Chapter 01 ◈ Pandora's Package

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Pandora

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Pandora. A mortal woman who was warned by her husband Epimetheus and brother-in-law Prometheus—yes, the guy who gifted fire to humans—not to accept any gifts from anyone, especially if it came from the gods.

Long story short, Pandora didn't listen to either of their warnings and carelessly received a gift from Zeus who told her not to open it under any circumstance.

First of all, who would give someone something and tell them not to open it? That's completely ridiculous! It's like telling someone not to breathe air, or eat pizza. It's impossible to do!

And who could blame Pandora? She was created by the gods to be curious! She couldn't stop her inner workings from doing the thing: opening the pithos jar. No, the gift wasn't a box, which was a common misconception of the myth.

Come on, people! Why is it hard to remember that the gift is a jar and not a box? It's very easy to recall.

Jar. Box. They were two different things.

As I was saying, the lady opened the jar and boom! She was killed!

When you think about it, the saying 'Curiosity kills the cat' fits Pandora's situation.

No, I was just kidding. Pandora didn't die, I think, but she unleashed plagues and other evils by opening that damn jar, which resulted in many people in the world getting sick and ultimately dying earlier than they should be.

And that's why diseases exist. It's Pandora's fault that we get those colds and seasonal allergies. And death.

Anyway, this wasn't the reason why I was thinking about this particular Greek myth. It was just that when I was thinking of going outside the house for some fresh air, I almost stepped on a suspicious package sitting at my doorstep, and I did not remember expecting anything from anyone at all.

I didn't know if I was to take it inside, remove the plastic wrapping and taping, and open the box to see what's inside, or not. Maybe there's some good stuff in there, or maybe just some trash. I didn't know.

Luckily though, I knew someone who was probably expecting the mail today.

"Uncle!" I shouted. "I have a surprise for you!"

"What?" I heard Ben shout back from the kitchen. "I'm busy cooking, you know!"

"Can you come here for just a minute?" I said. "I said I have a surprise for you!"

"Coming, Mel!"

It didn't take long before my foster dad got beside me and looked around, confused. "So, what's the surprise you're talking about?"

"There's your surprise." I pointed at the box beneath us.

He looked down. "A box?"

"Were you expecting something today?"

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