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Molly and Tanner eased past a grinning Pandora, entering the darkened confines housing the wares sold at Pandora’s Box Antiques & Collectibles. Everywhere they looked their eyes met shelves spilling over with unique antiques. Some things Molly was able to identify. She had seen these types of knick-knacks before. Then there were oddities that caused Molly’s stomach to knot up. Several times Molly wondered perhaps they should rethink their decision to enter this shop in the first place.
“Um, Tanner I don’t think this shop has what we need. Perhaps we should go home. Maybe we can start fresh another day.” Molly requested. Tanner had stopped as if rooted in place. He appeared not to have heard a word Molly had said.
Tanner held one finger to his lips, and put up his other hand to silence Molly’s words. Molly gave him a quizzical look. He pointed to an open door practically hidden by all the clutter. The door was located in the far right corner of the room, across from where they were presently standing. It looked like it led to another room in Pandora’s Box.
“I believe the music we heard from outside is coming from inside that room!” Tanner whispered in a hushed tone excitedly.
Molly wasn’t sure why they were whispering, but lowered her voice as well. “I don’t hear music anymore Tanner. In fact, I haven’t heard that song since we entered Pandora’s Box!”
Tanner stared at Molly incredulously, as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head when she made this declaration. “What are you saying? The music is clear as day and it’s coming from behind that closed door! Now come on!”
Tanner had his hand on the doorknob, yanking open the door before Molly could stop him.
“Wow! Molly there is another whole room filled with vintage stuff in here! These things look even older than some of the stuff on display out there. You have to see this for yourself!” Tanner’s voice carried loudly across the store.
Molly glanced nervously about for Pandora, the store owner. Surprisingly, since allowing them entry into her store, the mysterious looking shopkeeper had remained hidden from sight. Molly wondered if they were even allowed to be in the second room, since it had been closed off from the rest of the shop.
“Perhaps that area isn’t for the public.” Molly called out hesitantly to Tanner.
“There was no sign saying ‘Private’ and it’s set up like the other room only with older collectibles. Oh man look at this find!” Tanner suddenly exclaimed.
Molly couldn’t take it any longer and her curiosity won out once more. She scrambled into the second room to find Tanner standing, mouth agape, staring at a giant portrait of an attractively painted female. The portrait was easily 30” x 36” in size, framed using an ornate, gold frame.
The first thing Molly noticed about the woman captured in the painting, was the color and shape of her eyes. Her eyes were an intense, green hue and almond shaped. Those eyes appeared to bore straight into Molly’s soul. She swore if a painting could send daggers with its eyes, then this painting was definitely aiming some her way.
Molly knew it was silly to be jealous of a portrait, but the way Tanner was fawning over the stunning, raven-haired temptress, really made Molly’s blood boil.
“Tanner it’s a depiction of a woman some artist created! She isn’t real! Of course she looks perfect! No real woman looks like that!” Molly spat.
“I like it! We need decorations for our new place. That was the point of coming out today right? I want to buy it for the new house!” Tanner adamantly stated.
Molly was mortified. She was not going to have this seductive painting hanging in their new home! What in the world was Tanner thinking?
“Tanner, in case you had forgotten, we came into Pandora’s Box to see if there might be an antique typewriter I could use for my job. That was the main objective. Not to buy ornate paintings of some mystery woman, simply because you fancy the look of her.” Molly chastised.
“Actually that painting was done of a woman who was indeed a real person.” Molly and Tanner pivoted their heads around at the sound of a third voice in the room. Pandora’s looming figure slowly emerged from the shadowy depths of one corner of the room. Her eyes blazed orange, like two hot fires burning simultaneously.
Molly shivered in spite of herself at the sight of an angered Pandora. “Where had the shop keeper appeared from? Had she heard Molly and Tanner’s entire conversation regarding the painting? Did they offend her?”
