In Greek mythology, the god Zeus orders a lesser god to create the first woman on earth. The god charged with this task, Hephaestus, makes a stunning beauty out of water and earth. Her name is Pandora and the Olympians shower her with gifts, including a mysterious jar which, through a translation error, became known as Pandora's Box.
The Box contains various evils, so the gods tell Pandora not to open it. But she's curious. She lifts the lid a little, just to peek in -- and out flies war, famine, disease, and other calamities. Pandora manages to shut the lid, but not before trapping the one thing that can help humans overcome these scourges: hope.
Ross Martin of Sycamore, Illinois, updates this tale, filling the Box with distractions from our modern world.
I would look into it and know the date and time, the weather, traffic, game scores. It was a flashlight, a guide to the stars, a map and an encyclopedia. It dangerously provided something, anything, to occupy every idle moment. Its light was hypnotic, an insomnia-inducing beacon that by now was a constant companion.
Martin's story, "Pandora's Box," is the second selection of our "Three-Minute Fiction" series. It follows a prompt issued by award-winning author GK Wuori ("I'm a curious person. No, I'm a nosey person. No, I'm a snoop and it's finally gotten me into trouble."). Wuori selected this story, along with four others, out of more than 100 submissions. We'll broadcast the winning stories all week during Morning Edition.
In the link below, Wuori describes why he chose Martin's take on the Greek myth.
WNIJ invited the winning authors to our studios where we recorded them reading their stories. In the link below, we include our video of Martin.
"Three-Minute Fiction" continues Wednesday with "The Last Adventure," by Sycamore resident Greg Locascio. Listen during Morning Edition at 6:44 and 8:44 (CT). Then come back here for more information, including a video of Locascio reading his story.
Later this week we'll post videos of the five authors who got honorable mentions from Wuori.
If you like these stories, let us know by leaving your comments at the bottom of each post. And if you're talking about "Three-Minute Fiction" on social media, please use #WNIJReadWithMe.
