She nervously chattered her teeth as she entered the mysterious circular room that was colored gold in all directions with no furniture except a single table with a colorful, irresistible box atop of it. The man she was told to meet was in the center of the room. She didn’t know much about him except that he was going to hurt her beloved. He was going to give her a task to save him. She hesitantly walked towards the unknown figure.
“Is it ready?” she asked the man who had his back turned to her and his hands meeting behind him. She stood quivering behind him, eyeing the bulging muscle of his forearms. As far as she could tell, he was bald with a “Z” tattooed on the back of his head. He wore only leather pants. She tapped the man on his shoulder after receiving no reply. “Did you hear me--?”
She was quickly thrown back by what seemed a gust of wind. She slowly got up trembling. She started to reply, “I-I--”
“How dare you speak before me?” yelled the man titled “Z”. With every word he spoke, the room shook and spun as though he was a tea kettle about to burst.
“I’m sorry, please. Let me do what I was meant to do,” she begged, kneeling on the ground before him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered with little breath because it seemed that all the air of the room was being pushed out abruptly.
“Do you understand what you’re even doing here, lying on the floor like a pathetic little worm? Get up! I don’t like to see you this way,” he yelled so furiously that his words were the rage of a hungry lion and bear put together.
She quickly leaped off the floor and wiped her tears away. “Please, I’ll do anything that you want. Just don’t hurt him,” she pleaded with all her heart that no longer belonged to her but the man she loved.
“’Tis done. You can’t do anything about him. Once you leave this room, he’ll be scorched and killed because he doesn’t deserve you. I do! Forget about him!” “Z” bitterly replied, his voice growing louder and louder. But it was really the feelings that he didn’t express that mattered most, covered up by frustration. And so he defied his heart in the great scheme of insincere words said. To him, it was as though anger was the only easily expressed feeling.
“Don’t you dare!” she screamed at him as she tried to attack the man, “But you prom--”
“I make no promises,” he growled.
“You--!” she tried to scream but her body was falling down on the floor because she was being suffocated while the man labeled “Z” made no physical contact with her. “Please,” she yelped before she was allowed to breathe again.
After a quick realization, he responded softly, “Forgive me, poor soul. What’s done has been done. Forget about him. Forget. It is best.”
“I…I,” she tried to speak but her breath was still recovering.
“Do you understand now? Do you understand what could have happened to you? Be on my side. Be with me, my precious,” he responded as he kneeled before her, “I’ve watched these humans win just to fail. But still in their steep fall, they’re able to get back up and continue to develop. They continue to work. They continue to live…and love. Love, this thing of fashion, always seemed mystical to me despite all I’ve been through, but I saw you. I’ve cared for you from a distance. I’ve given up time just to watch you laugh and smile. Forget about him. Love me.”
He looked up at her, but she still could not see his face for a shadow blocked her eyes from meeting his. She watched his earnest words flow, through his heart, in her sea of pity because the words that flowed through her heart were not for him but someone else. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I--”
“No, no, don’t say that. You don’t understand. I…I…please. I’ll love you until forever and beyond. I’ll love you until man’s foolishness is destroyed. I’ll love you until Death is rid of. I’ll give you anything. Just ask me. Just love me, and my world shall be complete. And with you, these many years I’ll live will seem just a bit more meaningful,” he begged.. He gazed fondly at her sparkling silver eyes that were filled with tears.
“Give me him,” she replied despite the danger that could follow from those very words.
“I…are you sure?”
“I’ve never been sure of anything else in my entire life. I love him, and no one can do anything about that,” she replied slowly nodding her head.
He paused before replying again, contemplating her words. “Fine, I wasn’t actually going to do any actual harm to your husband. I-I was just so emotional. I love you, and I wouldn’t like to see you get hurt,” he declared while he turned his back towards her again. But his final line was spoken as more of a threat than a gentle soothing.
“That’s it? Are you done?”
“Yes, that is it,” he replied.
