The Mystery Box: So, This is It! Can I Keep it?

"What's in the Box?" Charlie said.

"I don`t know?" I replied.

He continued, "Well then what are you waiting for, why don't you open it?"

Of course I had a witty, quick and obvious answer, "Well, if I did that then it wouldn't be a mystery box anymore, I would know what is in it and then I'd have to do something about it after seeing what it is!"

He replied, "Well, what's wrong with that?"

Tilting my head just ever so much I looked at Charlie with that exaggerated look on my face that told him, the answer to that should be obvious before I spoke! "Because Charlie What if I DON'T LIKE IT? What if I don't like what's inside this mystery box? Right now at this very moment I`m feeling good, I`m happy & excited, and I am thinking and feeling that somebody somewhere loves me and is thinking about me and decided to send me this! But what if I`m wrong?"

Charlie bravely continued his side of the conversation,"Well how are you supposed to know if you`re right about someone somewhere thinking about you and sending you this box with something inside it that shows you how much they care about you if you don't open it? The longer you wait, the longer you keep yourself in suspense, the worse you are making things based on your imagination and hypothesis of what's in the box, if it isn't something good for you to like, why on earth would you want to put yourself through all that discomfort and strain on your heart and emotions? Wouldn't it be much better to just know what's in it and be free of the anxiety and be able to move forward from there on what to do next? And besides I'm dying to know what's in the mystery box too, what if what's in the box is not just for or about you?" He ended with.

"Well, how about I start with the fact that I`m the only person that lives here at the address this mystery box was delivered to? And there is nothing written on the box at all, it's just a plain white box, so again this tells us that it had to be personally delivered, meaning the person who delivered it knows that I live here and was confident, certain that I would be the one to get it! And if it was something they wanted me to know about, that was urgent for me to know then some sort of hint or obvious sign or answer would have been written on it or left with the box letting me know to open it right away!"

Scratching his head Charlie continues with, "Hmm, it seems I am losing this conversation with your thoughts and theories about the white mystery box delivered to you, badly! I`d better rethink my battle with you and the box and find a new, improved and better angle to appeal to you with about this item of business!" Of course with me and my big mouth I can never turn down a challenge so I piped up with, "Alright, go ahead, give it your best shot, let's see what you come up with?" Charlie did not shy away from my reply or the challenge before him, instead he took a different angle and started asking questions that would require action to answer. "How heavy is the white mystery box? Why don't we examine it and look deeper into the things we can do with the white box just the way it is?"

I fell for it of course and I picked up the box and started weighing it in the air against the gravity and found myself immediately puzzled… "Hmm, well I`m not exactly sure how to explain what I`m feeling while holding it, it's not really as heavy a box this size would suggest it would be when you hold it, but it's also not as light as a feather or thread either?" That's when I really wanted to know the answers about the mystery box, I was dying to know really, right from the time I saw it sitting outside my apt door when I first got home and found it!

" Alright then, what if you held the box and moved it side to side with a little velocity, what might you experience or discover about the box if you did that?" My boyfriend said to me! I could not stop now, I had to know the answer to this too, so I did it, I held the mid sized white box out front of me and with both my hands moved it back and forth, side to side and began to feel and listen for any answers or clues about this mystery box and what it had in it for me to discover? "So, what is the box telling you when you do that?" My boyfriend asked me.

"I`m not sure? I think I can hear something, like some kind of movement, but not a large or clunky movement, just that there might be more layers to this mystery box then what meets the eye when you look at it? I can't tell how much it weighs, or how many other items or layers may be in the box but I'm pretty sure it isn`t 1 large item stuffing the box completely all on its own. But now I'm wondering if it was even meant to be a gift at all, maybe it was just something I forgot somewhere when visiting someone, or something related to my work?"

"If you think it's a layered gift, is it possible that it may then be safe to open up the biggest part of this white mystery box without it spoiling what may be inside? Do you trust me? As your boyfriend do you think I would lead you astray and try to deliberately ruin a possibly good surprise for you on purpose?" "Oh, Oh, Charlie, you`re good, you`re oh so very good, don`t you think you are ever so smart? Of course I wouldn't be with you if I knew you were that type of guy; to sabotage something good for me, but you already know that! So now you are leaving me holding this box and what I have ascertained from it`s weight and moving it and what to do with these questions you've now laid out so perfectly for me to stew over to make my next decision from and move on?"

