The musty air filled my nostrils and I could smell old
books, rotten food, and rust. The medium sized room was stuffed with cardboard cartons,
ancient smelly books, a rusty red bicycle with blue strings attached to the
handles, and a huge slimy pizza splattered all over the wooden floor. This place seriously needs a renovation! I proceeded to the next carton and under the aegis of plastic sheets I discovered neat stacks of teen magazines. The
once glossy cover has now faded into pale colors. As I opened a magazine, a
few pages slipped and fell down. The remaining pages had turned yellow and
brittle. Every page was scribbled on thickly with a blue pen which marked the
thin, skinny models and their short romantic stories. Adding to that were flippant cartoons criticizing rich celebrities in a sarcastic manner. I turned over to the next
carton and found myself dozens of seashells. I extricated each shell from the tangle of webs. Each one was specifically labeled with
stickers and the shells were exquisitely beautiful. Most of the shells were of a
white, colorless texture with spots of orange and red in them. Some were speckled
with black and grey, others were corn yellow almost fading into white, and a
few even had splashes of lavender blue and purple. As I glanced at the other
cartons, I noticed that there was an antique wooden box far away from the rest.
A light brown veil of dust covered it completely. I cleaned the dust, which
revealed exotic carvings done on the box with the finest detail, covering every
inch with wood carving skill. I was stunned at its simple beauty. To my dismay,
the box was locked by a big steel lock demanding a password. I searched
frantically around the room for any sign of a clue, but found none. Something
in the carvings caught my eye, and I noticed three tiny letters scrawled across
the border. I put in those random numbers and it actually worked! Holding my
breath, I opened the heavy lid as the hinges creaked noisily screaming for
attention. Hoping to see precious jewels, beautiful antiques or even hidden
secrets I smiled in anticipation. It quickly changed to a disappointed frown as
I found two packs of colorful, childish and wrinkled pokemon cards!
