The Glow

“Going once....going twice.....sold to the gentleman in the blue shirt”, my friends and I leap out of our seats with excitement as we bask in the moment, the others in attendance clapping and cheering us on during this charity auction. The auction was set-up to raise money for the local schools and people all over the city donated a variety of items to help support the cause. A unique aspect of the auction was that the items were concealed by brown paper boxes. With this no one knew what they would receive after winning their bid, but the excitement from the mystery was enough to entice many people to participate. My friends and I were acting childish from winning, but we did not care about how we looked to others. After losing out on the first few auction items we were determined to win something and luckily we did. We all pooled our money together and managed to get three different boxes. After the auction concluded we headed to the nearest diner with our prizes in order to decide who gets what. Once we placed our orders, I decided to ask my friends, Tariq and Jason, on how they wanted to handle the prizes. “ Should we just play for it?”, I said jokingly yet half seriously. Tariq was the first to respond, “Hmmm that actually sounds like fun” he said, fixing his glasses as he leaned closer. Then Jason spoke up, with a slight frown, “That all depends on the game we play, any suggestions Jordan?”. They both stare at me with looks of anticipation and concern as I start thinking of something fun and fair that we could play. After a brief minute I shrug my shoulders and blurt out “Maybe rock, paper, scissors?”. When the words escaped my mouth I immediately cringed at the thought of three thirty year old men playing a kids game like this but thankfully Tariq and Jason liked the idea instead of shaming me. We played six games in total, due to having a few tied games, but we finally decided a winner. Jason won in the end with Tariq getting second place, and me dead last losing in the third round. We decide to both split our prizes and not open the boxes until they have been divided between us. We eat and drink until we are ready to leave which is when we finally lay out the boxes and divide them up. Jason grabs the one on my left, Tariq chose the one on my right, and the middle was left to me. We were ecstatic with uncovering the mysteries inside our boxes as we began to open them. Jason was the first to open his box which revealed a roughly six inch figurine of an angel made with white stone trimmed with a gold material. Tariq opened his box to reveal an old bayonet like knife which seemed to be pretty old; perfect for a collector like him. Both of them appeared satisfied with their purchase which only increased my excitement. I slowly opened up my box, smiling so hard that my cheeks felt like they could tear, and when I looked inside it revealed another box however it was empty. I stared in disbelief, “this can’t be it right?” unable to hide the disappointment in my voice. I slumped back in my seat in disbelief, I look at my friends who give me a look of ‘Sucks to be you’, to which Jason tells me “You win some you lose, don’t beat yourself up about this. Let's get out of here man”. I sigh deeply and nod as we pay our bill.

After saying our goodbyes, I part ways with Jason and Tariq and make it home with my “Prize”. I walk through my front door, put the box on my counter and move toward my arm chair and just sit there until the frustration leaves my body. Once I Truly calmed down I got out of my chair and went back to the box. I opened it, examined it from all angles and came to the conclusion that some nut job really put a regular box up for auction. The overall idea of it made me upset, but once I reminded myself of the charity’s purpose I calmed down just a bit. I began

to think of how to best use the box in order to make the best of the situation. In the end I could only truly think about what I would have gotten if my friends chose differently. Eventually my thoughts switched to any of the other potential items from the auction other than this empty box. It was at that moment I uttered the words, “I wish I could have gotten that bayonet instead” laughing to myself. I began to move toward my bedroom when I saw a light coming from behind me illuminating the room faintly. I slowly turned around to notice a glowing light and a soft hum like vibration emanating from it until it suddenly went out. A cold sweat trickled down my neck as I stared nervously at the box. I moved slowly toward the box and opened it with my hands, shaking slightly. I jerked open the box, my curiosity overcoming my fear and I looked inside to see the exact same bayonet that Tariq had. I stared at the bayonet calmly, analyzing it top to bottom before looking back at the box. ‘A magic box?’, I think to myself. I wondered how it worked in terms of limitations and the overall scope of the wishes I could make. As I pondered to myself I noticed that the fear and caution I had was completely gone. More than that, it felt like that feeling never existed before in my life. What does this all mean? Was I imagining it? Or maybe there was some unforeseen price I had to pay? Regardless I felt glad to have gotten this gift. Yet I had to ask myself, ‘who would give up such a treasure? Maybe they didn’t know what they had?’. I decided to experiment with the box to fully understand what I had on hand, but what should I wish for next? I thought about it for a few minutes then opened my mouth and said, “I wish for a gold watch”. The box immediately shut itself and began to glow and hum again before finally stopping. Inside was a gold watch just as I had envisioned. A smile crept on my face as I imagined the possibilities.

A month had gone by, and I had understood most of the functions and capabilities of the box. First off the most obvious thing is that the box grants wishes, but it can only produce items that can fit in the box. The box itself is roughly one and a half feet long by half a foot high, so that leaves a car out of the picture. Second, the box will not make a duplicate of a previous wish, so wishing for a lot of money is out of the question. Last, the box takes something from me in exchange for the wish. It took my fear with my first wish, and my anxiety with my second. Eventually I lost my depression, pain, and fatigue and for a moment I took it all as a blessing until I lost something I wanted to keep. I made a wish which took away my ability to love. Without that I could not truly appreciate the things that I had acquired. I told myself that this was ok, and that I could still make this work and foolishly kept wishing. I eventually lost my happiness, pride, gratitude, jealousy, touch, greed and others. In the end I left with all the items I wished for and the only thing I could feel was emptiness. What is the point of a magic box if I do not feel satisfied? I looked around my room filled with valuable items that I have always sought after yet it all felt pointless. Some of these items I only dreamed of owning, so why must it be this way? My eyes scan through the room until they stop at a painting. The painting was on a small canvas and at first glance it looked amateurish, yet for some reason I could not peel my eyes away. Then I remembered, I made that painting myself. I remembered joining a painting competition with my friends and how silly it was because we had never tried painting before, but we tried it anyway. I remembered trying my hardest and making something I was proud of and despite not winning being happy that I gave it my best. I did not wish for a great painting, nor would I have. I made something through my own efforts and that was enough. I paused at that thought then I stared at the box. A thought crept into my mind and I got up and grabbed a

random item and put it in the box. Once I closed the lid the box glowed and then it stopped. I opened the box and to my surprise the item was gone. Even more to my surprise was that I could feel surprised again.

With great haste, I frantically put all of the items that I had wished for back in the box one by one. As each item disappeared, a part of me returned. I gained my joy, my hunger, my taste, my confusion, and my admiration with others swirling in. After a while, all the items I had wished for were gone and my home was how it was a month ago. I sat down exhausted, a smile on my face, as I glanced over at the box again. I felt victorious, I was myself again and I took in a deep breath like I was born anew. The box gave me what I wished for, but I realize now that it was not worth it in the end. I stared back at my painting, with a prideful smile, and thought of it as more valuable than any of the items I wished for because of the effort I put into it. With that thought passing my mind I grabbed my coat and headed out the door to see what else I could achieve by my own merit.