Pandora's Inbox

• Michael Diguglielmo, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2015

Pandora sat in her desk chair with an absent mind, thinking about what she could’ve been renowned psychiatrist, award winning author, or the lawyer that brought justice to the wickedest of criminals. She was none of these things, and was only similar to one. Lawyer. She was not the bringer of justice, but almost the opposite; she worked for the law firm in one of the shadiest of companies: ZeusCorp. ZeusCorp was an oil company that got most of its resources from Greece, in abandoned archaeological sites, not that the public knew that. Artefacts that were found as the company cleared land were destroyed as they had no use, if they really were special however, they were sent to Australia for Calvin Zeus, the founder and CEO of ZeusCorp. Greece was rich in oil, but no one had tried to find oil there for a long time. The few people that were aware of this company’s rather questionable method of obtaining oil would go to extremes to stop them. Since Pandora worked in the company’s main building where Mr. Zeus mostly stayed, she saw most of these failed attempts to stop the company. This involved mild affairs such as the egging of the building, to someone destroying her building’s power generator. She and her workmates had seen it all, and were no longer even fazed by it. So as she sat there, playing with her luscious brown hair and staring at her own, deep sapphire blue eyes behind her black rimmed glasses in the reflection of her computer, she sighed and ate her Caesar Salad. All her workmates hated it here too, and ideas of leaving arose, but with the low economy causing prices to skyrocket, the thought of quitting seemed far out of reach. Then, a ping! Sound that seemed to echo in Pandora’s ears woke her from her endless daze. It was a memo from Mr. Zeus. DEAR WORKERS! THIS IS A MEMO FROM THE GRAND MR ZEUS HIMSELF! DUE TO A MAJOR THREAT AGAINST OUR MIRACULOUS COMPANY, ALL EMPLOYEES ARE NOT TO OPEN ANY EMAILS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, AS WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY MAY CONTAIN A TROJAN VIRUS. REMEMBER! A WORKER IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE CONDITION OF THEIR COMPUTER!
Pandora shrugged at this and then continued with her salad. But no more than 10 seconds later, another ping rang from the computer. It was a job opportunity from Prometheus Lawyers! This was her dream job! She hesitated, but then made sure no one was looking and clicked on it. Her computer shut off and a feeling of guilt clutched her. Then she blinked for a split second and when she opened her eyes, everything had changed. The room was tattered and stained, windows boarded up and smashed. She looked at her table, and the salad was crawling with disgusting grey moths the size of her palm, Pandora screamed. Harsh whispers could be heard around the room and they were whispering her name…