The Wizard Box

Once upon a time, at the edge of a dark forest, there was a tidy little house by a pond in a meadow.

In this house lived a clever and curious boy with his mother.

As the boy grew he became restless until one day he told his mother that he must soon leave for a while, perhaps to go for a long walk.

Mothers being wise, she told the boy that his restlessness was his longing to know the Great Secret.

The boy felt this to be true and told her he would set off in the morning.

The next morning when it was time for the boy to leave his mother kissed him goodbye, told him to not be away too long, and gave him a gift.

She had made him a special coat and asked him to wear it always to remind him of home.

The boy put on the coat and hugged his mother one more time before walking out the door.

With a spring in his step he headed off on the path through the forest.

When he had got very deep in to the forest he was met by a tall, thin man in a pointy hat.

“Who are you?” asked the boy.

“I am The Wizard of the Forest.” said the man.

“What do you seek?” he asked.

“I want to know the Great Secret.” said the boy.

The Wizard’s eyes grew large and he began to laugh.                                                        

He laughed until he almost cried.

“Are you sure?” said the Wizard.

“Yes I am.” said the boy, a bit annoyed at being mocked.

The Wizard asked him again.

“Are you sure?” he said.

“Yes.” The bay said, more firmly this time.

One more time the Wizard asked, and again the boy answered, this time almost angry.

“So be it.” said the Wizard.

He reached down to the grass behind a tree and lifted up a small iron box which he handed to the boy.

The boy took the box and examined the intricate detail on its surfaces and the stout lock on its lid.

The boy tried to open the box but he found it was locked.

When the boy looked up to ask the Wizard for the key the Wizard disappeared in a puff of smoke and with a great haunting laugh.

The boy heard the Wizard’s voice from the cloud of smoke.

“You must find your own key.” the Wizard said.

The boy went on his way, now in search of the key to the Wizard Box.

First he went to China to ask the men with long beards for a key to the Wizard Box.

The China men made him chop wood and carry water for them.

When the boy had filled their water pots and wood piles they gave him a key.

Excited, the boy took the key and put it into the lock.

But it would not turn.

The key did not work.

The boy went to India to ask the Gurus for a key to the Wizard Box.

The Gurus made the boy sit for long hours in uncomfortable poses under the hot sun.

Finally, when he grew faint from heat and hunger the Gurus gave him a key.

He took the key and put it into the lock but it would not turn.

The key did not work.

The boy went up a mountain to see the Hermit and ask him for a key.

The Hermit made the boy walk up and down the mountain bringing him food and water every day until the boy’s legs were tired and sore.

When he finally dropped from exhaustion the Hermit gave him a key.

As you can guess, the key did not work.

The boy was saddened.

He was tired and feeling terribly alone in the world.

With his head hanging low he set his feet on the long path home.

The boy was unhappy with himself for failing to find the key to the Wizard Box.

He had tried as hard as he could, but no matter what he did or where he went he could not find the key.

As he passed through the forest he was afraid he would never learn the Great Secret.

As he entered the meadow he sat down by the pond he thought of his mother.

He sat down under a tree to ponder because he knew he would have to tell her where he had been and why he had been gone so long.

The boy was hot and weary from the road and so he decided to refresh himself in the pond.

As he removed the coat his mother had made for him, and which he had worn at all times as she had asked, something fell from a pocket on the inside.

He picked it up and looked at it closely.

He recognized it immediately.

It was the key to the front door of the little house he shared with his mother.

The boy looked at the key some more.

He noticed the size and shape of it.

He recognized its outline.

He took out the Wizard Box and looked at the hole in the lock.

He slid the key into the lock and turned it.

The lock opened with a smooth click.

The boy opened the lid and looked inside the box.

In the box, resting on a tiny bed of straw was a rectangular piece of smooth, shiny glass.

The boy lifted the glass and held it between his thumb and index finger.

The surface was mirror-like but he noticed he could see through it.

He held the glass up to the bright blue sky.

Through the glass he saw the clouds, the sun, and the circling birds.

In the surface of the glass he saw his own reflection, the cornflower blue of his eyes matched and faded into the perfect azure of the sky.

It appeared to the boy that he almost became the sky itself.

As the boy sat in the grass, transfixed by the scene in the small glass, a smile grew slowly on his face.

He was still puzzled, but the pieces danced slowly into place.

The picture there formed was a familiar one; the image of himself, of his sky, of his home.

As the Great Secret revealed itself to the boys mind his mother happened to look out a window of the tidy little house.

She saw him sitting by the tree and called to him to come in, to come home.

On seeing his mother, the boy noticed how tired, sore, and hungry he was.

Suddenly he longed for the comfort of his mother’s arms.

He set the glass back into the box and snapped the lid shut.

He stood up quickly and pulled his coat back on.

He was anxious to get home and tell his mother of all he had seen and done, and of what he had learned of the Great Secret.

In his haste, he forgot the box, leaving it in the grass by the tree.

As the boy stood in the doorway to his home holding his mother, sharing in her tears of joy, he did not notice the smiling man stepping out from behind the tree to retrieve the Wizard Box.