PANDORA'S BOX

Jonah had been applying to the show every week for the past year but he’d never made the shortlist of guests. He tried again for what he decided would be the last time the previous week, and he was blown away when he received his invite letter. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he was led up to the stage to discuss his problems with the Divine Empress. When he sat beside her on the couch at the center of the stage, he froze. He had spent four years watching her through the screen of the TV in his living room, but he had never felt such awe at the sight of her. There was something electric about her presence. “Welcome to Second Chances, Jonah,” she started, and then the audience chorused the slogan of the show along with her: “The show that gives you a second opportunity!” The crowd gave a round of applause and roared. Second Chances had been taken as a joke when it first started. The public ridiculed the stories contestants told and refused to believe that the Divine Empress actually had the ability to give her guests a second chance to right their wrongs. Media corporations wanted nothing to do with the show, so the Divine Empress took to the internet and gradually built a following for herself. A year later, with 900 million views to back her up, she strutted through the offices of the top media companies whilst senior executives begged her to sign the dotted line. That was the year Jonah and his wife discovered Second Chances. “What can I do for you today, Jonah? You’ve come a long distance to seek a second chance, I take it this must be about something very serious – something very dear to you.” She paused and squinted at him before she said, “No. This is about someone very dear to you. There is someone you want a second chance with.” Jonah nodded his head vigorously. He’d seen this scene play on the TV many times over in the past, but it felt different now that he was the one being read. She could see through him. She could read the contents of his mind, she could see his past and his future. He felt scared and excited all at the same time. That was the magic of the Divine Empress. “Yes! My wife! I want a second chance with my wife!” The Divine Empress nodded slowly. She gestured to the audience, “Tell them your story Jonah, they want to know your story.” The Divine Empress never asked her guests to share their stories with her, it was the audience that needed the information, not her. Jonah lowered his eyes to the ground as he began to share his story. “My name is Jonah Fish, I am a plumber by profession. A year and half ago, my wife died. She died prematurely. It hit me really hard. Overnight, my life changed. Nothing was the same and nothing has been the same since. For a year and half, I’ve tried to keep my head above water, but I’ve been finding it really hard to do so. My finances are a mess, the house is a mess, my health is a mess… Everything about me and everything around me is a mess. This was never the case when she was alive,” he raised his head and locked eyes with the Divine Empress. His face contorted as tears began to form in his eyes. “She always had everything in order. She took care of everything. My life was organized because of her, and now that she’s gone I feel lost. I don’t know what to do to get my life back on track, but I know I need to get myself back on track. I can’t keep living like this. I need a change, I want a change. I know the only way for me to have that change is by getting closure, and that is why I need a second chance with her. If I could just spend a few more years with her, or a few more months, I would get my life back on track and I would be able to make up for everything I did wrong – I did a lot of things wrong.” “Yes, you did.” She gave him a knowing look. He wept. “That’s all I want. I want to make things right. I didn’t do right by her.” “Is that all you want, Jonah? A few more years?” He nodded. “I just want to make things right.” He broke down in tears. The crowd began to murmur. “Clear your eyes, Jonah. We are here to give you an opportunity, an opportunity to do things better, an opportunity to make things right. Others have sat in the same seat as you and have returned with testimonies. You will get your second chance, don’t doubt it.” “Thank you! Thank you so much!” he wiped the tears from his eyes as she closed her eyes and exhaled. He knew what was coming next. She would cross her legs, rest her locked fingers on her knee, whisper some words, and then she would give him the final verdict. Very few people had ever been turned down by the divine, but the mere existence of that category of guests put Jonah on the edge, he wouldn’t be able to bear coming this far and returning home empty-handed. After a few minutes of whispering, she exhaled three times and gradually opened her eyes. She unlocked her fingers and pumped her fists in the air, the crowd replied by cheering as loud as they could. Jonah knew what the gesture meant. All Second Chance fans knew what it meant. On the few occasions that a negative verdict came through, she reacted in a very different way from this. Divine Empress rose to her feet and danced around the stage. The crowd cheered her on. After a few minutes of dancing with the crowd to music from the live-band, Divine Empress gestured to a door at the back of the room. It was a door specially reserved for big reveals. A spot light was directed towards the door as a figure emerged from it. Jonah recognized her immediately, and although he was confident in the Divine Empress’ abilities, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He rose to his feet and stared, agape, at Rosaline. She beamed as she approached the center-stage. She looked so lively, it was like she had never been gone. When she opened her arms to give him a hug, Jonah didn’t know what to do. He closed his eyes and tightened them, hoping to wake himself from the dream, but when he opened him eyes again, she was still there, smiling at him as she gave him a hug. *** He turned off the ignition and reclined in the driver seat. It had been a long and bewildering day. Everything he’d hoped for and dreamed of in the past year had become a reality within the span of a few hours. “I’m so happy to have you back, Rosa,” he said as he reached out and held her hand. “Words can’t describe the pain I’ve borne since you passed. It’s been really tough for me. They say you don’t know what you have till you lose it, and now I realize how true that saying is. I missed you so much, and I’m happy to have you back.” “I’m happy to be back, Jonah. The past is just that, the past. It’s long