A little bit won't hurt, right? It would only be a little peek. She convinced herself and grabbed some of the paper.
Rip
She ripped it.
Almost immediately her mother's voice came from the other side.
"Sharla, it isn't funny anymore, open the door," her mom must have thought that Sharla had gone overboard with it.
But Sharla wasn't listening to her mother. She was looking at whatever little she had seen inside the box that propelled her to rip the box whole.
Her breaths came out hurriedly as she looked at the box. Her eyes glowed with excitement as she opened the box.
Miguel was also curious about what was inside the box. But he had decided to wait for it, what if it was something extremely important for the other person and that person might come looking back for it, one day? So even if he wanted to know the content of the box, he was still rational about it.
But his sister wasn't when Miguel heard the ripping sounds coming from the other side of the door.
Miguel decided not to say anymore. If the box was already opened he can't do anything about it. His mom was calling out to Sharla, he shouldn't just stop because she had already ripped the paper, should he?
After a few minutes of silence fell in the house. The door was finally unlocked.
The door slowly came open along with his sister's disappointed face.
"Where is the box," Miguel asked.
"Here," Sharla lifted her hand. There was a black box in her hands, the cover had already been unwrapped.
Miguel took the box. His mother was also looking at the box. The atmosphere was strange because they just knew from the label on the box that there was something expensive inside the box.
Miguel looked at his sister again. Her disappointment hadn't faded away. He asked her, "What is inside the box?"
"Look for yourself." She had wrapped her hands looking at Miguel with no interest at all.
There was a strange thing in his mind. He wanted to open the box. But what interested him more was the label written on the box. 'Flint Axis' is the same company that made the new AR tech. The box was unadorned, almost simplistic, you couldn't even say that it was something made by the same company which was now a giant in the tech industries. Miguel opened the box.
He took out the little thing with his hand. It looked metallic, but anciently, the surface reflected the image, it was that shiny of a thing. But Miguel wasn't convinced by the shining of the object. A Mirror. A freaking mirror inside the box.
"Mirror, What is this Sharla did you change the content of the box," for a moment he thought his sister was playing a prank on him. Trying to divert him, while she kept the thing inside. But he corrected himself, his sister wasn't like that. She wouldn't keep anything back if it didn't belong to any of us. Only that she would take her brother's things, she would find it exciting.
"Haah, why can't it be a mirror," Sharla said. "What had I expected, there must be some new tech inside of it. Maybe, it could have been the new tech they hadn't announced yet, but no, neither of them, it was this mirror."
Mom started laughing. She bent down laughing it all loud. What funny it was? She had expected it to be something precious for Miguel to behave like this. But it was a mirror beneath the box.
"Where did you pick the box, brother, such an important box?" Sharla had the pleasure of making fun of Miguel.
Miguel kept the mirror back in the box. Whether it was some piece of tech or just a mirror, they were both something, not his, and he had no more desire to enquire about it. If the person comes tomorrow he would just return the box to him. No big deal. He walked between his mom trying to calm down her laughter and his sister whose expression had changed to one of amusement after the disappointment. Miguel thought, his disappointment must have been more entertaining for her than the mirror. Reaching his room he shut the door behind him, not bothering to close it.
After Miguel was gone, Mom advanced on Sharla. "Sharla dear, what did I tell you."
Mom had a smile on her face. But Sharla thought she wasn't watching her mom anymore but a demon. "Mom, what happened?"
Mom grabbed Sharla's ear, twisting it. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurts mom." Sharla's expression twists in pain.
"I know it hurts, it wouldn't have happened if you had listened to me when I had called you not to do anything to the box." Mom was having fun, teaching Sharla in this way.
The pain was increasingly getting more and Sharla and then it wasn't there. Mom had taken back her hand from Sharla's ears.
"Ouch," Sharla mumbled as she rubbed her ears. Her ears had gotten red like tomatoes, especially when she had such fair skin. The ears felt hot in her hands, burning.
"Sorry, Mom." Sharla sulked with her hands on her ear.
"I am making mutton, what would you like to eat with it." The instant her mom said that Sharla's expression changed faster than the internet. She loved mutton, especially when her mom made it. It has always been a delight for her.
"If it's mutton, then…" Sharla said as she started pondering over it.
Inside the room, Miguel was on his bed. He was looking at the box in his hands. Miguel was resting with his back on the bed. His hands in the air were grabbing the box. Such that it won't fall by mistake. Though he had decided to not think much about the mirror. But still, a piece of mirror inside the box made by the most brilliant tech company industry sounded a bit suspicious. He decided to open the box again. He was looking at the box, but this time with more intense observation over it.
The inside of the box was a simple velvet red and a silver mirror was lying in it. Miguel felt the softness of the red material, it was too soft, much softer than anything he might have seen. The Silver tint of the mirror might seem like they have made it from a special metal, not something poorer of a material. Like fiber frames or such. The surface reflected the image of his face. His face felt stupid, studying the mirror. So he consciously changed the seriousness on his face as he looked back at his image. So clean of glass, it emitted such a clear image that he hadn't seen it before on any of the other mirrors.
Looking closer at the frame. There were smaller inscriptions etched on it. Inscriptions that felt cryptic, the ones you would see in a movie or a game. It might have been the desire of the creator for making it this way. Looking like something of a fantasy in the real world.
Miguel admired the beauty of the mirror such that he didn't feel the passing of time. He delved into his thoughts and his world. He wondered, why had the person who put the mirror inside such an exquisite box. And the gift wrappings, he pondered if it was a gift for another person. Someone who might not find its beauty. Was it a gift from a man to a lady or simply something of nostalgia, it might have also been something of historical significance. Or maybe, it was just a showpiece that had been purchased from another shop and put into this box, when they hadn't found another.
The door was opened and Mom looked inside. "Your aunt and uncle are here. Try to behave properly in front of them, I know you don't like them, but please bear with them."
He was still in his world as if he wasn't listening to her. But he was listening to her very clearly. Complicated emotions ran through his mind, his aunt would always try to hint at something in a subtle way. He didn't like it one bit. They might have been relatives in a way, but he didn't feel like their intention was for his good anyway. He would have to see what they were going to do today.
"Come out when I call you. Ok, son." Mom was out of his room, closing the door behind her.
Time passed quickly, Miguel running his scenarios in his mind. The laughter trailed in his room. The occasional noises, the usual arguments over the congress. Everything. He looked outside, his room being on the first floor, and gave some way to the night sky. The clouds were heavy gray spreading over the night, hiding the stars beneath them. The occasional swifts of wind would come through his window, followed by the cool that permeated his body. It was all good and not at all.