry.” Mommy didn’t wake up. Zacharie hated nap time. Mommy said Mr. Magic liked nap time but Zacharie didn’t believe it.

Zacharie went to the lounge. He stood on the table and took the cross off the wall. Jesus was nailed to the cross. Zacharie knew a prayer: Our Father whartin Heaven. Zacharie flew the cross around the room. That was very bad but Mommy was asleep. Jesus flew his cross like Mr. Magic flew his airplane. Zacharie liked cartoons. Mommy liked videos. Zacharie could watch videos when he was big.

Mr. Magic could talk. Mommy could talk when she was awake. People in boxes could not talk.

Zacharie went buzz with his lips. He crashed the cross into the table. Jesus’ arm came off. Zacharie felt bad. Jesus was God. Zacharie put the cross on the wall.

Zacharie went to Mommy. Her body was shaped like a C. The stairs curled around and around and she lay on the stairs and that’s why. C was a letter of the alphabet. It came after A and B. Zacharie was a smart boy. The stairs had holes and Zacharie could see down through them and they were metal and they were gray and they had lines that went crisscross.

Zacharie went down to room four and stood on the heater and opened the lid of the box again. The man was breathing loud. Zacharie was brave and said “Hey!” Then he was very, very brave and opened the man’s eye. The eye moved and Zacharie was not brave anymore. He jumped off the heater and the lid when whoosh.

Mommy was still sleeping. Zacharie went up to watch Mr. Magic. The lounge had a soft chair and a screen. Zacharie picked a cartoon. He was allowed to pick cartoons. Mr. Magic had a magic wand. It turned cats into dogs. Zacharie took the fork and waved it around but the table didn’t change into a dog. Mr. Magic wasn’t real.

Zacharie went to Mommy on the stairs. He asked her nicely to make oatmeal, but she didn’t wake up. Her face was red on one side. Mommy smelled like poop. Mommy ought to wipe herself after using the toilet.

Zacharie went to the lounge. He didn’t know how to make milk. He poured oats into a bowl. He poured water on the oats. Some water spilled on the floor. Zacharie didn’t know how to cook oats. He ate some but they were hard. Zacharie drank the water out of the bowl and it tasted funny. Zacharie went to the bunk room and lay down. He wished Mommy would sing him a song. He felt hungry and sad.

Zacharie got up. He crossed himself and went down the stairs. Mommy smelled real bad. Zacharie went to room four. The man was making noise. Mommy had made that noise before she went to sleep.

Zacharie went down the stairs. There were more rooms with people in boxes. Every room had a number. Zacharie could count them. Every room had twelve people. Twelve people in twelve boxes in lines. The people were sleeping and would not wake up for a long time.

Zacharie opened every box in rooms five and six and seven and eight. No one made noise. He stopped opening the boxes. He went down and down, counting out loud. No one was making a noise. He went down past storage.

Zacharie went all the way down into the engine. He had been there once before. There were important things there that Zacharie must not touch. Some of them were blue and some were white. They buzzed loud.

Zacharie went back up. His feet went boom boom on the steps. Dinosaurs made the floor shake when they walked. Dinosaurs were very big. Zacharie roared. He heard another roar. That was an echo. There weren’t any dinosaurs.

Zacharie kept going up, even though his legs were tired. He went into room four and opened the box. The man was awake. The man was mad at Zacharie. He shook his head and growled like Mr. Cat. Mr. Cat was sometimes a dog.

The man had a stick in his mouth. It was white and long. All the people in boxes had sticks. The stick covered the man’s mouth like Mommy’s hand covered Zacharie’s mouth sometimes. Screams hurt Mommy’s ears. Zacharie was very brave and he pulled the stick. The man growled. Zacharie shut the lid and it went whoosh. The man growled again. Zacharie opened the lid. He pulled the stick. The man coughed and the stick came out. It smelled bad.

The man had a plastic straw in his nose. It was like the straw Mommy put in Zacharie’s cup. Zacharie pulled on the straw. It looked yucky and the man sounded like he would throw up. The straw came all the way out. Zacharie dropped it.

The man wasn’t nice. He was breathing hard and shaking his head. His eyes were big and red. Zacharie’s favorite color was blue. The man’s mouth moved but no words came out. He growled again. Zacharie shut the lid and ran away.

Zacharie lay down by Mommy. Mommy smelled worse. Zacharie wished she would wake up. Zacharie went up to the lounge. The oats in the bowl were softer and he chewed them. Zacharie sat on the chair and rocked back and forth. Mommy rocked Zacharie when he sat on her lap. He covered his head with Mommy’s sweater. He wished it could be lights out. Jesus loves me this I know.

