Pandora's Book

Thud, thud. Bang. Bang.Cornelius followed the soft yet mighty drumming which led him to a worn canvas satchel that laid forgotten behind a cluster of thorny vines. The darkening sheet of eventide made Cornelius squint to try to make out anything distinguishable about it. He looked down and grabbed at his own satchel, holding it proudly against his chest. Clean, well kept, dark brown leather strapped across his finely knit cashmere sweater- both of which his beloved wife had picked out. Cornelius knew he had a rapacious reputation, but there was no gift greater to him than the love of his devoted wife. 

This abandoned satchel must have been there for a long while, weathered and badly bruised by time. He contemplated fetching it, perhaps there would be a reward inside, or one for it's return? Maybe there was a key, or a card, or money? Cornelius fiddled with his wedding ring as he pondered the countless possibilities a lost bag could hold him. The mystery behind the bag began to gnaw at him and Cornelius carefully reached around and through the barbed knotted vines, safely retrieving the deserted bag with barely a scratch. Cornelius let out a laughing sigh as his eyes widened and a faint smile trickled across his face.

"Hey, you! That is my bag!" A scruffy hunched over shadow side crept towards Cornelius.

Startled, Cornelius held the filthy satchel closer to his body and farther from the old man. How could someone just leave something on the floor like it was trash and then come back for it?Cornelius thought to himself.

"I found it here. If it were yours, your name would be on it, and it would be with you, now wouldn't it? Fair is fair." Cornelius held the satchel behind him and his nose high in the air.

"It has something very dear inside, and it is all I have left. Please, I'm warning you-" The shaky old voice pleaded.

"You're warning me? You smell like you haven't bathed in weeks, no months! Your clothes are torn and stained. You look as though you have no home, and you are warning me? Leave from here!" Demanded Cornelius as he shewed the old man with his hand.

Just as quick and ghostly as the decrepit man appeared, he vanished into the darker shadows of the night.

Cornelius reached inside the grimy pack impatiently waving his hand around in search of his fortune. There was only one item in the bag. A black notebook, as small as a credit card. Cornelius opened and flipped through the empty pages, desperately hoping for evidence of some kind of treasure, maybe a map or a bank account. Cornelius found nothing and in a huff he forced the pages together snapping the cover shut. When Cornelius looked back down at the book it was inscribed with a name. Bold and unmistaken slick gold cursive shone across the front cover.

                                       Pandora

Cornelius' eyes grew larger until the blacks of his pupils were all you could see. But how? He thought to himself. He looked around him, hollering for the homeless looking man to return. Cornelius began to feel around the book, confirming that it was real. He opened the book again and now instead of empty pages, there were hundreds of pages filled with mugshots and names, gluttony, lust, envy, greed.... Cornelius ran his sweaty fingers across the pages in disbelief, desperately looking for the last occupied page. Cornelius stared down at a craftfully drawn portrait of himself, above it in bold letters read, Cornelius, Greed $100,987.

"$100,987? What is that?" Cornelius questioned aloud.

"The amount of money you will receive, and the amount of money you will have to give away," The haggard old man reappear from the night, "Thank you for being so true to yourself Cornelius, you made this that much easier."

"What? Why do I have to give anything away?" Cornelius hissed arrogantly at the old man, "Here, you know what, you can take this back!"

Cornelius tossed the book into the tattered satchel and at the old man. The old man let the bag drop to the ground in between them.

"No, it is no longer mine, I have my payment for Pandora and I can move on. Now you must turn your page to find your mark. It is only until you trap the next sin the book calls for, that you will be able to afford your payment to Pandora."

"Well, what if I don't want my payment, or this Pandora? What if I don't accept?" Cornelius grunted.

The old man's eyes sunk deep as a sinister smile slithered up each side of his wrinkled face, "Acceptance implies choice. You are a sin. There is a price you must pay in order to rest your soul."

With his last words the old man disintegrated until there was nothing identifiable.

Cornelius stood staring at his portrait and price nestled deep within Pandora's little black book.

Cornelius' mind reeled with thoughts of who he would have to trap and how. His breath grew heavy as he turned the page to see a beautifully etched picture of his wife, Lust $354,163.

A briery pit in Cornelius' stomach shot up to his heart, trying to escape from out his chest. He thought to the countless nights their bed grew cold. He never questioned her, he never thought he had to. Cornelius snapped the book shut in assent and toyed with his wedding band before gently removing it from his finger and burying it in the soil beneath him.