Monday, October 3, 2016

Mystery Box?

It was a dark and stormy night, (always wanted to write that) and the wind was howling outside, I was worried about the roof as it needs some repairs, it began raining heavily and I thought to myself that I had better check in the morning for leaks. The next day I had a bit of time to check in the attic before I had to leave for appointments. I have never been in the attic in my life, no one ever went up there except for my dad. One of the reasons being it doesn't have a true floor, one wrong step and you could bring down part of the ceiling. I get my ladder, flashlight, dust mask and crucifix (in case of vampires, ghosts or any of the general walking dead gang). Up I go and everything looked fine, uneventful, no leaks and not even a little bat to fulfil the stereotype of the creepy attic. The insulation covers most of the floor so I decided not to attempt walking around. I was pressed for time and slightly noticed a cardboard box off to the side. I had to go and closed the trap door and left for the day. ....................................... Later that night as I was falling asleep, a little voice in the back of my mind said "there's a box up there, sitting quietly out of reach, what could be inside". Since my family has been here for over a hundred years, anything from the past is more meaningful because it connects me to my ancestry. Sometimes my mother would throw away old books, tools etc, especially in the house. Naturally she wanted to leave her mark and maybe didn't always see the sentimental value of certain things. .................................... I grew more curious and tried to figure out a plan to retrieve that box. The next day I had the brilliant idea of using a long handle with a hook on the end. Back up I go, first checking that no blood thirsty fanged hairy creature was hiding behind the trap door, (because after all these years of waiting it would be really really hungry). I reach over excited because this is one place mom never got to, could it be old papers with writing from my grandparents, old deeds or maybe even old photos! I hook the box and..... and....... nothing. The Box is empty, there is nothing inside, all these years it has been sitting up there empty. This could be a post like a Seinfeld episode, a post about nothing but the truth is at some point there was something in that box, maybe it was just building materials when the house was being built, maybe there were important papers in it at one time and they were moved to a better location, I will never know. I decided to leave the box there because I feel it's still serving it's purpose, it is still keeping it's mystery.