The difference between Pandora and your average 12-year-old girl is that Pandora knows exactly what she wants at all times. So when five magical genies pop out of an old rusty lunch box, Pandora knows her life is finally going to be perfect!
...Or m...
Pandora dragged Lyle into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. The room was filled with all sorts of collectibles, books, posters and even newspaper clippings. Pandora collected everything that interested her, and she was interested in everything!
"Prepare to see the coolest thing you've ever seen in your whole entire life!" Pandora pointed to the rusty, dirty lunch box which was now sitting on her dresser. "Ta-daaaaa!!!"
Lyle looked at the lunch box, quite underwhelmed. "You pulled me away from Zomboid Attack 3 to show me a dirty old lunch box? I was on Level 9, Pandora. Level 9!" He lifted an ice pack up to his black eye and sighed with a combination of pain and relief. To him, the lunch box was just another piece of junk to add to Pandora's overflowing collection.
"Yeah? Well, does Zomboid Attack 3 live up to this?!" Pandora enthusiastically opened the lunch box, and POW! The genies all burst out with a whoosh and a big flash of light!
"We're back!" "I knew she'd let us out again!" "Phew, it's hot in there!" The genies were very glad to be back out.
Pandora looked from the genies to Lyle, thrilled to see his reaction. But he didn't react at all. He just stared at the open lunch box as though it were completely empty... because for him it was! He peered hesitantly into the empty box, half expecting to see a bug or two. But there wasn't even that.
"Okay. I'm going home now," said Lyle as he started to leave the room.
Pandora gestured desperately to the genies. "But... but... but..." Pandora sputtered as Lyle walked out of the room.
"He can't see us, Pandora," Mrs. Greeley said.
"Only you can because you released us from the lunch box," Smugly explained. He removed his monocle and looked snootily around the room. "Now, can we have a talk about your choice of decor?"
Pandora's eyes lit up with understanding. "Be right back!" she said as she darted off.
Pandora caught Lyle as he was just reaching the front door. "Lyle! Lyle, stop! I'm the only one who can see them!"
Lyle stopped. "See who?"
"The genies!"
"Genies???" Lyle rolled his eyes then tried calm down. He spoke in a low, serious tone. "Level 9, Pandora."
"But they're really there, I promise!" Pandora implored. "And they can grant wishes and everything!"
"They granted you a wish?"
"Yeah, to get back at Lexy for setting us up."
"Did it work?"
Pandora thought for a moment. "I don't know."
Lyle shook his head. Just another day with Pandora. Well, at least she always kept his life interesting.
Then the front door opened, and Pandora's family stepped inside. Her mother and father, Jen and Grant Little, were very committed parents, always trying to do the right things for their kids. So they often wondered how they ended up with such a handful as Pandora. But when Pandora would become too much to handle, they could always take solace in their other child, 7-year-old Jesse. Jesse was so well-behaved that it made Pandora's misadventures come off as even worse than they actually were.
Jen smiled at Pandora, hopeful that today might be one of Pandora's calm, uneventful days. "Hi sweetie. Everything okay?" She turned to Lyle. "Hi Lyle!"
"Hello, Mrs. Little," said Lyle in a tone suggesting he understood her pain.
While Jen and Grant got busy putting groceries away in the kitchen, Jen tried to engage her daughter. "Oh, Pandora, isn't it amazing?"
"It is amazing!" Pandora shot back, still excited about today's new discovery. But then she reconsidered. Better to leave Mom and Dad out of the loop lunch-box-wise. For now, this was a secret she should just share with Lyle. "I mean, nothing amazing happened today. Just another non-genie-filled-lunch-box day!"
Lyle groaned. Fortunately, Pandora's parents didn't catch on.
"But it was an amazing day," said Jen. "Your brother Jesse got three gold stars in class. Mrs. Gormley says he's her favorite student!"
Jesse beamed smugly, loving the attention. "She would've given me four gold stars, but she ran out of gold stars. So she gave me this paperclip chain instead." He proudly held up a short chain of paperclips.
Lyle inched his way towards the door. "I'll let you guys celebrate in private."
"It would've been a perfect day," Jen added, "if not for what happened to the little Squires girl."
Lyle stopped in his tracks. Pandora looked up. "Lexy Squires?"
Jen nodded. "She's in your class, isn't she, dear? Maybe you could bring her her homework for a few weeks. You know, until she gets better."
Pandora started to worry. "Better??"
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