The Treasure Box

Packing. A time of transition. A time of change. A time to throw out the old stuff and make room for new stuff. She was good at packing. She was also really good at weeding stuff out. All except for that old treasure box with the rusty old padlock. She'd held onto that box for so many years that she was no longer entirely sure what it contained. All she knew was that she hadn't been able to throw it away.

As she hefted a box of things to discard this time around, her eyes fell on that old, locked box once more. Setting the discarded items to one side to take care of later, she put her hands on her hips and considered the box more intently. Was it finally time to throw the old thing out? She'd never done anything with it, after all.

But a look inside wouldn't hurt. She was surprised to find that she knew exactly where she'd put the key. Like the box, it had floated around through her many moves, always somewhere near.

As she put the key into the padlock, she hesitated. The thing was so old. Maybe horrible, huge spiders had made their home in it, just waiting to jump out at her when she opened it. That would certainly be unpleasant. Or maybe whatever had been placed inside had dissolved completely, leaving just an empty box. Maybe that was all she'd been carrying around with her for so long. Nothing.

Or maybe, the treasure she'd once deemed valuable enough to lock up and safeguard was still in there, waiting for her to take it out and give it air. Now that she was there, holding the lock and key in her hands, she remembered what she'd locked inside. The thought of it warmed her heart and brought a smile to her lips. She turned the key.

But then the thought of spiders came rushing back, and suddenly, she was certain that the box was full of sticky webs and creeping, biting things that made her cringe in fear.

Did she dare? Was it worth it? Maybe she should just throw the box out and go back to weeding out the rest of her things. She'd been fine without the treasure all this time, after all. But she had to admit it, that treasure was something that meant a lot to her, even now. She had to see if it was still there.

Taking a deep breath, she twitched the key and felt the lock fall open in her hand. Setting key and lock aside, she placed both hands on the lid and heaved it open.