And so the lady headed for the exit giddily, happy that her husband wasn’t going to be harmed but a little perplexed from the whole situation. She wondered what the man’s name was, but despite her normal self, she decided to let it be because at least her husband was safe. But in a spur of curiosity, she asked, “What is in that box?” She pointed to the box that still sat on the table.
He turned around abruptly with a small smile on his face, but she couldn’t see him because the shadow was still blocking his face. “That, my dear, was your present that I was going to give you if you chose to be with me. But since your decision is not so, I see where that may be a bit of a problem. Would you like to keep your present still? You must know that I am a fantastic present giver,” he smugly replied.
She let out a little laugh. “I’d love that. Thank you, Mr….?”
“Mr. Kron. But please, call me “Z”,” he responded while he held out his hand.
A bit appalled by the man’s firmness, she reluctantly took his hand. “Pamela,”
“I apologize for the horrible outburst I had before. You see, I’d quite of an attraction towards you. But as it is, my senses now control me. I was wrong. Do you forgive me?” he replied.
“I…I…don’t know what to say. I-I guess. You just seemed so changed from before. Ha,” she said, still in shock. “Well, I guess I’ll be going now.”
“One thing, Pamela, you mustn’t open the box until tomorrow otherwise the gift will not prove to be as worthy as you wish,” the man gently told her.
“Yes…um have a good day, I guess” she replied, still not able to get the weird feeling in her stomach out of her.
“You too, sweet Pamela,” he muttered, turning his back towards her again, and she was already out the door.
That night, Pamela tossed and turned in her sleep, muttering about the box. She was debating whether to open the box or not. Curiosity was scratching at her feet. And so, she decided that at least her husband could keep it quiet. She turned on the bedside lamp. “Psst…Elias?” she whispered towards her husband who was sound asleep. “Elias?” she whispered again even louder.
Elias mumbled and turned to the other side but did not answer.
“Elias!” Pamela suddenly said shaking him.
“What!” The surprised Elias quickly sat up in bed and then gazed lovingly at his wife. “I should have known that my midnight murderer was just my wife. Are you trying to kill me, Pam?”
She smiled. “Certainly. I would not have woken you up, but I just needed to know how you wanted to be killed. I’ve gotten the butcher knife from the kitchen. Shall we begin?” she joked while lying down next to her husband. They both stared into each other’s eyes, their hearts joined as one.
“Something’s troubling you? There’s something you’re not telling me. You left in the afternoon like a frightened field mouse, but you arrived back home like a joyful cat. What has gotten into you, sweet? Are you cross with me?”
“No, no, it’s nothing of that sort. Just a little inkling that’s been gnawing at me. My apologies for waking you up and giving you a scare,” she mumbled.
He kissed her neck and then her lips gently. “You mustn’t lie, my dear. It pains me to see you like so. What’s bothering you, darling?”
She hesitated but finally replied, “It’s a present, Elias. I went to visit…a friend today. He gave me a present, but he told me to not open it until tomorrow.”
“He?” Elias asked curiously, slightly dismayed, “Have I bored you already?”
Pamela replied quickly, “No, no, he was just an old acquaintance who was quite fond of me at that time. It’s nothing to worry about. My heart belongs to you and only you.”
Elias kissed her again and mumbled in her ear, “I’m afraid, dear. I’ve no heart to give you, for my heart has been stabbed and shot by love’s painful yet magical arrows. Would care for a bloody one instead?”
Pamela giggled softly with an arm around her husband’s neck. “As well as mine. Who said I was giving you an unblemished heart, my dear? My heart is as physically miserable as yours, but it loves, my sweet. It loves. So all its pain is forgotten,”
And so they kissed passionately in love with the concept of love. After a while, Elias stopped and replied, “What of a present? You spoke of one yet moments ago.”
“Ah, yes, he told me to wait until tomorrow. But say tomorrow is an hour away,” she replied, no longer fearing what the present could behold. “Do you think we should open it? It’s in quite a lovely box.”
