He was happy with the way his work had been treating him, but honestly, 36 straight hours in the office without a moment to collect his thoughts were a bit too much even for him. The last time he remembered being absolutely alone was when he was freshening up in the office restroom for his meeting. And those few moments of solitude had been interrupted with the loud Venky barging in with his frequent burps and toothy grins.
It was 23.30 p.m. on a Saturday night by the time Sammy finally left office. He was looking forward to a Sunday full of Playstation gaming, beer and reclining on the Lazyboy he hadn't quite had the chance to use yet.
At 29, Sammy was undoubtedly what girls and their mothers would have called a "a Prime catch"....something that his Mom couldn't stop gloating about and something that made Sammy feel like a trout. He was tall, lean and conventionally good-looking. A workaholic, he had quickly climbed up the totem pole in his professional life and was the head of the Marketing department of the entertainment channel he worked for. His only other passion in life besides his work was the time he spent exercising in the gym- the only place where he allowed himself the luxury of taking time out for himself.
As Sammy got into his car that late Saturday night after work, he wondered if he'd wake up on time the next day for an early morning jog.
"Nah....think I'll just sleep till late tomorrow. God knows i need some sleep," he thought to himself, glancing in his rear view mirror at his reflection.
But there was something more than his own reflection that made his eyes dart back to the mirror.
Something that ran a shiver down his spine.
Something that made him rub his eyes to made make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
When he opened his eyes again, he knew he wasn't hallucinating.
It was still there...a mesmerising bright beam of light that seemed to cut through the plush seat of his car, as if to focus on the neatly placed wooden box that Sammy had never seen before.
Sammy's first instinct was to bolt out and check the license plate to ensure that he was not in someone else's car. But then his eyes fell on the the bright red cloth his mother had devotedly tied around the rear view mirror when he had come home after purchasing his gleaming Honda CRV. She had said it would avoid an accident on the road as it carried the Lord's blessings; and an agnostic Sammy had reluctantly agreed though he personally thought red didn't go with his choice of dark blue seat covers.
Sammy slowly turned around to see if the wooden box was really there or if he had imagined it.
And sure enough, the box was there illuminated by a light that could not be attributed to any source nearby. It was a foot long and just as wide. Richly hued with an arabesque pattern, it was unlike anything Sammy had laid eyes on before.
Sammy pursed his lips and frowned as he stared at the box , considering the various questions that were now flooding his mind.
Could it be a bomb? "No," Sammy thought, "I'm sure no terrorist group would bother to plant an explosive in a box that beautiful..This would cost them a small fortune."
He looked closer and marvelled at the craftsmanship, " Whats wrong with me", he thought, cursing for letting himself get distracted by the beauty of the work of art that was staring him in the face.
Could it be that someone accidentally left their box in his car? "Hardly possible", Sammy reasoned," the burglar alarms would have sounded off and alerted the parking attendant if anyone had attempted to open the car with a duplicate key."
Tempted to see what was inside, Sammy gingerly reached for the box and as he did so the light illuminating the box now enveloped his hand. Sammy gasped and quickly pulled his hand away as he realized that the light was cold and had made him shiver.
He took a deep breath and reached for the box again, his hand penetrating the light and coming to rest on the lid of the wooden container. As soon as his hand touched the lid, the light disappeared as if someone had miraculously switched it off.
Sammy lifted the box with both hands but was surprised to find that it was incredibly light.
"What is this stuff?" Sammy said to himself,"A wooden box can't possibly be so light, even if it's empty."
But the box was not empty. It could never be. If Sammy had thrown the box out of his car and drove home, he would have been able to adhere to his Sunday plans. But that was not to be. For no mere mortal in the past had ever been able to touch the box and then throw it aside.
And Sammy was no exception.
