The Box
“Look.” He said, his dirty hands clad in tatty fingerless gloves. In the dim light, I watched him pull a dusty wooden box from an unseen hiding place, and he placed it on the table between us.
He threw me a questioning look, and I nodded a gentle agreement. He wiped the layers of dust from the box and used his chipped fingernails to investigate the edge for a lip to lift the lid. The hinges creaked open, and as he lifted the lid, his eyes grew wide, and he licked his lips greedily, seeing what was within.
He stared intensely, not blinking or flinching, captivated by the contents. I waited impatiently and cleared my throat to get his attention. I was the customer here after all. He twitched back into life, shaken from wherever what he promised was inside had taken him.
“Oh… Sorry Madam. Certainly.” Reluctantly, he spun the box round to me, gesturing with a flourish. I steadied myself.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“Madam?” He asked, his eyes arched in total surprise at my question. He spun the box back around as if maybe the contents had metamorphosised when they passed out of his vision. His eyes opened in awe again, and after a short pause he looked up at me questioningly.
“Yes, Madam, this is it.” He said incredulously, with a trace of disappointment. “What were you expecting?”
I spun the box back around again and looked at the contents. I poked them and turned them over with the end of my fork, looking for something I was missing. “Oh, I don’t know really. I mean, you hear so many legends about its power and influence, so many rich stories from its history. I guess I was expecting… I was expecting… Something more.” I shrugged and sipped my tea.
He grabbed the box back from me and slammed the lid. Clearly irritated and upset with me. “Madam! The contents of this box are legendary to my people! You insult the centuries of our culture with your comments. Those in possession of this have headed powerful forces, brought about massive changes, shaped our history.” He paused for breath, his face reddening and spittle forming on his lips. “The lengths I had to go to to acquire this for you were astronomical, and you sit there and tell me ‘it’s nothing special’? Madam, you insult me and my people.” He crossed his arms defiantly.
“Oh, I’ll still pay for it,” I said flatly. “I am a woman of my word; it’s just not what I was expecting, is all.”
His look changed from insulted defiant anger to a toothy grin, and he stretched his hands out across the table in welcome.
“Ah, Madam. And the price? You will still pay what we discussed, despite your…” His expression switched suddenly between warmth, irritation, and back again. “… Reservations?”
“Yes…” I sighed, pushing the thoughts of bartering to the back of my mind. I was too tired of this conversation to be bothered now, and the price, despite the box’s contents and the legends behind it, was reasonable. I thumped a clattering bag of valuables on the table between his hands and us, and he quickly swept it into the same black hole that the box came from.
“Madam. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
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