The Escape

Anna was about to go to her room with her grilled cheese someone rang the doorbell. Her brow furrowed as she wondered who it could be. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She hadn’t planned on doing anything today other than relaxing after a long week of work in her comfy socks. Perhaps it was for one of her roommates? None of them were here though. Anna was the only one here this weekend.

As she put down her grilled cheese and walked to the door, Anna once again wished she could go somewhere fun. Two of her roommates went to Disneyland together, and the third was visiting her sister in Washington. But Anna? She was stuck at home because she had neither the money nor time to have a long weekend getaway.

It was unfortunate, but at least she had Youtube.

Anna opened the door and became confused when she saw no one at the doorstep. She looked around and saw a man in a brown uniform heading to a FedEx truck. As her eyes widened in realization, Anna looked down and saw a big package on top of the doormat.

Ah, one of her roommates must have ordered something online. Or perhaps it was a package from one of their family members? In either case, she better bring it inside and put it on the table.

Anna picked up the box, which was much lighter than she expected, and walked inside. Out of curiosity, Anna looked at the recipient label. As soon as her eyes found the name, Anna stopped in her tracks.

Her name was on the recipient label. The package was meant for her.

But who? Her birthday wasn’t anytime soon, and she couldn’t think of any reason why someone would send her something. And she hadn’t ordered anything online either.

Her curiosity bigger now, Anna walked to the table and set the box down. She was about to open it when she remembered her grilled cheese, which was getting cold. The box was also taped in such a way that she needed scissors to get it open. Anna quickly took a bite out of her sandwich before she went to the drawer and took out the kitchen scissors. She walked back to the box, took another bite of her lunch, and cut the tape with the scissors. With bated breath, she opened the cardboard box, excited to see what was inside.

She blinked. There was nothing in it except for a single, small slip of paper. Anna reached in and grabbed it before turning it over.

Delve Deep.

“Delve. . . deep. . . where?” Anna asked incredulously as her eyes went back and forth between the note and the box. When she saw nothing new, Anna sighed in agitation before she let the note fall to the table and took another bite of her grilled cheese.

Did the note meant to delve deep inside herself? If so, why would someone send a big box instead of texting her or mailing a letter? Was this some kind of prank? If so, Anna wasn’t amused.

Anna sighed as she looked at the note again as she continued eating her lunch, this time sitting down. It was handwritten, and something in her mind did find the handwriting familiar. But Anna couldn’t recall why it was familiar, and she still had no clue who would send something like this. Only an eccentric person would send a big box with only a tiny note inside, and there was no one like that in her family and friend group.

Well . . . no one alive anyway.

She took the last bite of the grilled cheese in somber silence. Anna remembered how her dad’s older sister, Melodie, would always send them postcards from places like Italy, Thailand, Cambodia, Tibet, and so on. When she came to visit for Christmas, her clothes never matched and her earrings were often big and dangling. Anna never once saw Aunt Melodie without a smile, especially when she gave them fancy chocolates and trinkets from afar. Aunt Melodie also told them stories of her exploits. Anna’s favorite story was the time Aunt Melodie fired a flare gun at a crocodile to save someone who had been missing from her tour group.

Unfortunately, Aunt Melodie, who had always been full of life, lost the battle to pancreatic cancer last year. There hadn’t been a funeral, because Aunt Melodie hadn’t wanted one. Instead, her Dad kept her ashes in the urn Aunt Melodie got from Japan and waited to spread them until a tropical storm came. She had wanted the winds to take her far away.

Anna still had to remind herself sometimes that she was gone. She had hoped that since the doctors had caught her cancer early, Melodie would have survived. But alas, it seemed that pancreatic cancer was much more deadly than a crocodile.

Feeling forlorn now, Anna looked at the note once again. Funnily enough, the d’s looked very similar to how Aunt Melodie would—wait.

Anna stood up so fast that the chair crashed to the ground. But Anna didn’t care as she clutched the note with both hands.

Could it be? Could this be from Aunt Melodie? But it had been a year since her death! How was Anna getting something from her now, if it was her? Had she had someone promise to send this off to Anna if she died? Well, Anna would admit that that sounded like something her Aunt would do, but why? Why her? Anna hadn’t been Aunt Melodie’s only niece.

And also, while Aunt Melodie had been eccentric, she always had a reason behind her actions.

So why the big box with only a small note?

Unless . . . the note was meant to be taken literally?

Anna looked inside the box and decided that it could be possible that something was hidden beneath the bottom cardboard flaps. With no other ideas, Anna reached in and pressed the bottom to see if she could feel any hidden items.

Only for the bottom to easily give way beneath her fingers, revealing something white and spacious underneath.

Anna gasped as she snatched her hand away, resulting in the bottom flaps moving back up to their original position. She quickly picked up the box and looked at the bottom on the outside. When nothing seemed abnormal, she scanned the table, both on top and underneath. Everything looked normal.

So why did she see a white room underneath the box?

Anna, still holding the box, reached in and pressed against the bottom again, assuming that she had misunderstood what she had seen. However, the bottom easily gave way again, revealing something white and spacious once more.

And not the rest of the kitchen.

Was . . . this really happening? Was . . . this box really a portal to another dimension?

