The Black Box - S01 E03

Story 3 months ago

The Black Box - S01 E03

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 3

Episode 3: The Black Box

The house felt much bigger and much quieter now that David was gone. When David was home, the rooms were full of his happy whistling. They were full of the sound of his heavy boots on the wooden floor. They were full of the smell of the coffee he made in the morning. But now, David was far away on a train. He was going to a city that Rose had never seen. The house felt very empty. It felt like the walls were moving further apart. It felt like the ceiling was higher than it used to be. Every little sound made Rose jump. A small bird hitting the window made her heart race. The wind blowing through the trees sounded like people talking in whispers. Rose felt very alone. She felt like a small boat in the middle of a big, dark ocean.

In her pocket, the keys felt heavier with every step she took. It was just a small ring of metal, but it felt like a giant weight. The keys were cold against her leg. Every time she moved, she could hear them jingle. Clink, clink, clink. The sound reminded her of the secret. It reminded her of the tiny silver key that was hiding among the others. She knew that key was the most important thing in the house. It was the key to the mystery. It was the key to the box that had sat under her bed for ten long years. Rose wanted to take the keys out and hide them. She wanted to put them in a deep drawer where she could not see them. She wanted to lock them away so she would not be tempted. But she did not do that. She kept them in her pocket. She wanted to feel them there.

Rose tried to keep herself busy. She knew that if she stayed busy, she would not think about the box. She went out into the garden. The garden was very pretty. There were red flowers and blue flowers. There were green leaves and soft grass. Rose took her garden tools and started to pull out the weeds. She worked very hard. She dug into the dirt and made her hands messy. She tried to think about the plants. She tried to think about how much water they needed. But even in the garden, she could not stop thinking about the bedroom. She looked at the windows of the house. She knew that just behind one of those windows, the black box was waiting. The sun was hot on her back, but she felt a cold shiver go down her spine. The garden did not make her feel better. The flowers did not smell as sweet as they usually did.

After she finished in the garden, Rose went back inside. She washed her hands and tried to read her favorite books. She had a shelf full of stories about adventure and magic. She sat in her big, soft chair and opened a book. She tried to follow the words on the page. She read about a brave knight and a beautiful castle. But her mind kept drifting away. She would read the same sentence five times and still not know what it said. The words looked like little black ants crawling on the white paper. Her mind kept going back to the bedroom. It kept going back to the dark corner under the bed. She wondered if the box was still sitting there. She wondered if the silver lock was still shining in the dim light. She closed the book with a loud snap. Reading was not helping her today.

Rose walked into the kitchen. She looked at the fruit bowl where David had left the keys. The bowl was empty now, except for one yellow banana. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon. The day was moving very slowly. It felt like time had stopped. She whispered to the empty living room. She said, "I am a good wife." She said it out loud so she could hear her own voice. She wanted to believe it. She wanted to remind herself that she was a person who kept promises. She had been a good wife for ten years. She had never lied to David. She had never broken his rules. But the silence in the house did not answer her back. The house just stayed quiet. The empty chairs and the still curtains did not tell her she was good. They just watched her.

The sun began to go down. The sky changed from blue to a soft orange and then to a deep purple. The light in the house began to fade. This was the time of day when the shadows grew long. Rose watched as the shadows stretched across the floor. They looked like long, dark fingers. They seemed to point straight toward the hallway. They seemed to point straight toward the bedroom door. Rose felt a strange pulling feeling in her heart. It was like a string was tied to her chest and someone was pulling it. The string led to the bedroom. She felt like the black box was calling out to her. It was not using words, but she could hear it in her mind. It was whispering for her to come and see. It was telling her that the secret had been hidden for too long. It was telling her that she deserved to know the truth.

Rose stood up from her chair. Her legs felt a little bit weak. She walked slowly toward the hallway. The wooden floor felt cold under her feet. The house was very dark now. She did not turn on the lights. She liked the shadows. They made her feel like she was hiding, even though there was no one there to see her. She reached the door of the bedroom. She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Her heart was thumping like a drum against her ribs. Thump, thump, thump. It was so loud that she thought the neighbors might hear it. She pushed the door open. The room was filled with gray light from the moon. Everything looked different in the moonlight. The bed looked like a giant mountain. The mirror looked like a pool of water.

