The Box Paradox | ✅

Chapter 3

Micaela woke up the next day to the door slamming shut. It must be the PA. He always shut doors a bit too loudly. It was as though he was always in an argument with someone and had to do those dramatic door slams like you often see in films.

Micaela decided she wasn't going to get back to sleep; the sunlight made sure of that. So, she sat up and eyed the tower in front of her. The box was still there but didn't look quite as tall as last night. It must have been because of all the natural light—one finds it can soften the features of objects.

She got up, swiftly taking off her unicorn-head hood. Staring intently, she walked around the box slowly, to get a good view of it from all angles. It was just a dull brown wood glossed to look shiny.

Even from here, she could hear her father making his way to his office a few doors down. She hated it. In the holidays—a time of rest and fun—her father still had to trudge to his office and work all day. There was no time for good mornings or anything like that. It was just trying to keep ahead of the game and trying not to be swept away.

Micaela climbed the ladder and tugged at the lid with all her strength, revealing the little winding roads, the individual houses, and the big tub of water that acted like a lake. All of this mesmerised her. The tiny people standing on the pavement, eyes glassy and empty. The individual stroke of the paint that made up their tops, their skirts, their shoes. Themselves.

She stood staring at it for a while, totally lost in its beauty.

Then she heard a bell tinkling and knew that the maid was calling her for breakfast. Her hands gently cushioned the lid as it fell back in place but her footsteps were loud and heavy as she stomped her way down into the kitchen, making an audible mark on the world by telling everyone her father's famous daughter was awake.

Back in her bedroom, Micaela's beloved box sat patiently, towering above everything else, and inside, by the light of the otoscope, Shaggy's smile gleamed.