Adversity has a timely approach to one’s life. Sometimes, the bells of its arrival can be heard from a distance. Other times, it makes consistent knocks on one’s door before finally entering without an invitation of a warm welcome. And sometimes, it even barges in one’s life without even the basic courtesy of knocking. But that’s how adversity is, universally. And that’s is how it always was and will be. In Ptoloomy too, all villagers knew how adversity arrived. And the best that they knew was to leave it untouched.
Nonetheless, Ethan was on a quest to figure why he was so neglected. As adversity stuck someone with the sudden opening of the black box, his interest was left piqued. In fact, a couple of days back, one of the villager’s adversity box opened. He ended up losing his better half and there began his adversity. He wailed and shed a million tears but she was gone and he couldn’t do much to bring her back to life.
His adversity would only abate with time and with time, as the other box opened, eventually, a soothing solution would come up. Several times in a day, Ethan would stare at the small black box sitting behind his kitchen’s sink. He looked at it with lots of interest but as much as he wished to will the box open with his intent gaze, nothing happened as such.
A number of times he even thought of opening it himself but the bindings and warning of the society stopped him. As his beard grew through and settled around his jawlines, Ethan started to consider himself growing wiser by the age. He thought that curiosity killed the cat was in no way a true adage, how could something kill someone?
Every day, the young boy started to sharpen his resolve with greater determination. His thoughts only orbited around what could possibly go wrong and people just overestimated adversity. Did it not teach them a lot, turn them into wise monks, and leave them with scars that were more like proud badges of survival?
One fine morning when the birds were chirping along the morning skies and the previous night’s fog had just settled along the tips of the leaves, Ethan could not bear more of the wait. He wanted to gain the same attention that people got when they were adversity-stricken. And he wanted to feel worth more than just an average boy.
Thoughts of accidents, heartbreaks, betrayals, and loss started to jog around loudly in his mind. A couple of times, his fingers failed to listen to his command too and slipped from taking hold of the box. Within a few seconds, his mind changed sides too but something inside him remain unstirred. He called it adventurous spirit. Others would normally refer to it as a foolish curiosity.
With shaking hands and a racing heart, Ethan finally managed to gather his guts and open the box. He loosened the lace around the top and lifted its cover. It was empty.
