The BoX

Journey ~ a metaphore

There is a box down by the railroad tracks in an old town and it is said that it cannot be moved. Big strong men came together from far away lands to try to lift it, but none of these strong men could. So the box stayed. The strong men went other places and moved heavy things that could be moved. The box stayed beside the railroad tracks alone.     

 

A group of scientists came to inspect the box. It is heavy and full of nails six inches deep. It must hold the bones of some prehistoric animal or man, they concluded. The scientists went away to get the government to give them permission to open the box. The government, having plenty of rules, never let the scientists open it for fear of some political outrage. The scientists could not open it. So the scientists went away and the box was alone.

 

A group of preachers came to pray over the box, thinking it had some mysterious power. They prayed night and day for the meaning inside the box to be revealed to them. Nothing happened, so on the seventh day they went away to rest. On the eighth day the priest and holy men came together and decided this box must have some wonderful power. No man could open it, so it was obviously closed by the Gods. So the preachers and high priest got together and made little replicas of the box and sold them to people, telling the people that God's hand kept the box closed. So the people of the town bought the replicas of the box and each person put one in their home. Each night the people of the town would bow down to the magical replica of the box and worship it. The box was treated with the utmost care and nothing was ever put on top of the replica box for fear of the wrath of the Gods.

 

One day a small child came upon the box. Now, it was a hot day and the child was thirsty and tired, so using his common sense, he sat on the west side of the box away from the sun and drank from his water bag. He rested there until he had regained his strength and then he moved on. The box was alone and the sun set. The crickets sang into the night and an owl swooped over the box as the owl was finding a rat for his late night dinner.

  

The sun gave way on the east side in the morning and the box was alone until a traveling man came along. He saw the nails as big as his ears and he concluded there must be something of great worth inside the box. As fate would have it, he carried with him a pickaxe. The traveling man hammered away on the box until sunset, but he could not open it. He had only made dings in the side with all his assaults. The traveling man became impatient as he saw a train on the track and turned from the box believing he had wasted his day. He boarded the train and moved on. The box was alone.

 

The grass grew around the box so that it was unseen for the rest of the summer. Many trains went by and many people looked through the windows and did not see the box. The box was alone.

 

As fall set in and the leaves from the trees fell, the leaves covered the box and the box could not be seen. As the early winter came on the rain began to drench the box. And the box began to sink into the mud underneath it. There were no holes in the box and it sunk into the ground airtight. Many seasons passed and the box was alone. It’s only worth being that it filled in the gap that would be in the ground had it not been buried there.      

 

Many years past and houses were built and neighborhoods shot up all over the country. In a back yard a child dug into his sandbox and hit into something hard and solid. The child pounded on the wood and it had rotted from all the weather it had endured. So the box began to open. The sand from the sandbox began to drizzle down through the cracks that the child made as he struggled against the hard wood. This child was a child of a great man in his village. His father was very busy and had much to undertake. The boy was very lonely and bored and he worked through lunch to find his treasure in the box under the sandbox.

 

Later that day, afters several assults with the boy's hammer, a deep moan came from inside the box and the child was afraid. "Do not be afraid", the box echoed from within itself, "you have released me. I am filled with treasure to be used in a powerful way. If you can tell me what my worth is I will let you have all my treasure. You have two guesses and the first one may not be right so you must think before you answer.” The boy sat and thought for seven days going without food and water. The child's mind focused solely on what the answer might be.

 

The box is big and has been here for many, many years, the child thought. What could it be, the box’s worth? The boy thought and thought. It is square and has been airtight. It has nails 6 inches long and has been buried for many years. What is it’s worth? Finally, on the evening of the seventh day, he decided to give the box an answer.

 

“You have endured for many years’, box, and I find that is your worth. That you have endurance beyond man and beast to last for so long." That must be the answer, the boy thought. The box was pleased with the answer, but it was not complete, so the box said, "You have one more guess, and if you answer it wrong, the ground will swallow me up and I shall never return again."

 

So the boy thought harder and searched his soul. The days turned into nights and the boy thought of nothing else but the worth of the box and the treasure inside. The boy went up to his father and consulted him, but the great man had no answers. The boy went to the priest, but the priest only said, "It was closed by the hand of God. We must worship it!" The boy traveled far and wide to townships and countries to find a satisfying answer for the box; but at last he came back to the box in his back yard and looked upon it.

 

“I have traveled and searched for the answer to your worth. I have consulted priests and high people all over the land. I have gone to my neighbors and friends in far off places to find the answer to your worth, and I have only come up with searching.” This made the box happy. "That is the answer! You found the truth! It is in the searching you will find my worth.” Treasures came out of the box on a blanket of gold. The box never spoke again, and soon filled with sand and debris, but it had served its purpose. It made a child search for answers and that was the answer it was looking for. ~The answers are outside the box~

Author's Note

Please excuse typo and such ~ this is a work in progress

Reviews

[Winter McPherson]

I love this! "The answers are outside the box." There is so much depth to this story, so many things one can draw out of it. I love how each sect reacted to the box in its expected way. The town, the scientists, the government, the priests. I love how the priests made little statues of it and everyone worshiped it! So funny! So true to the human condition!
But no matter how much they all wanted inside of the mysterious object, the answers were all outside the box. An encouragement for us all to step out of our own boxes and find the answers to life's questions, instead of staying stuck in a cramped world view, belief system, philosophy, political bent.
Excellent story! Keep writing!

[The Reticent Receptioni..]

this is interesting--great punchline. if you revise, maybe build up to the punchline even more--that will increase the power of the impression it leaves. good work!!

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

A very spiritual and philosophical piece... I agree so much to take from this write, but what it comes down to is the worth of the box can change depending on the person such as anything in life... what one man calls treasure another may call junk. I am glad Winter directed me here.

[jen -- JG]

This is so true. Quite often we can't see the forest for the trees because we are too close to it. but by simply giving it space and thinking outside the box, answers come clearly.

I too love this and the way each person tried, saw what they each believed and they all gave up.

And a little child shall lead them... it took a child, with his inquiring mind to find the right answer.

Thought provoking and enticing read.

Verry well done.

Jen

[Kelly D. Burris]

I love the depth and the drawing effect this story has on the reader. So many times we have difficult and very deeply effecting situations in our lives that look impossible and what do we do, we ask everyone else for the answer. Life goes on around us and the issue is still waiting for us. In the process we have found we really do know the answer (deep down), it just takes getting out of the box to see the real picture.
Fabulous piece. Keeps your attention and your mind a working!
Kelly

[Carole]

It is often in "Thinking Outside of the Box" that we find answers for life's questions that are unlike anything we could have hoped for or imagined...Very thought provoking. Thanks for sharing. :-)

[lilain]

This made me smile - especially the last line "the answers are outside the box". This is so true, yet so many people need to be retold the message. I like the way you've taken us on a journey while telling us a very important message that most have forgotten.

Great job.

[ShadowWolf]

What a fantastic story, a great lesson and so well written!