She walked over to the side of the bed. She did not want to look, but she could not help it. she looked down at the floor. There it was. The black box sat in the shadows. It looked very heavy. It looked very old. It looked like it had been waiting for this very moment for a thousand years. Rose felt her breath coming in short gasps. She reached into her pocket. Her fingers found the cold metal of the keys. She pulled them out. The tiny silver key caught the light of the moon. it sparkled like a small star. Rose felt a chill run through her whole body. This was the moment she had thought about for a decade. This was the moment that would change everything.

She knelt down on the soft rug. The rug felt fuzzy against her knees. She moved closer to the bed. She could smell the dust from under the furniture. It was a dry, old smell. She reached out her hand. Her fingers were shaking very badly. She moved her hand toward the dusty lid of the box. She wanted to touch the dark wood. She wanted to feel the silver lock. But she stopped just before her fingers touched it. She froze. A great wave of fear washed over her. She thought about David. She thought about his kind eyes. She thought about how he would feel if he knew she was doing this. Would he ever forgive her? Would their happy home be destroyed?

Rose was terrified of what she might find inside the box. What if it was something scary? What if it was something that meant David was not the man she thought he was? What if the secret was too big for her to handle? She thought about all the bad things that could be in there. But then, she thought about the curiosity. The curiosity was even stronger than the fear. It was like a fire burning inside her. She had lived with this mystery for ten years. She had wondered and dreamed and guessed. She was more curious than she had ever been in her entire life. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a very high cliff. She could stay safe on the land, or she could jump and see what was at the bottom.

The room was so quiet that she could hear the sound of her own blood rushing in her ears. The black box did not move. It just waited. It was a small thing made of wood and metal, but it had so much power over her. Rose looked at the tiny silver key in her other hand. It was the only thing that could unlock the truth. She felt like she was in a dream. Nothing felt real except for the cold key and the dark box. She wondered if she should turn around and run away. She wondered if she should go back to the kitchen and pretend she never found the keys. But she knew she could not do that. She had come too far. She had already opened the door to the room. She had already knelt down on the rug.

Rose felt like her whole life had been leading to this one minute. All the years of being a good wife, all the years of keeping the promise, they were all over now. A new part of her life was starting. She did not know if it would be a happy part or a sad part. She only knew that she could not live another day without knowing the secret. The box was like a riddle that needed an answer. It was like a puzzle with one missing piece. She looked at the silver lock one more time. It looked back at her. It seemed to be laughing at her. It seemed to be saying that she was not brave enough to see the truth. This made Rose feel a little bit angry. She wanted to show the box that she was brave. She wanted to show herself that she was strong.

Her hand was still hanging in the air, just inches away from the lid. She could feel the cold air coming from under the bed. She thought about the week ahead. David would not be home for many more days. She had so much time to look and then put everything back. He would never have to know. She could see the secret, and then she could be the perfect wife again. But a voice in her head told her that was not true. Once you know a secret, you can never forget it. Once you see the truth, you can never go back to the way things were before. The knowledge would stay with her forever. It would be like a mark on her soul that no one else could see.

Rose closed her eyes for a second. She tried to imagine what was inside. She saw flashes of gold, letters tied with ribbon, and old maps. She saw things that were beautiful and things that were strange. Then she opened her eyes. The box was still just a black box. The mystery was still a mystery. She felt a sudden rush of energy. Her heart gave one big, loud thump. She was ready. She was terrified, but she was ready. She was more curious than she had ever been, and that curiosity was going to win. She moved her fingers those last few inches. She was about to touch the secret that would change her life forever.

Rose says the silence in the house did not answer her back. Do you think her own conscience was trying to tell her to stop?

Shadows can be very scary when we are alone. Do you think the "dark fingers" of the shadows were a warning or just a part of Rose’s imagination?

If you were Rose, would you be more afraid of what is in the box or more afraid of breaking your husband's trust?

Do you think David is a bad man for keeping a secret that makes Rose feel so lonely and curious?