And...second part.
When Luc awoke, he found himself staring down at many intertwining city streets. About sixty feet below him geometric houses stood in rectangular sections left by the criss-crossing roads. Adults bustled from house to house, teenagers strode around in clumps and children played on the sidewalk. It was a completely normal city street. That is, besides the fact that Luc seemed to be floating above it. As he became more alert, Luc realized that he was lying down on something. He rose stiffly to his feet. The mysterious box was resting right next to him, but that was not what captured his attention.
He was standing on a solid sheet of glass that was suspended above the street that he had been gazing at. Around him was another city block with more houses arranged in neat rows on either side of him. But the people on this street were not going about their own business. Every single one of them was staring straight at him, their mouths hanging open in wonder.
Luc felt himself blush as he smiled sheepishly and bent down to pick up the box. Then he turned and shuffled off down the strange glass street. With his head bowed, he could watch in amazement as the city below him bustled on and at the same time sense the city around him as it began to function again. He turned the corner at the end of the block and dared to look up towards the sky. But the sky was not there. Above Luc was another endless sheet of glass, stretching until its edges were blocked from his sight. Through the glass he could see the bottoms of numerous buildings and the soles of hundreds of feet slapping across the streets. Through that sheet of glass, Luc thought that he could just make out another la
yer of houses, and maybe even more beyond that. Just how high did the layers reach?
Luc walked for an eternity, following the elevated glass sidewalk. Soon or later, he figured, he would have to come to the end of the level. He was right. At the end of the street stood an enormous glass wall. Luc pressed his face to the glass and peered out. Beyond the wall there was nothing, only darkness. It was just like the missing contents of his box.
Suddenly Luc felt a harsh tap on his shoulder. He yelped and spun around. Before him stood a girl about his height, her fiery red hair corralled into two French braids. Her hands were pressed against her mouth and she was shaking violently.
“Oh!” exclaimed Luc. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” The girl’s eyes opened wide.
“I not frightened!” she gasped, pulling her hands away. “I’m laughing! All I did was tap you on the shoulder and you acted as though you had seen a ghost!” Luc felt the color rushing to his cheeks.
“You just…surprised me, that’s all,” Luc hastened to reply. Then he stuttered shyly, “My name is Luc.”
“Aurora,” she replied. “My name is Aurora. You’re not from here are you?”
“No, I’m not. How did you know?”
“Most people here don’t look out,” she answered. “Sort of like an unspoken rule.” Luc sidled a bit farther away from the wall.
“So what is this place?” he asked. “It’s certainly not like a city I’ve ever seen.”
“You’ve got a pretty big question there,” Aurora responded. “Why don’t you come back to my place and I can show you all about it?” Then she turned and began marching down along the street, obviously expecting Luc to follow. Luc hesitated for a moment, then decided that he had nothing to lose and set off after her.
Aurora led him to a street corner where there stood a glass cylinder with two buttons next to it; one button showed an up arrow, the other a down arrow. Above the panel rose a gigantic glass tube. Luc recognized the display immediately.
“It’s an elevator!” he exclaimed. Aurora gave him an “of course it is” type of look, turned around and jammed her finger at the up button. After a few seconds the door slid back and the two children entered a room made entirely of glass. Circular buttons were arranged in continuous rows around the circumference of the elevator. Each button had a label from one to two-hundred.
Two-hundred, thought Luc. How does this structure hold up? This was only the second floor! He felt the excitement building up inside of him as Aurora pressed the button labeled “125” The elevator jerked into life and began its vertical ascent. Unfortunately it slowed after only about ten floors and the door opened to allow another passenger in.
The new rider was a bony old man around his seventies with only a few gray wisps of hair left. His clothing was the same as his hair, which is to say it was dirty and gray. It hung limply around him as if it had fit him in his younger days but had not shrunk with him. The man shuffled into the elevator, then turned back towards Luc and Aurora. A wild look danced across the old man’s face.
“Nowhere to hide,” he rasped at them. “Nowhere to hide!” Then he reduced himself to muttering under his breath. Luc gave Aurora a concerned looked. She leaned in and whispered in his ear.
