The Choice I Made

"CHOOSE, Press the button or don't, it's entirely up to you." Dalton screamed practically inside my brain.

I would love to play the victim and act like I don't know how I got here but let us be honest, of course, I do. I know how I decided not to follow the rules and I know how now I have to pay for it. I know why I'm sitting here on this disgusting carpet floor, getting screamed at by Dalton, sobbing in front of a giant dark green button the size of a frisbee, and I know why I have to push it.

This all started 1 year and 1 week ago when that small man came to my door. I remember it so clearly. It was 6 am, I had been asleep this man rang my doorbell 4 times exactly and then knocked thrice. When I had finally gotten out of bed and made my way over to the door I figured he would be gone by then thinking no one was home. I was wrong when I peered out the window, there he was. A small man, maybe 5 and a half feet tall was at my door holding a box.

When i opened the door he introduced himself but i wasn't listening i was looking at the box in his arms. It was made from wood and was about the size of a rubix cube, it had a dark green button on it with a glass dome over it. He greeted me with a giant smile that made me want to slam the door in his face. I stuck my hand out to shake his and he slammed the box in my hand and ran away in complete terror.

I thought it was a bomb and at this point, I wish it was. I threw the box into my garden and shut the door with quickness and ducked down, after around 10 minutes I peeked back up through the curtains to see but it was just sitting there on its side in my tomato plants. I was curious so I went outside to pick it up, and that's when I saw it was a little piece of paper attached to the bottom of it.The paper read " You thought I was a bomb huh? nope. if you press this button 1,000 dollars will deposit into your bank account but, someone in the world will die. Have fun". I stared at it in awe and walked back into the kitchen to set it down. I can remember very clearly I went into the bathroom and just stared at myself thinking I was insane. after at least n hour of that, I finally went back out t see it sitting there, I felt like it was watching me so I grabbed it slammed it in the drawer next to my table, and tried to forget about it.

A year passed and I had completely forgotten it existed. Until Dalton showed up. He knocked on my door at 6 am a week ago on a suspiciously foggy morning. I had recognized him but couldn't tell. He was short and had a creepy smile but he seemed friendly. everything bad happening now is happening because of me at that moment.

"Good morning, my name is Dalton, where is the box with the button?". My heart started pounding as hard as a rabid chimp when I realized it was the same man who had given me that weird box about a year ago. I replied with the worst thing I could have. "I lost it" I quietly said knowing exactly where it was. " No you didn't silly, it's in that drawer right there, I turned to see that he was pointing directly at the drawer I knew it was in. " You should probably leave," I said. honestly looking back I have no idea why I still had it or why he wanted it or why I didn't just give it back.

We started at each other for a while before I turned around and just went back inside because I felt weird. He didn't leave so I cracked the door and told him if he isn't off my property in 30 seconds I'm going to grab my shotgun and shoot him. He didn't know I didn't have one so it should have worked but he didn't budge. Instead, he broke the window opened my door, and came inside. I screamed at him to get out and ran to call the cops. but then I realized he wasn't trying to hurt me or anything he was just going toward the box.I ran over and snatched it out of the drawer right before Dalton could get it. This infuriated him. He was screaming that I needed to give it back if I wasn't using it and that's rude to waste its potential collection gust in a drawer. "IM GOING TO USE IT". That was the worst thing I could have said which led me to a downward spiral.

He got so angry he corned me and grabbed it from my hand and told me to use it then and to stop being a whiny baby. I tried telling him that it's wrong to kill people for the money he just stared at me angrily. He put the box down on the table and sat in front of it. Dalton gestured toward the chair across for me to sit. I should've just called the police, I should have run, I should have done something but I sat down. As soon as I sat he was behind me with a quickness he tied me to the chair and told me to press it. "I will not press it, dalton, it's wrong, just take it and go." "NO".

For the next 3 days, it was back in forth of him trying to make me press the button, even trying to forcefully push my hand on the button. At the end of the 4th day I was exhausted starving and soo very thirsty, Dalton was eating food right in front of me with the clock behind him saying that it was 4 pm and that's all I remember before I fell asleep. When I woke up he was raising and slamming down my hand on the button it took me a second to realize this but when I did I was terrified, it was 11 pm now and I'm pretty sure he had been doing this since I fell asleep. "STOP THIS" I shouted and pulled my hand free from his. he just grabbed my hand and tried t make me press it. "you have just single-handedly, haha get the pun, killed so many people, good job. I'm proud" he said.

He turned the tv on and it was horror. News reporters on every channel talk about how a new person died. So many different ways, so painful. I screamed at Dalton exclaiming that he was insane, he just smiled and nodded and said "your right but every time you fall asleep ill press this button, and you'll kill someone else, even when you are dead.

I'll never know what I did to him or why it was me he chose but I'm writing this day by day and i think ill die soon, I'm soo hungry and tired, so many people are gone. All because I chose to catch an attitude instead of giving a random man his box back.