The first clue

The next Saturday afternoon, still in the bliss of being welcomed into the neighborhood, Tom sat on the steps of their lawn, smiling and biting on a chocolate bar sent by one of the neighbors.

   Dad was busy laughing and gisting with other parents, he raised his upper biceps, displaying how muscular he is. As soon as Tom saw that, he knew Dad was up again with his boring story about taking down a bear in Madagascar when he and Mom went to unravel a case about an Egyptian archeological item.

Tippy tat... tippy tat..., a small step ran towards Tom, splashing the little water on the cobblestone driveway, smiling and letting the wind blow his enormous baggy shirt, joyfully shrieking in his tiny voice.

"Welcome to the neighborhood!"

A little light-haired boy, about six years old, was standing before Tom; his teeth became visible as he smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks," Tom said. He looked at the little boy's hand and saw a package. Definitely, it would be another chocolate bar, because the package was wrapped with a beautiful and enticing edible wrapper. Before Tom could say any other thing, the boy handed the package to him.

"My mom also wants to say welcome, but she's too busy with visitors. I hope you'd be alright with that. "

Tom smiled as he collected the package from the boy—Mr. Candy... was the name written on it.

"Yes!" Tom exclaimed in his head, "I knew it was chocolate!" He wondered if his obsession with chocolates made him guess right. Right from when he was a kid, Tom has always loved chocolates, any flavour, but as he grew up, he started to dwindle on that, but it didn't stop him from loving chocolates.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it."

"Okay!" The little boy shrieked again, but cheerfully.

"Send my regards to your mummy too." Tom's voice rang as far as he thought it would reach the little guy, who was already racing down the driveway, jumping and twirling.

Tom heaved. "Let's see what we have here." He tore open the package just to find a plain brown box. He was taken aback for a while, not seriously, and at that time he became curious. His mind spun over some terrorist movies, where people are killed through bomb letters, packages, and phone calls too.

"He's just a little kid," Tom assured himself. "What harm could he do?" Shaking off the horrible thoughts that almost sent shivers to his bones, he opened the brown box. Tom's face got worn out immediately. His fear turned to scorn and a bit of annoyance.

"Is this some kind of April fool's day?" He looked back into the box, counting the little ceramic pebbles with different colours. At that moment, he balled up his fist, daring to deal with the little boy that decided to play him.

"Giving him some won't be bad at all." Tom closed the brown box and dropped it beside him on the lawn. He looked sideways. Dad and the neighbors were now sitting down, drinking up and still telling stories and jokes.

Tom stared and looked away. Other members of his family were inside doing their own thing. Tom couldn't get to play video games as the thought of what happened in his room that night still struck him.

"What does that even mean—a blue holoscreen? No, it's a blue talking screen. Nahh, a blue... "

Tom's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a rumble coming down the street and saw a mailman's truck slugging through the tide road with its big junky tires. Tom watched as it pulled up to their mailbox; he saw the mailman reach out and put a stack of letters inside. A flash of yellow in the bunch made Tom's heart jump-start to super sonic speed. With the aim of affirming what he saw, he leaned forward for a better view, but it was too late. The truck lumbered away, sending a few sparks from the exhaust pipe.

Tom jumped off the lawn, slowing down a bit. He looked sideways, making sure that Dad wasn't noticing his movements. 

 It's been one week received the letter from Alsace. He had considered burning it. He almost freaked out because of what happened that night before. He knew that's what the letter meant by "dangerous event." It seemed so simple to toss the letter into the fire and make sure nothing else happened.

But the part of Tom that loved brainteasers and science desperately wanted to see what the "Twevle clues" were all about, so he didn't burn the letter, and the week had dragged on worse than the one after moving in.

So it looked like his choice not to burn the letter paid off, increasing his curiosity.

He trudged his way through a few inches to the mailbox. Still deep in thought, he was eager to know what the letter had to say, but remembering that night sent shivers to him.

"Well, there's no harm in trying."

He reached for the mailbox and opened it up, pulling out the stacks left a moment earlier. He shuffled through the stacks, taking each piece off the top and placing it on the bottom—a football membership notice card; a power bill; a letter from Mrs. Luz, mom's friend; nothing; nothing; nothing.

And there it was, the envelope, neat and golden, with Tom's name and address written across the front; no return address. As promised, his next message has arrived.

And this time it was postmarked from Hong Kong, China.