The box!
It was a brown suitcase- like box which Noel kept in her room. Her mother, Rose, had given it to her when she was five as a birthday present. She had actually asked for this box, after being drawn to it for quite a while though seeing it kept in her parent's closet.
It was a beautiful box with golden yellow strips running twice around it. There were some wording on the strips written in dark red ink but she had never been able to decipher which language it was written in.
"Perhaps it is just a decoration and nothing more!" she had consoled herself when her efforts to read it failed.
Noel always wanted to be near it but didn't know why the parents kept it away and it was never opened.
When she heard them discussing one day about the gift they would get for her as she turned five, she had an idea. While she was with the mother alone she said it to her.
"Mama, you want to know the present you will get me on my birthday!" she posed and waited. Her mother looked up at her curiously. She then smiled and encouraged her to talk. She had always known Noel to be a child who spoke out her mind.
"Mama, I want that box in your closet!"
The mother had been struck silent for a whole minute. When she recovered she quickly brushed her surprise away and told Noel that she will talk to papa about it.
Finally they had given her the box and she had kept it ever since in her room.
She did not open it, not for a while. Something always kept her away from doing so.
But a day came and she opened it. To her surprise she found baby clothes inside. The clothes were made of strange materials. Not like anything she had ever seen before. They also had a strange scent! Something that bound her to them and seemed to remind her of something she could not really remember.
She asked her mother about them.
"One day you will have a baby sister or brother, won't you like them to wear those precious clothes?" Rose simply said.
Noel at some points lost interest in the clothes and forgot about the box! But one night curiosity took the best of her.
She took out all the baby clothes from the bag and arranged them on the bed. It was the first time she had them out!
Then looking into the bag, she saw a tiny zip as if concealing a separate compartment in the suitcase.
She unzipped it and placed her hands inside. Her fingers felt something metallic and she pulled it out.
It was a chain with a golden medallion attached to it. The medallion was so beautiful and unscathed. It had some artistic drawing inside it covered with a clear glass on top. The drawing looked like two huge golden seats with what appeared to be a man sitting on one of them. But the other seat was empty. They seats obviously looked like those of some kind of rulers!
"For a king and a queen, perhaps!" she had thought.
The seats were on a raised platform and several tiny men and women bowed from the throne to the far end. A magnificent lane preceded from the thrones outwards.
"This is indeed a palace!" Noel concluded. "This must be a royal medallion!" her mind started racing as she looked at the golden chain in her hands.
She wanted to try it on and walked to the mirror. Then she hesitated.
"What if it is a magical medal?" she thought, remembering the many stories she had read in novels and the movies she had watched.
"I will not put it on but at least let me see how it looks on me!" she said. Standing before the mirror, she held the chain in front of Her, close to the chest but not wearing it. She loved how it appeared and could not wait to take of her blouse and wrap the chain around her neck.
"The gold would look so good on me!" The temptation was so great but she controlled herself for the fear of the 'magic' aspect.
"Besides, when mama or papa ask about it where will I say I got it from?"
Noel made it a routine to take the chain out every night and admire it before sleeping. Everyday the urge to wear it came but for fear of it being magical she didn't. After some times, however, she overcame her fear and decided to wear it.
"Maybe it is just a normal chain with a medallion. Nothing magical!"
Carefully slipping her hands into the compartment she brought out the golden necklace with a medallion. She was ready to put it on, five years since she first found it.
"Come what may! This is the time to face my fears!" she said.
Without further hesitations she stood in front of the mirror with the chain and slowly raised her hands to the back of her neck.
Her two hands met behind her neck as she finally interlocked the golden arms of the chain. Finally! The chain was on her!
"See! Nothing happened!" she told herself, somehow feeling a little disappointed. All along she had secretly wished the chain was magical only to see that after placing it on her nothing happened.
She looked at herself in the dressing mirror and she loved her new look! The golden chain resonated well with her skin complexion. She was of a chocolate complexion and the yellowness of the chain complemented her so well.
"I can't imagine you were all along in this box and I ignored your beauty!" she said as she turned towards the suitcase on her bed. But as she faced the box something suddenly happened.
The medallion suddenly shone when she faced the Box! It was as if it had suddenly come alive! A bright light was emanating from the jade medal and slowly drifted forward.