“Oh my gosh,” Anna gasped as she looked around frantically before she placed the box, again back to its original shape, on the table. As she stood there for a second, her mind whirling after the impossible sight she had just seen, her eyes wandered to the note.

Delve Deep.

Well, it wasn’t like she had anything else to do today.

So with a chuckle that wasn’t without excitement, Anna climbed onto the table. She stared down at the box for a moment before she took a deep breath and jumped into the box.

Anna fell straight past the cardboard and into a completely white room. Before she could be afraid, her feet landed on the ground. Or what she assumed to be the ground anyway, Anna honestly couldn’t tell where the ground ended and where the walls or ceiling began, it was that white.

“It could use some color, like lavender,” Anna said softly as she looked around. As soon as the words left her lips, the white changed into lavender.

“Whoa,” Anna gasped, her eyes wide. Then an idea came to her brain. “And . . . some yellow?”

Yellow dots suddenly popped up all over the space, just like how she imagined.

“And blue margins!” Blue margins instantly appeared, resulting in Anna finally being able to tell the floor apart from the walls and ceiling. Anna laughed with joy as she twirled around. She didn’t know how Aunt Melodie got this box, or why she sent it to her a year after her death, but Anna loved it. She had always wanted something magical to happen but had been forced to accept that perhaps magic didn’t exist when she didn’t get her letter to Hogwarts when she turned eleven.

But now, here she was in a magic box whose insides changed according to her wishes and imagination.

She stepped onto something that crinkled.

Anna looked down and saw an envelope beneath her foot. It must have completely blended in the white room earlier, making her unable to see it until she changed the colors. Anna stepped off the envelope before bending down and picking it up. There was no writing on the back so Anna flipped it over only to see that it was blank as well. Knowing who it was from though, Anna opened the unsealed envelope and unfolded the letter that was inside.

Hey Anna,

As you probably guessed by now, it’s me, your Aunt Melodie. If you’re getting this, I guess that means pancreatic cancer killed me. Or I survived only to ironically die in a car accident or something shortly after. Either way, it’s okay. I can’t win every battle. Life is just not built for us that way. As it shouldn’t, I mean, can you imagine getting everything you ever wanted in life with little to no effort? We wouldn’t appreciate the good things we have. We also would be soooo bored. Half of my amazing adventures wouldn’t have even happened if bad luck didn’t cross my path! Especially my trip to the Himalayas.

And yes, I know your father believes that I didn’t venture into the mountains when I visited Tibet, but here’s the thing. He actually never asked me. I guess he just assumed I would have told him all about it if I did and since you and your siblings had all moved out by that point, I was able to get away without talking about it. Not that it was a bad experience, even though my group did get lost, but some things happened that we needed to keep on the down low.

We found Shangri-La. Yes, it actually exists, and much like the book, “The Lost Horizon,” it is quite mystical, beautiful, and secretive. The locals didn’t want us to go home, but luckily, there were some in my group without families who were more than willing to stay so everyone was happy. The locals were also kind enough to give us gifts on the condition that we didn’t flaunt them for everyone to see their properties. Unlike the others though, I decided to let Shangri-La keep my gift on hold until I asked for it. Can you guess what it is?

It’s not that I didn’t appreciate this magic box, it’s just that I didn’t need it at the time. I still don’t need it now, even though I am currently stuck in a hospital room. Sure, I can have the box become a tropical paradise catered to my every desire (except for food, the box can’t do food. Or pets and other people), but I have already been to a tropical paradise. I don’t need to go to a fake one.

However, you haven’t. You are also both responsible and intelligent enough to not tell everybody about this magic box. And more importantly, I know you are mature enough to not spend your whole life in this box. This is just an escape when you are facing a long and tiring battle and desperately need a pick-me-up. This is just something to tide you over until you can have a proper vacation in some tropical paradise. This is just something to remind you that good things can come out of bad things.

This is something to remind you that life is what you make of it, Anna. Never forget that.

And with that, I bid you adieu until next time, whether it is in this life or the next one. And hopefully, the box doesn’t take forever to get to you. Mail to and from Shangri-La is not the quickest or most reliable thing.

Farewell and take care,

Aunt Melodie

For several minutes, Anna stared at the letter, her mind and heart in the middle of an emotional whirlwind. Aunt Melodie found Shangri-La, a fantastical paradise, but didn’t stay because she chose family. She had been fine with dying and spent effort writing her this letter, even though she had surely been in great pain. Aunt Melodie also thought Anna was mature, intelligent, and responsible to handle this wonderful gift. She had cared enough to make sure Anna wouldn’t get burnt out from life.

Anna reread the ending of the letter before she clutched the piece of paper close to her chest, a warm peace settling inside her chest and seeping throughout the rest of her body.

She smiled as she looked at the purple room with yellow-polka dots and blue margins.

“Well, she did mention a tropical paradise,” Anna said before she snapped her fingers. In an instant, the room changed into a sandy island, with a palm tree in the middle and a bright, shining sun high up in the clear sky.

Anna’s grin grew wider as she promised herself and Aunt Melodie that she would never take this box for granted.

She stuck the letter carefully back into the envelope and placed it into her back pocket before she rushed off towards the light blue waters, throwing off her socks along the way.