It was your typical hot Saturday afternoon when Emily and I had just finished watching a movie. Emily was dressed in navy blue Hollister jean shorts and a bright coral color camisole. She had white Vans on with just the slightest bit of dirt on them to give them color. I had on a dark black Rolling Stones tank top and black high waisted shorts with the shiniest gold buttons that went all the way up to the top of my waist. We had come out of the movies and were deciding what we were going to do next, we needed to get out of the heat. So we decided to shop.

We walked around for a while then finally ended up at Nordstrom. We couldn’t seem to leave and ended up there for several hours. Emily had told me that she was going down to the shoe department and I stayed at Jrs. We both proceeded on our own ways and were going to meet up later. When I was shopping I suddenly spotted an oddly beautiful brown box in the strangest place. It was under a big pile of unfolded graphic tees, just thrown on a table. It was shiny and smelled like newly fresh cut wood. The smell reminded me of Christmas time every year when the tree’s smell would flow throughout the whole house. I picked it up and flipped it over to find the price tag. It was $150.00 but I didn’t care, I had to have it. I purchased it and went to meet up with Emily. She bought a new pair of black and white tribal print Toms. When we got home I showed her the box realizing I hadn’t opened it.

I was really excited to open it. I was shaking like I was outside in the snow with only a hoodie. I didn’t know what was in it or how it looked inside. My heart raced every time I thought about what I would find. It just kept bugging and bugging me. Finally, I just ran and opened it. It had a slide lock so I just slide the hook out of the lock and opened it. I don’t think I should’ve expected as much as I did, because when I opened it all there was a big, fat, nothing. It was lined with black velvet though, that changed from light black to dark black depending on the way you slid your hand across it.

I was in absolute disbelief. I couldn’t  believe how much I expected from the box. I think I thought that it had a lot of character and its shiny appearance led me to believe there was something exciting inside. I guess I felt cheated because it was so expensive; in my mind it was valuable.

Even though my box had nothing inside of it, it is still really special to me. It is in my room and I keep jewelry in it. The box sits on my dresser so every time I lay down to go to sleep I see it. It still has the freshly cut wood smell I love. I think it was a lesson learned because it showed me how to handle disappointment and to check things before I buy them. It also taught me that the simplest things could be the most valuable.