“Why not? This friend is most likely tricking you. If the present is as lovely as it sounds, who says it won’t be as lovely today as it will tomorrow? You might as well fetch it,” Elias replied, smiling.
“Yes,” Pamela said before she went to retrieve the box from their bedroom closet. She presented the box to her husband. “Isn’t it just magnificent?”
Elias eyes were drawn to the box, and he replied without looking at her, “Yes, it is. You are quite lucky to have such a friend who gives such…a gift. Bring it here, so its cover can be removed of.”
For a moment, Pamela was skeptical remembering that the man she met that evening neither was a “friend” nor an old “acquaintance”. “Do you think we should wait?” she replied.
“Why bother? I doubt you’re friend was telling the truth. He’s probably just being a sore loser. You did say you two had an old romance, eh?” Elias replied.
Pamela again was quick to reply, worrying that her husband was conjuring up some distrust. “No, I told you, Elias. It was nothing of the sort. It was rather one-sided if you ask me. I neither loved nor cared for him at all. I suppose that may be true though. We might as well, right?”
“Right,” he agreed before Pamela set the box down on the bed and uncovered it. Inside was another box much like the one before except a bit smaller. They uncovered that box and received another box much like the one before except a bit smaller. “Is this some kind of joke? It isn’t funny,” Elias stated, but he still went ahead and uncovered the next box and the next and the next. Pamela watched nervously because her uncertainty had grown into full dread. But as they finally came to the last box, for it was no bigger than a fingertip. And Pamela thought that it just had to be the last one. She could still take off its cover with the tip of a pen if she wished. She was just about to retrieve one when Elias said, “Let it be, Pam. We’ve wasted all this time. It’s a mere joke. I don’t like this friend of yours, but he sure did have our curiosity running. It possibly couldn’t hold anything. Let it be. It probably bears nothing inside. Come back to bed.”
“I-I…we might as well, Elias,” Pamela replied, debating whether to open it.
“You go ahead and do what you please. I’m going back to sleep. Good night, darling. Well, we might as well say “Good Morning”. It’s ten minutes past midnight. Sleep is only as precious as the amount you can get. Hmmm…” he sleepily finished before he closed his eyes.
Pamela stared at the box. She thought: it’s already past midnight. It can’t possibly do me any harm now. “Here I go,” she mumbled slowly, unveiling what was inside. She peered in the tiny box with just one eye. “It’s just mere dust. That scoundrel. What type of present giver is he?”she whispered, slightly aggravated. She went back to bed and turned off the lamplight. “All this for nothing,” she mumbled before she too closed her eyes.
That morning, Pamela woke up with the sun’s rays on her face. Out of curiosity, Pamela went to find the boxes she and her husband opened last night. But they were no longer on the floor beside the bed. There was only the tiny last box left on the floor, but it was empty. The dust that was in the box was no longer there. “Oh, I must have just imagined the dust in the box. It was quite dark,” she muttered, “But where are the other boxes? Elias?”
But instead of Elias, she saw the man who she met yesterday evening except today she could actually see his face. The man had shining skin that was as bright as the sun. He looked truly magnificent except for the fact that he somehow got rid of her husband. She tried to scream, but it was as though her scream was muffled by hands that were not present near her.
“I told you to wait until tomorrow to open the box,” he reminded her with a smile.
She gasped and thought: I did though.
“Ah, dear, that’s where you are mistaken. The box I warned about was the first one not the last. If only you had waited. But it seems you wanted me too much, love,” he responded with a laugh. He moved towards her and held her in his arms. “Ah, love, ‘tis a beautiful thing. The things that we do for it are even more beautiful yet evil in their way,”
And she slowly was smothered by his wickedness. And while time passed by, she grew to even love the man back, and that was what scared her the most. In his arms, she no longer could remember Elias. In his arms, she couldn’t even remember her name. What was it again? Pan…Pand…Pandora?