Thoughts swirled consistently through Molly’s mind with each step Pandora took bridging the gap between herself and the couple. Soon, too soon, Pandora stood only an arm’s length away from Molly who could see the orange color of her eyes was intermingled with yellows and flecks of red as well.
“We…we are so sorry to have offended your painting Pandora.” Molly stammered casting her own eyes downward to avoid eye contact with Pandora’s intense gaze.
“I never insulted your picture. I wanted to buy it for our new house. I think it’s magnificent!” Tanner piped up suddenly.
Molly watched in stunned silence as Pandora’s fiery eye color receded. The orange rage in her corneas was replaced with a rosy pink hue. Molly felt faint. Never, in all her life, had she experienced a woman like Pandora!
Pandora smiled genuinely at Tanner. “Really? You honestly like my painting?”
Tanner returned Pandora’s smile with one of his own. “Really and truly! What’s not to love? A stunning, raven-haired beauty with gorgeous, green eyes? Any man would be proud to display this piece in his man-cave at home!” Tanner winked at Pandora and the two shared a laugh together.
Molly watched the scene unfold before her own eyes with bewilderment. “What is going on? I feel as if I am the third wheel. I am Tanner’s fiancée!” Molly thought quietly. “Tanner wasn’t a flirt or a ladies’ man, but watching him interact with Pandora, one would never guess that was the case. Tanner was always reserved, protective, the type of guy a girl could rely on in an emergency. Today he was giddy, flirtatious, easily distracted…” Molly suddenly felt her blood run cold.
When describing Tanner’s current behavior, Molly realized she had been describing her own usual behavior! Ever since she and Tanner first heard the music that drew them both into Pandora’s Box Antiques & Collectibles, their personalities had switched! Molly became the reliable individual in the relationship, while Tanner had become the dreamy, exuberant one! What had Pandora done to them? The better question, Molly theorized, was why did she single them out?
“I think we need to get back home now; don’t you agree Tanner?” Molly stated holding out a hand for her fiancé to grasp.
Tanner gave Molly a pouty look to show his displeasure, but accepted the hand Molly held out.
“Wait! You said something about wanting an antique typewriter correct?” Pandora inquired. The shop keeper seemed desperate to keep them at the shop for as long as she could. This realization made Molly even more determined to flee from Pandora’s Box.
“Yes, but I never said that to you. How did you…?” Molly began to ask Pandora how she knew about her needing a typewriter. It was obvious that the shop clerk had been listening in on the couple’s conversations while in the store, yet Molly never saw or heard a soul until they were in front of the painting.
Pandora waved Molly’s questions off with a flip of her hand. “Stay right there you two! Promise not to leave yet! Molly, I think I have exactly what you are looking for in the attic. I know exactly where to find it! Just give me five minutes!”
Then Pandora ducked her massive frame as she exited the doorway of the room, melting into the darkened shadows of the storefront, and disappeared from sight.
“That was rather odd, and slightly unsettling don’t you agree Tanner?” Molly asked her fiancé, regarding Pandora’s erratic behavior and hasty departure.
“Tanner?” Molly inquired a second time.
Molly spun around to face the picture of the woman. The eyes of the woman which had
been a vibrant green earlier, were now pale pink, much like Pandora’s. Tanner was nowhere to be found in the room.
“Oh no! No! I haven’t moved from this spot! I would have heard Tanner move! If Tanner left the room, I would have seen some form of movement! The door is the only way in or out of this room. Pandora closed it when she left.” Molly felt as if she were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What had happened to Tanner?
Beads of sweat began forming at Molly’s hairline. The room felt like it was closing in around her. The shelves overflowing with vintage collectibles threatened to block out any chance of air getting to Molly’s lungs.
Molly felt dizzy. “Where was Pandora with the antique typewriter? She said it would only take her five minutes, and to stay put. It must be well beyond five minutes now! Besides Tanner was gone. Molly needed to know what had happened to her fiancé!”
