Elle sat at her computer sipping her morning coffee. She was a tall, brunette, with a nice face that was
just starting to show the first signs of wrinkles. Her husband was at work, the kids at school, and she was
home alone with the dog again, as usual. Not that she really should be complaining. She had the fairy-tale
life. Loving husband, three kids, nice house in the quiet suburbs. Too quiet in fact. That was her main
problem. Elle wasn't so much unhappy with her life as she was just bored with it. Little things were starting
to aggravate her like the way her kids folded their clothes or the way her husband liked to kiss her on the
cheek on his way out the door. Maybe it was because she'd married early and had kids early, but she just felt
like she'd missed out on life. But probably it had started earlier than that. She had always been shy,
reserved, some said antisocial. She watched as her kids went through their lives and was jealous of their
freedom. which brought her back to her day, stuck at home, just like always.
Thats when everything changed. Maybe it was fate, or just an errant mouse click but somehow she suddenly
found herself staring at the most unusual ad she had ever encountered. She read it three times, just she be
sure she wasn't hallucinating. It was advertising some sort of package deal on objects to change ones life.
Elle looked around. Yeah she could use a change a change of scenery. Heck, <em>she</em> could do
with a bit of change herself. She'd been pretty once upon a time. Still was according to some, but she had no
illusions. Her best years were behind her, and all the years in between were starting to show. And even at her
best she'd still always had a few thing she'd wanted to change.
Still, she was to wise to be suckered in so easily by some jerks who preyed on weakness. She closed the ad
and went back to what she was doing. And that would have been the end of it if the ad hadn't popped up a
second time just a few moments later. Maybe it was a late act of rebellion, or a forlorn hope but for some
reason she clicked on it this time. Entering in her credit card and address and selecting the free rush
delivery, she hit send, thinking that all that would probably come of this was a line on her bank statement.
The doorbell rang. She got up to answer it and found a brown cardboard box addressed to her sitting on the doorstep. Looking at the return information, she recognized the names of the companies and realized this was the package she'd just ordered. But looking around she saw no postman, no delivery truck, no sign at all of how it had appeared here. Nervously, she picked up the package went back inside. placing the box on the kitchen table, she opened it and looked inside. In it were around a dozen random looking objects that seemed to have no common function. Looking from item to item, she wondered how they were supposed to help her. Picking one up, she turned it over in her hands until...