And that's when he did it, sneaky mystery man of mine! "Can you put the box down NOW, and sleep on it?" I shook my head while saying "NO" because it had already gone unopened for so many hours and I was STILL HOLDING IT and couldn't make another move until I knew for certain what I wanted to do next? Charlie knew I was struggling, he could see that look on my face and me holding the box.

"Come on darling, you know you want to do it, you know you want to know what's next to discover about your great white mystery box!"After hearing him say those words, I couldn't do it, go any longer without finding out the answer to what it was I felt and heard from holding and moving the white mystery box? So I took a deep breath of excitement put the box back down on the Kitchen island and did what naturally came next for me to do, and I looked for where the opening was on the box and when I found it, I broke the little tape that had kept it sealed and carefully with one smooth swing and movement opened the white mystery box and looked inside of it, only to break out in hardy laughter and more smiling with what I discovered and saw was in it!

Carefully placed tissue papers and styrofoam stuffers was in it surrounding what OF COURSE was ANOTHER MYSTERY BOX, this one a smaller size then the first! Immediately it made me wonder if this was going to be a thing like those wooden Matreshka dutch dolls with smaller dolls inside until they get too small to fit anymore in? That's when I looked at Charlie again, but this time in a different light, one with an accusatory look on my face."You did this, didn't you, THIS is from you isn't it Charlie? Is this going to be like?..."

Charlie cutting in said, "Like those wooden Matreshka dutch dolls type thing, you were going to say weren't you honey? I know you very well I can see it all over your face and that's what makes us so perfect for one another, when you know things without needing to speak! Something happened today when you were away; I discovered something and I wasn't sure how to break it to you, so in order to get to the point of the answer to the mystery I'm seeking to solve, I thought I'd try and make it a little bit fun between us while getting there!"

"Wait a minute Charlie, STOP RIGHT THERE, is that your polite way of saying that you were perhaps worried that I might be upset or mad at you for this thing you discovered when I wasn't around? You do realize our being perfect for one another is definitely an understanding that goes both ways and I certainly know you very well too! So what's the confession you have to make? NOW the suspense IS killing me?" I looked at the newly discovered smaller size mystery box and then looked up and over at Charlie in silence waiting for what comes next from both? Charlie, without wasting another moment of time, quickly and simply said, "That answer honey, will come with what you do next with this new mystery box and how we handle what's uncovered between us moving forward on that discovery, in our wonderful relationship together?"

After hearing him say that I realized there is nothing more I can do, nothing more to be understood, there is no looking back now, `THIS IS IT` there is only going forward and moving ahead from here, rain or shine, love or hate, it's a moment just like our first date was, and reconnecting after losing touch for so many years! It was in one way of course very exciting and in another way of course just as terrifying, because what if what I'm about to do next does not work out the way it was planned? "Well..." I said to myself, there is only one way to find out, rather than standing here and continuing to think too hard about it all? And that's when I focused back on what was inside the first mystery box, and saw the new mystery box now staring me back in the face, and without another hesitation I took in a great big breath and dug in for the answers and opened this 2nd mystery box!

I broke out in more smiling and laughed but not as bad as the first time when I saw yet again another mystery box, yes again this one a little smaller than the 2nd one, and that's when I turned to Charlie and said, "I thought you said it wasn't going to be like the wooden dolls?"

Charlie, while smiling and laughing, answered with, "It's not, the final matter of it all starts from a much bigger place than the smallest wooden doll which cannot have anything else put into it; I promise the conversation coming is worth it!" So I looked back into the 2 boxes now opened and began to feel a little safer and easier as I went ahead and opened the newest unopened mystery box looking back at me so nicely and peacefully. This time what I saw inside I DID RECOGNIZE and nothing came to mind for me as the next words to say out loud except the words "UH OH!" And then I looked back up and over at Charlie!