“I’ll tell you about him when we get back to my house.”
After far too many awkward moments standing in the elevator with the old man, Luc and Aurora finally reached the 125th floor. They set off along the reflective street, Luc following Aurora as she led the way. A few minutes later, Luc thought he recognized a pattern in the uneven footsteps behind them. He stole a quick glance over his shoulder and gasped when he saw that the creepy old man from the elevator was following them. He pointed this out to Aurora, but she just seemed to ignore him. Then, suddenly, she shoved him into a space between two houses and prodded him towards a side door.
“Come on, go in,” she whispered harshly into Luc’s ear. Luc gave her an annoyed look and opened the door. Inside was a basic living room, equipped with a sofa, armchair and a few wooden end tables. All of the curtains were drawn. He hardly even had time to take it in before he felt Aurora push him aside turned to see her slamming the door.
“Phew!” she exclaimed. “I hate that guy!” Aurora sighed. “But where are my manners? Just sit anywhere, Luc. You can set your box on a table if you want to.” Luc was confused for a moment before he realized that he still held the mysterious box. He quickly set it down on a table and settled into the peach-colored sofa. Aurora plopped down next to him.
“First thing’s first,” she said. “You probably want to know why that guy was following us.” She stopped to think for a moment. “Well, I don’t really have an answer besides the fact that he always acts like that. His name is Mr. Henry. No surname, or at least not one that he has told to anybody. I’ve never met a single person who knows his full name. As to why he was following us…I have no clue about that either. But we’re inside now, so I wouldn’t worry.” Despite her words, Aurora fidgeted and pulled back the corner of a nearby curtain to peer out the window. Then she turned back to Luc and forced a smile.
“Now for the big question,” she said as she rose from her seat and crossed the room to a barren bookcase. Aurora reached up to the top shelf, plucked off an old, worn, rust-colored book and carried it back to Luc. She set it facedown in his lap. “I’ll go get us some snacks, alright?” As was her fashion, Aurora waited for no answer. She simply sauntered through a doorway to another room in the house, presumably the kitchen.
Luc picked up the fabric-covered book and turned it face up. In faded gold letters were typed the words A Guide to the Box. Carefully, he pried the book open to the table of contents.
The Box…………………………………………………………………………………………………………1
The Levels………………………………………………………………………………………………30
The Darkness…………………………………………………………………………………………68
Luc had a feeling that the book was a bit more complicated than this table of contents made it seem. He leafed through a few pages until he found himself at page one. It seemed a good enough place to start. He tucked his feet up underneath him and began to read.
We, the authors of this book, hereby identify ourselves as the Protectors. It is us who built the city you now dwell inside and us who gave you everything you have now. Your city is composed of one enormous glass box, separated into two-hundred levels for your comfort. We will delve into the specifics of the levels later. Let us tell you that The Box is the best place for you to be. It provides everything for you that you will ever need. As your Protectors, we have given you this place. We expect you to adhere to its rules always.
The chapter went on with an endless list of rules. By that time Aurora had returned with two glasses of milk and a plate of oatmeal cookies. She peered over Luc’s shoulder.
“Oh, I wouldn’t bother reading all those rules,” she said with a mouth full of cookie. “They’re not important.” Although Luc figured that the rules were not completely worthless, he listened to Aurora and proceeded to the next chapter.
As stated before, The Box is composed of two-hundred levels. Each level of your city has been equipped by us, the Protectors, with the places you will need to live your everyday lives. Each level, excluding the first level, has a floor made of a reinforced clear glass panel. Arranged on each level are many houses, parks, recreational institutions and a self-replenishing resource center. These resource centers hold numerous mechanisms that will stock each level with the food, clothing, medicine and other resources in an unfailing supply. Transportation between levels is possible with easily operated glass elevators. The original settlement of The Box filled only twenty of the two-hundred levels. Eventually, all levels will easily be inhabited. In case of overpopulation…
Luc paused and glanced over at Aurora. Having completely polished off the plate of cookies, she had propped her chin on her freckled arm and was making every effort to look bored. Luc sighed and skipped over the rest of the chapter. Besides, it was the next chapter that sounded the most important. The Darkness.