Zacharie was a smart boy and he knew how to pick cartoons from the list. There were videos on a different list. Zacharie must not watch videos. Maybe when he was bigger. Zacharie could say all the cartoons by heart.

Zacharie wished Mommy would wake up and help him find something to do.

Zacharie heard someone talking. The voice sounded bad. It was the man.

Zacharie opened the door and listened. The man said a lot of things Zacharie didn’t hear. Then he said “killing.” Zacharie didn’t know that word.

Zacharie smelled Mommy. He held his breath and stepped carefully past her. Stepping on Mommy’s feet was mean. He went back to room four.

Zacharie lifted the lid. The man whispered, “You’re killing me.” Zacharie wondered what he had done wrong.

The man shook his head. He cried. He lifted his head off the pillow. He breathed hard. He stayed in the box. He licked his lips. He said, “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I don’t know,” Zacharie cried. “Get out of the box.” But the man would not do it. “You are frozen by magic!” Zacharie said. One time, Miss Parakeet was frozen by magic. Zacharie said, “I’ll get the fork!”

He shut the box.

“Don’t leave!” the man said.

“I’m going to go get magic,” Zacharie said, but he didn’t. The fork was not a wand.

Zacharie went up to Control to find a wand. Zacharie was not allowed to touch things in control. It had bright buttons with different colors in the dark. It was like Mr. Magic’s Cave of Splendors. Mommy’s shirt had buttons but they were not bright. Control was in the tippy top.

Zacharie stood in control, looking at the lights. Zacharie could still see them when he closed his eyes. Control had screens and they were bright in the dark. There were numbers on the screens. Mommy came to control to check the numbers. Sometimes the numbers were red but today most of the numbers were white. Mommy didn’t like red numbers. Zacharie’s favorite color was blue.

Zacharie sat in one of the big seats. Sitting in a seat did not count as touching.

Zacharie saw a wand! It was on the table. Zacharie reached carefully and took it.

Zacharie went to the bunk room. He curled up in the blanket and lay down. The bunk was not big enough for Zacharie and Mommy anymore because Zacharie was big. Zacharie looked at the wall.

Zacharie woke up. He had wet himself. He was very hungry and sad. He found the wand in the bunk. He crossed himself with the wand.

Zacharie went to room four. He stood on the heater and opened the lid of the box.

The man blinked. He whispered something.

“What?” said Zacharie.

“Water.”

Zacharie nodded his head.

“Water!”

Zacharie ran to the lounge. He poured water into his bowl. Two oats floated in the water. He took the bowl to the man. He was careful but some of it spilled on the stairs. Mommy didn’t scold him.

Zacharie poured water on the man’s mouth. Some of it went into the man’s eyes and some of it went on the pillow.

The man was mad, but he said, “More!”

Zacharie went and filled his bowl again and poured water into the man’s mouth. He did that more times. Not so much went into his eyes.

The man said, “Enough.” The man lifted his head off the pillow. His head fell down.

The man breathed hard. Running on the stairs made Zacharie breathe hard.

Zacharie jumped off the heater with a bang and went to Mommy.

“Mommy. Wake up. There’s a man—”

Zacharie touched Mommy’s arm. It was cold. Zacharie screamed and ran back.

“Mommy won’t wake up!” Zacharie said.

“Who are you?” the man whispered.

“My name is Zacharie,” Zacharie whispered. “I am four years old.”

The man licked his lips. He took a long time. “Zacharie. How did you get here?”

“I came down the stairs.”

“Where the heck are we?”

“Room four,” said Zacharie. “My favorite color is blue.”

“Room four?”

Zacharie didn’t know how to tell the man what numbers were.

“Are we there yet?” the man said.

The man fell asleep. He woke up.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

The man wasn’t smart.

“I’m Zacharie.”

“Who else is here?” The man was mad.

“Mommy is on the stairs. She’s asleep.”

“Get her.”

“She’s asleep.”

The man closed his eyes tight. His arms didn’t move.

“Wake her up. It’s important.”

“She won’t wake up.”

The man was afraid. “Is she dead?”

“She won’t wake up.”

“She’s on the stairs? Lying there?”

Zacharie nodded many times.

“Oh God, please. Is there anyone else?”

Zacharie did not say anything.

“No. Of course not. And you—Danielle is your mother? Your mommy?”

Zacharie didn’t know Danielle. “I know Mommy. I know Mr. Magic and Mr. Cat and Miss Parakeet—”

“Unbelievable.” The man licked his lips again. “You were born here.”

Zacharie did not know what to say.

“And Danielle—your mommy—you’re sure you can’t wake her up?”

“She smells like poop and her face is red.”

The man closed his eyes again and opened them. He lifted his arm. It fell down. “I can’t…”

The man closed his eyes. He was breathing hard. The sound made Zacharie’s chest hurt.

“I have a magic wand!” said Zacharie. He waved the wand over the man. “Please unfreeze! Unfreeze please!” Zacharie knew the spell. He was a smart boy.

The man’s eyes stayed shut but his lips moved. The man whispered but he did not make sense. The spell must have been wrong. Zacharie was very hungry and his underwear was wet and he felt bad.

Zacharie went to the lounge. The milk powder was empty. Zacharie stood on a chair and got another package. He tried to tear it open but he couldn’t.

Zacharie went to Mommy but not too close. He waved his wand and said, “Please wake up! Wake up please!” He said, “Please unfreeze!” and “Please stop sleeping!” and “Please, Mommy, get up!” She didn’t wake up. Zacharie cried. The bad smell made him go back to the lounge.

Zacharie looked at the list of videos. Zacharie was a big boy now. He touched the first video in the list. It had the number 17 in the name.

The video started. It was not a cartoon. Someone was throwing orange balls. It was a boy. He was like the boys in boxes. Zacharie had a ball and it was yellow. The boy threw a ball and it went through a circle.

A man said something. He called the boy O’Donnell.

“Just warming up,” said O’Donnell.

“Just warming up,” said Zacharie.

Zacharie watched the video. People did things Zacharie didn’t understand.

Zacharie stopped the video. His tummy made a noise. Zacharie got the package of milk powder and took it to the man in the box.

“Can you open this?” Zacharie said.

The man opened his eyes. He licked his lips very slow. The man whispered something.

“What?” said Zacharie.

The man closed his eyes and looked mad. He whispered, “I need it.”

Zacharie did not know what to do.

“I’ll die. Do you understand?”

Zacharie was afraid to say “No.” He nodded.

“Little boy,” the man said louder, “where’s Danielle?”

Zacharie didn’t know. “Can you make milk for me?”

The man fell asleep.

Zacharie got more water in the bowl. He poured the water in the man’s mouth. The man coughed. Zacharie did it again careful. The man swallowed.

“Danielle is dead,” the man said.

“Mommy…”

“She won’t wake up. That’s what you said.”

Zacharie went for more water.

“No! Come back. This is important. Danielle woke me up. I was the one. If there was trouble. There’s a whole…protocol.”

Zacharie didn’t know what a protocol was. Zacharie wished Mommy could come help the man.

“I need something. Another injection. To wake me up more. You’ve got to get a syringe. Stick it in my arm. You understand?”

Zacharie did not know what a syringe was.

“Get the needle out of the cabinet. Only you can do it. Do you know what a needle is?”

“No,” said Zacharie.

“It’s long and pointy,” said the man.

“I have a magic wand,” said Zacharie. He showed it to the man.

“That’s a stylus.”

“Oh.”

“Look, get the needle. A syringe. It’s long and thin—like a magic wand!—but metal. And skinny.”

Zacharie saw something on the floor. He picked it up. “Like this?”

“Show me closer—careful! Yes. That’s the needle your mom used. To wake me up. I need more needles to get strong. To get out of the box. Do you see how sharp that needle is?”

Zacharie touched the pointy tip. “Ow!” he said, and started crying.

“Don’t do that!”

Zacharie ran out of the room. He lay down next to Mommy. The stairs were hard and cold and Mommy smelled. He went to the lounge and covered his head with Mommy’s sweater. He wanted food. His underwear smelled like pee. He itched himself down there.

Zacharie heard a noise. He opened the door.

“Help! Little boy!”

Zacharie went to room four.

“Look, kid—what’s your name?”

“My name is Zacharie,” said Zacharie. “Zacharie begins with Z.”

“Did you know we’re on a ship?”

“Z is the last letter.”

“Did you know we’re in space?”

Zacharie did not know what to say.

“Do you really not know—”

Zacharie shook his head lots of times.

“Look. It’s okay. I’ve been asleep for a long time. Did you know that?”

“Uh-huh,” Zacharie said.

“All the people in boxes are asleep. You knew that, right?”

“There are twelve boxes in each room.”

“Right! We left Earth—you know about Earth, right?”

Zacharie sucked his thumb. It tasted like pee.

The man said, “We had to leave Earth. It wasn’t safe anymore. The people in charge—”

The man got mad again and that made Zacharie afraid.

“Never mind. Your mom, she volunteered for a hard job. She had to stay awake. She had to…drive the ship and, and, keep us alive. Understand?”

Zacharie nodded. He kept sucking his thumb. Big boys don’t suck their thumbs.

“Your mommy was a hero. It meant that she wouldn’t get to live on the new planet.”

The man lifted his head off his pillow. He groaned.

“Your father—he died before we left. He was a hero too. He was a martyr.”

The man was sad now.

“He would have been proud of you—if he had known you were going to be born. Hell, if any of us had known—”

Zacharie took his thumb out of his mouth.

“Sorry. That’s a bad word.”

Zacharie wondered what the bad word was.

“Look, your mommy—was she sick before she died?”

“Mommy felt tired a lot.”

“She must have seen it coming. She woke me up. But I need more injections. My muscles are atrophied. They’re weak. Do you follow me?”

Zacharie didn’t know how to follow the man. The man was in a box.

“You’re going to have to finish. There’s a whole series of—”

The man squeezed his eyes again. He was really mad.

“Look. Focus on the next injection. Maybe I can do the rest.” The man looked at the wall. “There’s the cabinet. The red and white box. Can you open it?”

“Mommy said never, ever touch that box.”

“Look, kid, Zacharie, this is important. Don’t you want to go to the new planet? Don’t you want to get off this ship?”

Zacharie cried.

“Little boy, do you know what trees are? Or flowers?”

Zacharie caught his breath. “Mr. Cat climbs trees.”

“Okay, that’s good. You know trees.”

“Cartoons aren’t real.” Zacharie cried.

“I know! But did you know there are real trees? There are places called planets where the trees are. They are beautiful, Zacharie. You wouldn’t believe how beautiful they are.”

The man looked like he was going to cry.

“Zacharie, please, stop crying.”

Zacharie could not stop crying.

“Zacharie, there are trees on the new planet, and there’s so much room! The planet is big and beautiful. We bought this ship, we spent all our money so we could have this ship, just to get to the new planet. That’s how good it is. When you get there, you won’t be cooped up on this ship. You’d always be happy. But you can only get to the planet if you’re a very good boy and you do what I say. Understand?”

“Yes,” said Zacharie, but he didn’t.

The man took a big breath.

“Then, Zacharie, you’ve got to open the cabinet.”

“Mommy said not to touch it.”

“That’s—that’s good. That was the right thing. But now, touching it is right. Because I’ll die if you don’t. We’ll all die. Do you understand?”

Zacharie said yes with his head.

“So, hurry then. Open the cabinet.”

Zacharie didn’t open the cabinet.

“We’ll all die, if you don’t. We’ll all become like Mommy. You don’t want that, do you?”

Zacharie started crying again.

“Zacharie! Kid! Think of the trees. The beautiful planet. A place where everybody loves God and nobody kills other people. You can run and play! Be with other kids! Under a blue sky. Don’t you want that?”

Zacharie didn’t say yes or no.

“Kid, this is your life! Your chance! You’ve got to do this.”

“I’m hungry.”

“You’re hungry? Oh, Zacharie—I could make you lunch. I could feed you anything you want. You just have to give me an injection.”

The cabinet was white and red. Mommy’s face was brown and red. Zacharie’s favorite color was blue.

Zacharie opened the cabinet.

“Thank God!” The man breathed hard. “Good. Find a syringe that says—that starts with the letter A. Can you read the letter A?”

“I know the whole alphabet.”

“That’s good!”

There was a box with a big letter A and lots of other letters. Zacharie took it out. It smelled like medicine. Mommy smelled like poop and Zacharie’s underwear smelled like pee.

“That’s it! You’re doing great. Take out one needle. Don’t drop it!”

Zacharie took a needle out. It was in a wrapper.

“10 C C,” said Zacharie. That’s what it said.

“You’ve got to get the wrapper off. Can you tear it off? There’s a serrated edge—”

Zacharie pulled the wrapper but it didn’t open.

“That’s not working. Here: try to bite it. Put in in your teeth. Not in the middle! Put your teeth on the zigzag—like that! Yes! Now, pull with one hand—yes! Keep pulling—”

The plastic opened all of a sudden.

“Uh oh!” said Zacharie. “It fell.”

“That’s okay! That’s great, actually. Now, pick it up carefully and hold it where I can see it.”

Zacharie showed it to the man.

“Pull the green part off. Be careful! See the needle? The needle will prick you. Throw the green part away—”

Zacharie threw the green part across the room. It bounced off the lid of a box. A girl was in the box. She was eight years old.

“Good. Now, this is the hard part. You need to slide the needle into my arm. Then push the plunger in—that’s the part on the other end—darn! This is complicated.”