He said, "Can I keep it?" Brimming with love and joy and happiness and a glow about his face like I`ve never quite seen before on him, it reminded me of something much like a young child visiting a 1 cent candy store like it was back in the world when we were just little kids getting a 1 dollar bill and buying 100 1 cent items and filling that brown paper bag just the right size for 100 candies right to the rim! So I knew right then, at that moment, I was in trouble if I didn't give him the right answer! I think I love him RIGHT NOW more than I have ever loved him & I think I`ve always loved him, starting right back in High School when we first met! "Will you read what's written on it to me?" He asked softly! Speaking to me that way just then turned my heart to butter. How could I not give him everything that he clearly wanted?

So I picked up the newest unopened black box with Red & Pink hearts all over it and opened it up and took out what was in it. I separated the styrofoam keeping it safe and then removed the plastic covering it & held the mug in my hands and read… "To My Husband: I wish I Could Turn Back The Clock To Find You Sooner & Love You Longer! I May Not Be Your First Date, Your First Kiss or Your First Love, But I Just Want To Be Your Last Everything! I Love You, Forever and Always!" I went on to say, "This is not how I wanted things to go, I was trying to plan this for the perfect moment, so it would be just right!"

And that's when he said, "Yeah, ME TOO!" "WHAT?" I replied confused, then I looked inside the mug! I didn't find what I had put in that mug originally, so I looked back at him and said, "Where is it?" He said, "You mean THIS MYSTERY BOX with the frilly lace bow on top?" Which he by then had pulled out of his pocket! "Don't worry I didn't look, I knew that moment was needing you!" "OH Charlie!" I said as I looked at the one that's in the mug now and asked, "Is this one for me?" "YES!" He replied! "But I wanted to go first, it is the 21st century after all what's wrong with women doing it?" "Nothing he said, then he sighed and said, but everything… because I wanted to do it, so I could keep it traditional for you!" "But Charlie, haven't you had enough of trying to do it that way?" He sighed again and had to admit the truth, "YES!"

And with that I put my hand out and he put the mystery box in his hand in mine and I said, "Now turn your right hand over and keep it out like that."And I got down on 1 knee and looked up at the man standing before me while I was holding the perfect box and opened it for him to see and said, "Charlie Baker, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" And while he was shaking worse than a girl he answered me with his, "YES!" And I took the ring out of the perfect little mystery ring box and put it on his ring finger right to the end with all my love, and it fit perfectly! Then he took his hand away and put it out in front of him and studied it with a gasp and admiration and then spoke the perfect words to my heart, ears and soul! "It's PERFECT, I LOVE IT, I WILL NEVER TAKE IT OFF AS LONG AS I LIVE! As he ended with a Sigh of Joy that this moment had finally found its way between the 2 of us!

But it wasn't long before he said, "O.K. now, it's YOUR TURN!"

And he told me to take the other perfect little white mystery box inside the mug out and of course I DID and when he put his hand out for it, I gave it to him. And he did what naturally came next and got down on 1 knee and proposed right back to me as he took the lid off the final box, revealing what was in it waiting for this perfect moment, just for me! "Honey, will you Marry Me?"And as I answered with my,"YES, YES, YES, YES, CHARLIE Baker, OF COURSE I WANT TO & WOULD LOVE TO MARRY YOU," that Is when THOSE OH SO FAMOUS TEARS OF LOVE & JOY came streaming down my face!

But amidst the joy & tears I didn't forget to answer his question, I simply said, "Yes, Yes, Yes, You can Keep it!" "And I never ever forgot the day or the occasion in which I received The Mystery Box! As We of course went on to Live Happily Ever After!" To which he added: "Not a moment in time since has gone by that we ever regret!"

That's when the children all got on their feet and jumped up and down screaming "HURRAY!" Then they ran to us with hugs, 1 on 1 or 2 on 2 or more until all 13 were done, while telling us how much they never ever get tired of listening to that story about how we all became a family and how their Dad (standing there holding his prize possession that after all this time and so many moves is still in perfect condition) became the Husband that the Coffee Mug came to be for, before leaving the room to go on with doing other things with the rest of their day!

The End!

written by,

Jennifer Cooley!