The Unexpected Jewel Box
I tramped through a lonely wood, cold, dispirited and tired. Cigarette packages and rotting food, discarded shoes and pieces of furniture were lined around the path. The remnants of a once-pristine snow hung around in patches, now blackened, sooty and tainted.
My eye was caught by a metal box, rusted with traces of faded writing on it I couldn’t make out. It was anything but appealing and surely held some little rodent living or fossilized and teaming with bacteria—bound to give me an antibiotic-resistant malady.
I was drawn to this box and longed to open, despite my dire fears. Against common sense and better judgement I leaned down on the soggy dirty spot and slowly opened. It resisted with a rusty creaking, as if it hadn’t been opened in ions.
I felt my mood inexplicably lighten and the sky along with it. Did I open a box or a chamber? I was transported to a…a…the noun eluded me. A place? A structure? A mood?
Was I in the box? Did the box open a world I had never seen? All I have to describe what happened is to use my senses and throw away the dictates of gravity and 3 dimensional fact.
I was flooded with words that were in my head but also had weight and substance like wood or metal. Words were solids. Adjectives, phrases, exclamations all besieged me at once. In colors and bas relief with textures and weight. “Hope,” “Delicious” “Wonderful” Fragrant: Love you so much. I am here. Always with you. Take heart. Here, take mine. She will be alright. We got it all. A long life. Congratulations, so proud. You’ll never know. Very thankful. Bless you.
Over my head and in my head and in my hand these phrases rang out, giving me a rush of pleasure and amazement all at the same time. After a while the words started to fade and like a parade or a shower (the way paper comes out of a Christmas cracker or a piñata) were lustrous, dazzling jewels, silver and gold, platinum and brass, blood red and transparent, obsidian and opaque, large, tinkling, blazing and softly glowing pearls and gems I couldn’t name. They popped at me and fell like feathers at my feet, covering the nasty ground. I picked them up and they were all soft and dreamy but to my eyes they had substance.
And just as the words slowly faded so did the jewels—only to be replaced by instruments, harps and flutes, bassoons, drums, every pipe you could imagine each contributing a sound and a melody that was beyond belief. Every note was in harmony, every instrument complimented the next and together it made the most amazing music. My body..my heart and the rushing of my blood celebrated and kept time and the music healed me of inadequacy and fear and the cold. It was like Christmas morning when I was five. Everything was wonderful and i wished it would never end.
By now I realized there was more to come from this incredible box. Creatures were the next to make an appearance. I could stroke the mane of a lion and look into the depths of his eyes with admiration and no hesitation. I knew nothing that came from this box was meant to hurt me or threaten me. I was a witness and a celebrant for something and for some reason. Part of my thinking wondered if I had inadvertently taken a hallucinogen or was in an altered mental state but I could see the outer perimeter of the wood was dreary and sodden, dirty and uninspiring. It was only near the box that I experienced its wonders. Cats and dogs, wooly lambs, and fish danced with each other and seemed to prance about for my enjoyment. I clapped my hands and they bowed and even smiled.
And the colors. How can you describe a color that you have never seen? Unnamed, vibrant and full of life. One would make me drowsy and another with have me laughing, still another gave me warm memories of my life. The colors were indescribably lovely but best of all, they were life giving, infusing me with real and pleasant emotions.
It would be impossible to describe all the sensations I felt or how many “products” came out of the box. Fabrics, textures, tastes, sights and sounds,—all in a blazing orchestra of majesty and delight. It was to a be a child with no fear and only the capacity to wonder and exclaim. Imagine your first parade, fireworks, playground, concert and more—all at the very same time and with no sense of being overwhelmed or exhausted. Just your heart crying yes, yes and more more.
Eventually it slowed and faded and then ceased. I cried and prayed and begged to stay in the box, with the box, near the box? But it ended. I found myself with a fierce leg cramp from the position of being crouched down holding a rusty, empty old metal box. Trying to handle my disappointment and understand my experience, I shook it and turned it over looking for some answer to this riddle I had been given. Nothing did I find. Just when I was about to kick it in frustration I noticed some small fading scrawl on the back. It was difficult to make out and I had to move it around to get enough light to read, “Just a glimpse…J.C.” was what I read.