gone. What matters now is the future, our future. We have an opportunity to build it again, let’s make the best use of this opportunity, let’s do things right this time.” “You’re right. We will do things right this time around.” *** “What’s that smell?” she asked, looking disgusted. She scanned the living-room to find the origin of the smell, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. “What happened here?” Jonah scratched his head and forced a smile. “Things haven’t been going very smoothly around here.” He picked up a throw-pillow from the ground and put it back in its place, then he started to gather the discarded cans of beer. She scoffed. “Jonah, I died. That’s all. The world didn’t come to an end!” He sighed. “I told you, Rosa. I was on a downward spiral. I missed you terribly! Life became meaningless without you! Cleaning up hasn’t been top of mind for a while now.” Jonah watched her as she headed towards the kitchen. He braced himself. She screamed in horror as she took in the mess he had made of the kitchen. It would take a year’s worth of cleaning to get the kitchen back in order. “What happened to my kitchen, Jonah?!” “Err… Like I said,” he called out from the living-room, afraid to follow her into the kitchen. “Things haven’t been going smoothly around here. Now that you’re back, everything will fall back in order, I’m sure of it.” She stormed into the living room and banged the door to the kitchen behind her. He lowered his gaze, there was trouble coming. “You pig!” she screamed at the top of her voice. “How could you?! How could you do this to my home?! How could you be so insensitive? You know how much I detest unclean spaces! You bloody pig! When will you get your act together?” He started to back away. “Take it easy, Rosa, I can fix this. I’m a handy man, this I what I do, I fix things.” “Fix what, you fool?” as she approached him, he realize she’d picked a pan from the kitchen. It was the only fairly clean cookware in the house. “We will need a battalion of fumigators to get rid of the rodents you invited into my kitchen. It will take months of cleaning to get the kitchen back to the state I left it. It will take thousands to replace the furniture in the living-room. So tell me, Jonah, what do you intend to fix, and how do you intend to go about it?” “I told you the reason for the terrible state of the house… I missed you! I felt empty inside!” “I died, Jonah, the world didn’t come to an end! When are you going to man-up and fix your life? When are you going to get yourself organized? Did you bring me back to ‘mother’ you? To babysit you? You must be joking!” “There’s nothing wrong with giving some love and attention to your man, especially since you’ve been apart for so long!” his back hit the wall. There was no way out now, he would have to bear the brunt of her wrath. She chuckled. “If you brought me back because you need a babysitter, you are highly mistaken, and very foolish indeed. Do you remember what life was like before I died? I vividly recall having this same conversation with you on multiple occasions. You remember the consequences of your refusal to change?” Her words brought back painful and vivid memories. “Yes, you gave these excuses when I discovered you’d been sleeping with my best friend, you whore!” he screamed. His face contorted. He’d dammed the memories since she died, but they now flooded his mind. They brought with them the emotions he’d felt a year and half ago. Pain, worthlessness, and anger – intense anger. She grinned. “I slept with him because he’s a real man. A man who knows how to treat a lady. A man who knows how to care for himself and his environment, not the sorry excuse for a man that you are.” She sneered. “You’re evil, Rosa, evil!” he screamed as he tried to fight back tears. He recalled the images now. He turned his body away from her in the hope that it would block the memories, but it didn’t help. He recalled the two figures he’d seen on the couch in the living-room. He recalled the contented looks on their faces right before he slammed the door behind him. He recalled the shock in his best friend’s face and the sneer on Rosa’s face. His friend apologized, he said it was a mistake. He ran out of the house naked, in fear of what Jonah would do. He was remorseful. That wasn’t the case with Rosa, she carried on like nothing had happened, like she hadn’t desecrated the couch on which they spent their first night together as a couple. “You’re the devil himself, Rosa!” he screamed with all the intensity he could muster. The veins on his neck bulged as the pain and anger created a potent mix. Tears poured from his eyes in torrents. Saliva dripped down to his chin. Pandora’s Box had been opened and the memories wouldn’t stop coming. His best friend wasn’t the only one, there were others. “A whore, that’s what you are!” She laughed at him. “I know what you’re thinking, Jonah, and yes, you’re right. I chose every single one of them time and again because they made me feel things I didn’t even know I liked to feel!” she threw the pan at him with all the force she could muster, but he ducked just in time, so she missed him. “Get my house back in order, Jonah.” She said as she turned her back to him. “I’m going up the stairs, and I hope what I’ll find there won’t be as terrible as what I’ve seen down here. By the time I return, make sure you have my kitchen and living-room cleaned out and in order, otherwise, you’ll be spending the night in the barn, with the other animals. I’m sure they’ve missed your company.” She chuckled and headed for the stairs. Jonah felt broken. He slowly lowered himself to the ground. There was no use trying to hold back the tears or keep his anger in check, that line had been crossed and there was no going back. He howled, but it did nothing to ease his pain. When he sat on the floor and saw the pan sitting beside him, a switch flipped. The tears stopped instantly and he felt a clarity of thought. He saw only one way to free himself from the grips of the pain and anger. It was the only way to restore the normalcy that had reigned supreme in the house for the past year and half. He turned his gaze to Rosa as she climbed up the stairs, then he reached for the pan. *** Mr. Hobbs had a puzzled look on his face as he stared at the photo of his neighborhood plumber on the front-page of the newspaper. He’d heard stories from the neighbors about a TV show host who brought his wife back to life. Mr. Hobbs had been eager to see the resurrected wife, but the caption above the plumber’s photo made him doubt he ever would. It said: Wife of “Second Chance” Guest Disappears… Again.