Molly started storming out of the room, towards the door. Suddenly she tripped over an obstacle in the middle of the room. Molly hit the floor hard, finding herself sprawled on the ground for the second time that day. This time she was not as lucky to avoid injury. Pain seared through her left ankle. Molly gripped her ankle wincing.
“Ouch! That hurts! What did I hit?” Molly cried out.
She fumbled around in the shadows of the room for the contents of her purse. Molly located her cell phone. She used the flashlight app on her cell phone to help her see better in Pandora’s Box. Molly shone the beam of light back towards where she had fallen. Molly covered her mouth to keep from screaming.
There at her feet was the object that had caused her to fall in the room. It was a vintage typewriter! Exactly the sort of typewriter Molly had been hoping to find. Molly rubbed her bruised ankle. She attempted to put weight on her left foot. It was useless. Molly shined her light around the room hoping to find that Pandora had returned.
“How else did this typewriter get here?” Molly surmised.
Alas, the room was completely empty. Molly was alone. She returned her ray of light to the antique typewriter once more.
“It’s a stunning typewriter, but how did it get here?” Molly mused.
It was then Molly realized there was a piece of paper in the typewriter with words already typed on it.
“That’s strange, I could have sworn the typewriter carriage was empty when I first shined my light on it. What is going on?” Molly thought as she shined her cell phone flashlight app quickly about the room.
“Tanner? Pandora? Ok fun is over now you two. I really am hurt. I need help.” Molly waited breathlessly listening for any sounds of movement. There were none.
Cautiously, Molly dragged herself on her right side towards the typewriter. She turned the side tumblers, freeing the piece of paper. She laid the loosened paper with typed words on the floor in front of her. Hesitantly Molly aimed her flashlight app towards the paper and began reading. The more Molly read the faster her heart beat, the wider her eyes became. Time seemed to stand still as her eyes scanned the lines on the typed page.
“This can’t be happening! How? Oh my goodness! NO!” These same thoughts repeated continuously as Molly read, then re-read the words before her.
The Letter:
Molly,
Here is the typewriter that you wanted so much. I hope it makes you as happy as Tanner will now make me for eternity! When I invited you into Pandora’s Box I reminded you to shop wisely as all the purchases here are non-refundable and carry great risks. I have chosen your fiancé as sufficient payment for this antique typewriter. I hope you realize what you have risked in your path to become a great writer, since true love is rare. Should you ever wish to see your beloved fiancé’s face again, view the portrait you felt was ‘too ornate’ for your precious new home. The deal has been locked in stone.
Pandora
Molly dragged herself as quickly as her bruised ankle would allow, until she was facing the portrait of the woman Tanner had been obsessing over earlier. Molly’s mouth fell open as every hair on the back of her neck prickled with electricity. The portrait was transformed! It no longer portrayed one dark-haired beauty. Now added to the portrait beside the woman was the fawning image of Tanner, Molly’s fiancé.
“Nooooo! You can’t take Tanner! He isn’t yours! He loves me! He wants to marry me!” Molly screamed helplessly at the images encased in the golden frame before her.
Her words were useless. Nothing could bring Tanner back. Molly’s fate had been sealed. Pandora had chosen her reward. Molly stared up at the eyes of the woman in the portrait. The eyes gleamed back at her in triumph, before turning crimson in hue. Then Molly knew Tanner was lost forever. The portrait was a portal to a world where Pandora kept her ill-acquired treasures obtained from those who dared to enter her doors.
Tanner now inhabited that unreachable domain. He was forever bound, eternally connected to his new life partner, Pandora. Molly had ventured into Pandora’s Box and paid the ultimate price. Loss of love for eternity.
Moral:
Treasure those you love, never allowing work and job commitments to overwhelm your life, or you too shall fall into Pandora’s clutches!
The End
Ghost in the Machine
Eve Merrick-Williams
Ghostly Writes Anthology 2016 Page 16