Twenty-four Hour Short Story Contest--Topic 1

This is my first contest.

I am fascinated by science fiction writer Harlen Ellison writing short stories in a book store window.  He wrote short stories with everyone watching for years, and people questioned if he already had the stories, so he began to take suggestions for topics from people watching.  Chris Carter of X-files fame gave him the topic of a 102-year-old pregnant corpse, and he wrote a story based on that idea.

So I wanted to create a contest based on the idea of writing short story quickly.  Now we don't have a bookstore window.  But I figure we could try it here on Steemit.

Here are the terms of the contest.

• Write a short story no longer than 2,000 words, based on the topic phrase.
• Upvote and Resteem this post.
• Comment and link your story in the comment section.  Entries are due by 8 p.m. EST (New York Time) Jan 21.  (This actually gives you a little over 24 hours from when I make this post.)
• Use the tag #twentyfourhourshortstory for your first tag.

Prizes are:

5 Steem for First Place

3 Steem for Second

And depending on how many entries I receive I may give out Steem for other entries.

(I am funding this myself, so sorry if this isn't as much as other contests...)

Here is the topic for you short story:

A transport ship picked up the wrong package, and the package is now threatening the ship.

Thanks and Good Luck!