Chapter 17. The Universe in a Box

17

"There was one night I came back from a loud night to the van. I was drunk and hungry. As quietly as possible, I went and looked around at the fridge in the van. There was plenty to eat, but one thing caught my eyes, this box" he waved the box of candies to me, it rattled as he shook it.



"I took it and opened it and I was amazed at what I saw; so many colors in one tiny box. Amazing colors all different. I was awed, I think I looked at it for minutes maybe even hours before I realized those were the candies that I had always got on my desert plate.



"I got more excited, so many colors, so many different taste." he paused. "I might have made a lot of noise or it was early morning and her time to get up, my mother walked in on me staring at the content of that box in the light of the fridge.



"She placed her hand on my shoulder and I looked up, smiling perhaps; I knew I had a funny face on cause she laughed. She laughed and laughed while she walked to the cabinet and poured coffee to her cup. She asked me if I thought those colors were beautiful. I said yes and I asked her where did this box come from. She waved her hand as though telling me it ain’t important to know.



"'What do you think when u saw it?' she asked looking at me straight in the eye. It was hard to focus and to think when you are drunk. I wanted to just leave and walk away but I couldn't, her question and the candies intrigued me.



"I tried to place words into a sentence, I told her how it made me think if this tiny box held so many different color, how many colors would there be out there, must be infinite. And if each color has different taste, how much of different tastes are there out there. I told her it made me think of the universe, how wide and huge and if the tiny box has this many colors that awed me, I wondered what else are out there. Made me think of the galaxies, all pieced up together...



"She smiled and her eyes shone. It was as though I had an exam and had the correct answers...



"'A person who seeks would see it the way you do; the tiny box is nothing compare to the universe. A person who has given up would say that if a tiny box can contain all the colors, then perhaps nothing else to see, perhaps the universe is as small as the tiny box.' She said. She then walked towards me and gave me a tight hug and whispered 'welcome back'"