We, the Protectors, warn you that all that lies outside The Box is darkness and danger. We have shut all frightening creatures, torturing problems, and other threats out so that you may live in happiness. There are no doors or passageways out of the box. None are needed. You will never need to venture into the darkness. If at any time you should feel the need to
The pages stopped there. The last section of the book had been torn out by somebody long ago. Feel the need to what? Escape? Luc could not think of a single reason why somebody would want to leave such a problem-free environment.
Suddenly a booming crash echoed from far away. The room shook and more sounds reverberated: screams, thuds, and the tinkling of glass. They sounded distant, and yet close and concerning. Aurora reacted right away, bursting out the door and towards the street without a second thought. Luc dropped The Guide to the Box, scooped up the wooden box and ran after her. The street was amok with chaos. It took over ten minutes for the news to reach the 125th level. After this, a few minutes of mingling in the crowd gave Luc and Aurora much of the story.
Someone had broken one of the “unimportant” rules and the second level’s glass floor had completely shattered. Most buildings built on or below it had been entirely crushed and at least half the inhabitants of the first and second levels had been killed. None had escaped unharmed. They were all injured in some way, physically and emotionally. Survivors had no hope yet of reaching the safety of the third level above them. It was difficult enough just to pick their way across the shards of glass without hurting themselves more. Even if they could find a clearing, there were no elevators to get down to them. Teams of people were already working together to build ladders that they could shove down the empty elevator shafts and use to transport people up. But not everyone had the strength to climb a ladder. More would be lost. There was nothing to be done about it.
Luc turned back to Aurora to find her face blotchy and wet.
“My grandmother!” she cried. “My grandmother lives on the second floor!”
“Go look for her,” Luc shouted over the noise of the crowd. “I can manage!” Without further prompting Aurora turned and raced off toward the nearest elevator. Before Luc knew it she was out of his sight. He turned and began picking his way out of the mob. Minutes later he finally broke free and rounded a corner, only to run into another person coming from the opposite way. Luc recognized his dull, loose clothing immediately. It was Mr. Henry.
“I told you, boy,” Henry grunted. “Nowhere to hide. There is always trouble. Always, boy. Always.” Luc studied the man’s face. It was calmer and more caring than the last time he had seen it. But Luc still could not decipher Henry’s message. He needed to clear his mind. Luc backed into an alleyway and broke into a run. He pumped down the narrow path as hard as he could force his shaking legs to go. When he reached the wall of The Box, he came to a halt. He pressed against it and slid down to sit against the wall, keeping his box between his knees. Luc sat in this position breathing hard until he found himself thinking straight again.
Nowhere to hide. What a menacing phrase. Luc thought of all the unknown dangers that were being shut out by the wall he sat against. The threats were still out there, so why had such a tragedy as the breaking floor occurred? All of a sudden, as if he had broken through a wall of his own, Luc realized what Mr. Henry was telling him.
The Box was built to ward out danger. Up until now, it seemed as though it had succeeded. But even though the outside dangers were locked out, there were still dangers that could arise inside. Those dangers may even have turned out to be worse than those on the outside. What fools these “Protectors” were to think that they could shut out problems. It could not possibly be done, no matter how much planning and perfection they thought they had put into their plan. What idiots. What complete idiots.
Then Luc remembered. He remembered the attic, and his supplies, and all his plans. He too was trying to shut out his dilemmas. But it could not be done. He knew that now. He had to go back and face them before it was too late.
Luc lifted the cold box from between his knees. Slowly, he pressed in the squares until the lid clicked. With shaking fingers, he lifted the lid. The darkness was still there, floating around in the bottom of the box. Luc took one last look at the glass world around him. It was strange how small and insignificant his little box seemed compared to the massive Box he was inside. Luc took a deep breath and reached his hand into his wooden box.
Again he felt the tingle in his arm. Again he saw the walls pressing in around him. Again the darkness crept towards him. But this time Luc was ready to face it.
Normal User
Normal User