The man let out a big breath. “Look. Just stick the needle in my arm. Slowly. Leave it there.”

Zacharie cried.

“I know, kid. It takes guts. But—but—think of the trees! The sky! The beautiful planet!”

Zacharie wiped his nose. Big boys don’t cry.

“Breakfast! That’s it! I’ll make you food. You won’t be hungry anymore.”

Zacharie left the room.

“No kid! Please! Come back.”

Zacharie ran up to the lounge. He didn’t like the man anymore.

Zacharie did not watch cartoons. He did not watch videos. He waved the needle around and said, “Ten C C,” and, “Please unfreeze!”

The man was yelling. Zacharie cried. He was very sad. Zacharie lay down in the big chair.

Zacharie woke up. He crossed himself. He saw his ball.

Zacharie threw the ball. It was yellow.

“Just warming up!” said Zacharie.

Something went bang.

Zacharie picked a booger out of his nose and ate it.

Zacharie heard more noise. Zacharie itched himself. He peed in the toilet. His pee was orange.

Zacharie threw his ball. His ball was yellow. “Just warming up!”

Zacharie went down the stairs.

Mommy’s body was a C.

Zacharie went into room four. The man was out of his box. He was asleep on the floor. His body was a C. The needle lay next to him.

“Ten C C,” said Zacharie.

The needle was scary and sharp.

“Ten C C,” said Zacharie. “Just warming up!”

Zacharie picked up the needle. “Just warming up!” Zacharie was big.

He stuck the needle in the man’s arm.

“Ow!” The man said. “No wait! Don’t pull it out! It’s fine! You did fine.”

The man’s eyes were very big. Zacharie was very big. The man breathed fast. Zacharie breathed fast.

“Leave it.” The man took a big breath. “The plunger. You see? The flat end?”

Zacharie said yes with his head but he didn’t see. Zacharie wiped his eyes.

The man lifted his other arm. The man groaned. His hand reached for the plunger.

“Help me… Push it… Help”

Zacharie pushed the plunger.

“Ten C C!” Zacharie shouted.

“Yes! Thank God! He’s doing it! Yes! Slow! Good. All the way. Yes. All done. You did great, Zacharie. All done.”

Zacharie pulled the needle out.

“Ow! No—never mind. You did great.” The man breathed hard. “You did great.”

Zacharie threw the needle across the room. It fell on the lid of the girl.

The man closed his eyes. He lay there and Zacharie wondered if he was going to take a nap.

“I’m hungry,” Zacharie whispered.

The man nodded. “I know.” He smiled. “Pull my arms. Help me up.”

Zacharie pulled the man’s arms. Zacharie was very strong.

The man sat up. He squeezed Zacharie’s hands.

“You’re so brave, Zacharie. Your Mommy and Daddy…”

“I’m big!”

“Yes.”

The man cried.

“I’m hungry,” said Zacharie.

“Let me…just…catch my…”

The man got on his hands and knees. It took a long time.

“Let’s get you breakfast,” the man said. “Then you’ll take a nap. A long, long nap. In the box I was in. And then, when you wake up, you’ll be on the planet.”

“I cross myself.”

“That’s good. Very good.”

“I don’t like naps,” said Zacharie.

“But you’ll want to go to the planet.”

The man crawled to the door. Zacharie opened it.

“God have mercy! Danielle! Look at her, she’s so thin.”

The man hit the floor with his fist. “I see what happened. She was starving herself. Keeping you alive, Zacharie. There was only food for one and she gave it to you. She loved you so much.”

“Will Mommy go to the planet?”

“She—” The man shut his mouth. He was sad. He said, “Only so many can go. She had to stay awake and drive the ship. When you were born, she gave you her food. As you grew—”

“I’m big!”

“Yes you are! She got weak, but she held out as long as she could. She wanted to stay alive for you. She didn’t want to wake me too soon. She almost waited too—”

The man was too sad to talk more.

“Will you go to the planet?”

“I—"

The man smiled, but he still looked sad. He said, “You, little boy, will go to the planet. It will be a paradise. You will grow up and be a man.”

Zacharie was afraid. He held the man’s hand.

“Will you and Mommy go to the planet?”

The man squeezed Zacharie’s hand.

“Yes, Zacharie,” the man said. “Yes we will.”

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Frederick Gero Heimbach lives a pulp fiction life and takes notes. His family lives with him, warily, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is the author of six novels. Find him on X/Twitter as @Fredosphere and on his much neglected website fheimbach.com.

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Copyright © 2025 Frederick Gero Heimbach & Incensepunk Magazine

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