Zara sat on the edge of her bed, the plain wooden box resting in both hands.
She stared at it intently, waiting for something to happen.
The jewelry was still scattered across the floor. She had completely forgotten about it.
After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the key resting besides the box and turned it carefully with her finger. Once. Twice. Three times. The fourth resisted so she stopped.
While waiting a few thoughts crossed her mind .
*What if nothing happens?*
*What if it only worked that one time and now it's just a box again forever?*
*What if—*
*Click.*
Zara flinched so hard the box nearly slipped from her hands.
A male voice came out of it.
"Hello to you too, Miss Zara."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well."
Hearing her own name from a box made breath halt.
"My name is Ronan Winston."
" OHH great Goddesses!!!! There is a man inside the box."
That was her first thought. Immediately followed by —
"No. That's impossible. He would have to be very tiny like my finger ."
She turned the box sideways and peered at it anyway , afraid she would harm the tiny man she gently handled the box.
The voice continued, unbothered by her inspection.
"Before anything else, I'd like to clarify something. I don't believe either of us intentionally contacted the other. I bought this wooden box because I thought it was a music box."
Oh.
Oh.
So he had done exactly what she had done. Zara felt a strange rush of relief at that, followed immediately by the realization that she had spent considerable effort convincing Maria the box was a worthwhile purchase, and now it turned out neither of them had actually known what it was.
"And judging from what you've said, it seems you believed the same."
Zara nodded at the box. Then felt slightly embarrassed , now that she knew there was no tiny man inside the box .
"Also, please don't misunderstand. I can't hear everything you've said. The only thing I heard before was something about wanting to hear pretty music."
"But i didn't think of that."
"And of everything i could have said into the box for the very first time, it had been that. "
She pressed her fingers briefly against her cheeks.
"Which means the box likely only delivers messages after it's wound."
She listened as he explained his theory about the delay, about the box carrying voices between them, about winding being the equivalent of sending.
The more he spoke the more she found herself leaning forward slightly without realizing it, the box held closer than before.
He spoke carefully. Which did not sound cold nor friendly either but more like someone who had thought about each sentence before letting it out.
"Today I discovered something strange. I'm not entirely certain, but this box may be capable of following its owner. I left it locked inside my house. Yet somehow it appeared beside me after I traveled across town."
Zara's eyes went wide.
"It followed him!?"
She immediately looked down at the box with renewed interest as this another feature was the most magical thing she heard , well not that hearing a voice from another person far away was any less magical.
"Have you been following me too?"
She petted the box . Strangely enough the following part made it seem like a dog which inturn made it seem cute .
"Whether it chooses an owner or simply refuses to be separated from one, I don't know."
"Perhaps next time you could tell me when the recording cuts off. That would help us understand how this strange thing works."
"And yes, let's try to figure it out ourselves. We wouldn't want other people to take this away from us, would we?"
Yes , zara nodded at that .
"Im a smart girl and wouldn't make mistake like that , i didn't even tell Maria "
Then he described the box more, asked where she had bought it, kept talking, and then —
Silence.
Zara sat very still.
The box had gone quiet but not in the way that Ronan mentioned where he may get cut off , but more like someone had simply finished speaking.
She waited another few seconds just to be sure.
Still nothing.
" He finished," she realized. "It didn't cut off. He just... stopped on his own."
She brought the box closer again. There were so many things she wanted to say. Which was somewhat overwhelming because she was not normally the type to have many things to say to strangers. Or to boxes. Or to strangers inside boxes, technically.
She held the box up slightly, the way she imagined one might hold something they were speaking into, and cleared her throat.
"Good evening, Mister Ronan Winston."
A pause. She straightened her back without thinking. Force of habit.
"I received your message."
"Also —" she hesitated, then continued, "you asked me to tell you where the recording cuts off. It didn't. You finished all your messages on your own so I suppose the box simply records until you stop speaking."
She thought that was useful information. At least she hoped it was and felt smart about noticing it .
"As for your questions." She looked down at the box. "I bought it from a vendor in the Calrath city market. Several months ago. He was selling all sorts of strange things and this was among them."
"I'm not sure that was a coincidence anymore."
"Also," she added, because it had been sitting at the back of her mind since the moment she heard his name, "Ronan is a very unusual name. I have never heard it before."
"Ohh i don't mean to be rude but it's quite unique ."
She wasn't sure why she mentioned it again. She simply had.
"I think that is everything for now."
She lowered the box slightly.
Then raised it again.
"Oh. And my city is Calrath. In case that helps with your distance theory."
"And you don't have to worry , i shall not breathe a word about this."
With that she set the box down carefully on the dresser beside the key, the two of them sitting next to each other the way they perhaps always should have been.
Then she stood, looked at the jewelry still spread across the floor, and sighed.