A Charged Atmosphere

For Fandango’s Story Starter #15, where we build something around the following phrase:

She was shocked when she opened the envelope and saw that it was…

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For the shy introvert Phoebe, the new job was the first rung on the ladder. She had finished school with a well-developed set of ideals, and a first job at the charity Pro-Choice had made her feel that she might start to make a difference.

She was less excited when she learned that her first assignment each day was opening the office’s mail. But she was the new kid on the block, had to earn her stripes, so she fulfilled the task each day with a cheery smile.

Today, however, there was something unusual mixed in with the correspondence. A heavy brown envelope, with a neatly-typed label, but with no other markings, no sign of origin, and no postmark. Obviously, hand-delivered but no matter, mail was mail, Phoebe judged. She was shocked when she opened the envelope and felt just two protruding pieces of wire. As the massive current shot up her arm, Phoebe did not even react as it overwhelmed her heart a split-second before it reached her brain.

Her body was discovered fifteen minutes later, when Sylvia arrived to check whether the response she was expecting had arrived today.