The Suitcase
I am a creature possessed by an overwhelming sense of curiosity, for which I hope some cosmic force has gifted me with 9 lives, because I am certain one day it will get me in serious trouble. I simply cannot stand not knowing some things. Gossip and rumor are pointless to me, I am not curious like that. I am curious to the point I need facts as well as being able to see it with my own eyes.
My Aunt Ruth posted the above picture in her blog today and to my great dismay she did not open that suitcase. I understand, of course, that not everyone shares my reckless sense of curiosity but that suitcase has been on my mind for a couple hours now, so much so that I wrote about it, simply to get it off of my mind. Apparently when you are distracted with such a consuming question as “what the heck was in it!?” you do such follies like putting a casserole in the oven to bake and forget to turn on said oven. (Though in the grand scheme of things that is much better then putting something in the oven and forgetting to set the timer.)
The following little prose normally stay well confined to my handwritten journal as I am no great author or poet. If anything it is simply my way of putting such demanding and yet unanswerable questions out of my head. Still, this once I thought I would share this little piece of my personality with you.
I am walking along a river trail, listening to the chorus of birds returning from their Winter abodes. It is a glorious Spring morning, one of those that makes you feel as though each step is a prayer being sent straight to the heart of Gaia.
Squirrels scamper across the trail, some pausing to decide how great of a threat I pose. Once deciding I am simply a harmless waddling pregnant woman they saunter along their way. Twigs and gravel crunch softly beneath my feet, which ache a little, late pregnancy seems to have that effect on all regions of my body. I am walking beside a stone wall, overgrown with a wide variety of weeds who seem to wave at me in the breeze. Springtime brings a playful air to everything.
In my daydreaming state, I almost missed it but something so out of the ordinary has a way of reigning in one’s attention as surely as if it were sounding Assembly of Buglers. There, at the side of the trail beside an old drainage pipe sat a suitcase, looking as though it had been very purposely placed there.
The old peeling leather case teased at my curiosity and I felt like a cat as I stood there mentally sparing with the out of place object. It’s lure had firmly snagged me though and I wandering over to it, looking around to make sure no one was near to witness my approach. Somehow curiosity has a way of making me feel like a common thief.
I sat on the rock ledge beside the suitcase and observed it. It in turn, continued to tease me with its simple mystery. I watched it for couple minutes, gauging whether it was dangerous or not I suppose. There was no odd smell or unidentifiable liquids oozing from it, which mostly ruled out me wandering into a bad CSI show, nor was it ticking (do bombs even do that anymore?) which reassured me that I wasn’t about to test the nine lives theory.
Still, erring on the side of caution (pregnancy has this effect on me) I picked up a stick and did what any 3 or 30 year old would do. I held my breath and poked the suitcase. (I think the birds may have even been holding their breath.)
A sudden rush of adrenaline flowed into me and I tensed up, waiting for… well waiting for something that never came. The suitcase rocked a little before settling back to its mocking self. Feeling encouraged by the non-reaction, I poked it again, harder. Still nothing.
Mustering my courage (or simply giving into my curiosity) I nudged it with my foot. It fell on its side with a dull thud, which admittedly made me jump a little. My hands shook as I reached down to unlatch the lid and I paused for a millisecond before quickly flipping it back. I flinched back a little, perhaps I expected a hoard of wasps to explode out of it. Nothing like that happened though.
I started blankly into the suitcase for a moment before beginning to laugh uncontrollably. With a grin on my face I latched it shut once again and set it back in its place so that it could again cast its lure out to the next curious soul who meandered past. With that done I dusted myself off and continued down the trail, amused and overly-satisfied in my discovery.
So, what do you think I found in the suitcase?
My Aunt went back to see if the suitcase was still there. It was open…
May 20th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I’d be too afraid there would be a bomb in it! XD *paranoid!* Certainly does pique the curiosity though.
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May 20th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
LOL!! I love your post. If you had been with me I may have opened it. I peered in the drainage pipe to see if someone had been sleeping there, but saw nothing. It is such an interesting old suitcase, not like a briefcase you would expect to find a bomb (or cash) in.
What did you find in the suitcase?? I don’t know yet…
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May 20th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I think you would have found….stuff. Things. Objects, perhaps. Items, even.
<_<
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May 20th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
“Somehow curiosity has a way of making me feel like a common thief.” - That was a great line Jas.
Might have to steal that someday. Hmmm… what was in the suitcase? A well worn harmonica. A pair of polka dot boxers that are waaaay to large. One pair of socks that don’t match and a matchbook stolen from the 4 Seasons lounge along with a postcard never written on and a plumbers union card.
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May 21st, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Oh good grief, that suitcase… If it were me, I think I’d just leave it there. My main concern would be if there were rotting body parts in there or a bomb or something…
Ok, maybe I’d just poke it with a reeaaaally long stick, no, a branch. Branches are good.
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