Why must the box never be opened? Who made the rule? Why is it important? What is the objective? Who gets to make the rules in life and who has empowered them to do so? Life can be a never-ending encounter with rules, guidelines, and restrictions. Through the years they creep into the mind and over time, they subtly take control of the thought process. Like giant mechanical claws, they clamp down with a torque so extreme that there is no possibility for the mind to escape to a freedom of imagination. The mind conforms to the confinement of the adhesions that have bound it. A short-sighted paralysis engulfs the individual making them incapable of thinking outside of the box that must never be opened. What types of people have fallen prey and are blinded to the things that control them?

***
A mysterious wooden box sits on a shelf collecting dust in the family room. It has been there for as long as Stephen can remember. In fact, it is an heirloom that has been passed down from generation-to-generation beginning in Finland in the year 1642. Its creator gave specific instructions that it must never be opened.

The small box is bound with twine making its lid secure and prohibiting it from being opened. It is believed that no eyes have ever observed the contents of the ancient relic. Even so, the mysterious box has the ability to powerfully change the lives of those who possess it. Why was it never to be opened? What does the box contain? What power does it possess that can create turmoil and alter the course of a life?

***
Of all the stories you have ever read, how many of them do you keenly remember? Which ones have had the most impact on your life? Which ones caused you to want to share them with someone? Which is easier to recite: A speech that you heard when you were in high school or the words to a popular song from that era?

Many people fondly remember fables or parables that artfully illustrate a point. Their memory can easily be recalled. Animation and music have a profound way of remaining familiar. Likewise, examples using fictional characters and events may sometimes have a greater impact for influencing a change in a person's circumstance than a page of listed facts.

The fictional characters in this book have a vital function. They are creations within a drama designed to portray a situation that has been enlarged for the stage of life. The goal of the drama is to stimulate thought and challenge any predisposed personal conclusions of the reader. Many characters and settings in this book were spawned from scenes from real-world scenarios. Some stories have characters that experience the triumph and joy of being freed from the captivity of a false idea; others may not have figured it out yet. The tragedy in some stories is that mankind has not seen advancement in the application of intelligence or wisdom since his creation. Some stories may imply that from generation-to-generation, some root issues never really change. It begs the question of why nothing has worked and why superficial cures are still applied. Blind ignorance possesses a few characters. The speck that they observe in the eye of another, reveals the log in their own eye; their hypocrisy becomes quite apparent at the conclusion of the story.

Sometimes, a story will have an abrupt ending. When that happens, the hope is that the reader will evaluate what has occurred and draw their own conclusion of the synopsis. Then, creativity and imagination is essential for a determination of what should happen next.

Sit back and enjoy these short stories, fables, and parables. Let these characters dance across the stage of your imagination and entertain you ... or make you mad. Just remember that it's fiction, and it hasn't really happened-or has it?