The Box, Chapter 11
The Box is a short story I wrote in 2020. It inspired my second novel, Can You Be.
This is Chapter 11.
White Point Garden, Charleston, SC
Read below or watch/listen to the video at the bottom of the page:
Angel Oak held a special place for Naina. The first time she’d seen it was the one time her father and stepmother visited. They arranged a car through the hotel. The tree was believed to be up to 500 years old, one of the oldest living oak trees in the country. It stood sixty-five feet tall and shaded 17,000 square feet of ground. The largest branch of the tree was 187 feet long. It was named after the estate in which it grew—Angel Estate. It was said that the ghosts of former slaves guarded the tree like angels, and always Naina peered around the branches hoping to catch sight of one.
She felt connected to the tree as if it provided the comfort and compassion her parents weren’t able to. Ever since then, Naina went to Angel Oak when she needed solace. That Saturday was one such day. Armed with her crystal in her pocket, she took a Lyft to Angel Oak.
The night before, Alice dropped Naina off at the Whole Foods. Naina was pleasantly surprised at the offer, hoping it was a sign that things were on the mend.
Right before Naina stepped out of Alice’s car, Alice turned to her and said, “We’ve terminated you and you’ll receive pay for two weeks as a direct deposit, as usual. There is no reason for you to come back on Monday. You’re too meek and lackluster, and we need someone more personable and dynamic at the desk.”
Naina blinked her big brown eyes at Alice, feeling numb. “Ok.”
She shopped as usual, and when Raiya stopped by with a bottle of Chardonnay later that evening, she didn’t say anything to him. She was too scared to face the facts.
As Naina traced the tentacular branches on Angel Oak, she let the tears fall. Branches reached out like an octopus, some digging into the earth before breaking the surface once again. Naina felt worthless. Even her mother hadn’t wanted her.
She willed the tree to give her answers, directions, or something. What would she do next? How could she stay in the apartment?
She had learned that the world could change in an instant. Her mother could be dead when she came back from school. Her father could bring in a strange woman on a Saturday morning as she ate her cereal. Or her father could ask her to pack up her clothing on the pretense of a holiday trip, only to tell her she was off to boarding school as he handed her off to the air hostess.
Still, she wasn’t ready for this. Despite being ready to leave at a moment’s notice, there was nothing more unnatural to Naina than to deal with change. She rested her forehead on one of the branches and thought she felt the pulsing of the sap running through the tree, giving her the odd sensation that she felt the pulsing of the Earth. For the first time since getting the crystal, she felt the angelite in her pocket pulsating in a synchronized beat to that of the tree.
“Naina, what is it that you truly enjoy?” Holy Man in his perennial white was leaning against the tree next to her, eating a corn dog.
She was unsure of what he meant.
“What would make your heart burst into a billion blazing sparkles?”
Watch or listen along below: