Charlie stared at the glowing chest die down in intensity. After a few more seconds the glow had faded, leaving an ordinary closed wooden chest. This was no ordinary wooden chest. It now housed the weapon for the gladiator in wait, Charlie. Charlie’s heart thudded with an echo as he anticipated the contents. The Keeper reached over the lip and unclasped the metal bindings. He slowly lifted the lid and revealed the contents. The Keeper placed both hands inside the chest and lifted the contents above his head. Charlie’s heart sank and his shoulders slumped.
“A carrot!”, bellowed the Keeper. The crowd jeered and laughed. A sharpened carrot. Charlie would be battling another 20 year-old gladiator who was gifted a spoon. He effectively would be using his bare hands. I would have rather the spoon, Charlie thought.
Charlie and his opponent faced off. They waited for the Emperor to signal the fight to commence.
Waiting in his holding cell, Maxine waited to be called by the Keeper. She prayed to the Gods that the chest would bestow a weapon of worth. Not a spoon, nor a carrot. Something that would bring her swift victory and survive the weeks’ onslaught of opponents – near children from across the land called upon to fight to the death. The only advantage each opponent could gain beyond their brute strength was the gifts contained in the wooden chest.
Since it’s discovery, the chest would conjure objects of a diverse set – from spoons to scrapes of food. Many scrapes of food. On rare occasion, a useful weapon would be produced – a fork with one point, a shard from a broken plate. However, it was more common that fruitless objects would be appear. A dead rodent for instance, served as a poor weapon against a gladiator.
Judging from the recent inventory from the chest, Maxine prayed from a fork with at least one point.
2000 years later there sat a boy by an old well
The boy sat eating from his can of beans with fervour. His mother had packed some vegetables, but he had tossed them down the old well, after he had whittled them into small spears. He had accidently dropped his mother’s spoon down the well. No matter, there were plenty more where that came from.
The boy finished his beans and whipped his mouth with his sleeve. He looked up to see ain the distance walking up to him. He could not tell who he was. The boy knew everyone in his small village. He would usually be left alone when he ate his lunch in silence by the well. The boy wasn’t alarmed, just curious as to who the stranger was. The stranger appeared to be carrying something over his shoulder. He looked like a solder in the distance, climbing the hill up towards the boy and well.
“Hello boy” said the stranger.
“Hullo” replied the boy.
“Have you tossed anything down the well today?”
How did this stranger know that? It was a well, so perhaps it was an obvious guess that people tossed many items down over the years.
“No” lied the boy.
“You don’t have to lie to me boy. Just curious is all.”
The man lifted the long object from his shoulder. It was wrapped up in clothe. The stranger unwrapped the clothe and the boys eyes widened. He was not alarmed.
“Calm down” instructed the stranger, “I’m throwing this away. Down the well”.
“Why?”
“Well, I no longer need it but someone from my past desperately does. This is the only way I can get it to her. “
The stranger carried the rifle with both hands then pointed it barrel-down and raised it over the well. “God speed my Maxine” he said and he let go of the rifle. The rifle whistled as it fell then made no sound. The boy had been throwing objects down for years and never heard the bottom. It must have been a very deep well.
“Tally-ho” said the stranger and he made his way back down the mountain leaving the boy and the well.
Maxine watched the Keeper lift the object from the chest. She could not tell what is was as the Keeper struggled to raise it. It looked lengthy. It appeared it could not fit in the chest. As the Keeper continued to raise the object, it was clear it was longer than the height of the chest. The object continued to grow in length then finally ended as the metal rounded ends. The Keeper placed the objects across both hands and looked confused. “What is it?” he asked. The crowd was equally baffled.
The Keeper slowly passed the object to Maxine. She held the rifle with both hands. She looked down the barrel and reasoned that perhaps this was wear the arrows would appear. She could not comprehend how. She had never seen such a object.
In the arena, Maxine faced Charlie. Charlie had killed the gladiator with the spoon, no thanks to the carrot. Charlie was concerned. His opponent held a mentality weapon, which when swung could strike as a club by it’s wooden end. This was surely the greatest weapon bestowed by the chest by far. No matter – weapon or no weapon, Charlie could crush the girl with his bare hands.
Maxine panicking – she could not understand how to make the arrows fire. Her fingers gently traced the trigger which gave way gently. It moves. She started to pull back harder on the trigger when the Emperor signalled the match to commence. Charlie rushed forward and slammed hard into Maxine, knocking them both to the ground. Charlie’s hands wrapped around her neck with the rifle pressed between their bodies. She still had her finger on the trigger. She pulled back hard and a loud crack echoed across the arena. The crowd was silences and Charlie’s hands went limp and he fell off her body. They both looked down to see half of Charlie’s right foot was missing, then end bloodies. Charlie started in shock not comprehending what had happened. The pain finally registered on his face but he did not have a chance to wail – he faces Maxine still on the ground with one hand in the middle of the object, the other clasped to the wooden end. The metal rounded ends pointed at his chest. Maxine pulled the trigger.