The Suicidal Tide

I wrote this as a joke one day after stabbing myself with a falling box of Tide laundry soap. I have no idea why it came to me. But I sent it to my family and every body thought I was telling them I was going to kill myself. I had to explain it to all of them.

It had been waiting for months; maybe even years. Time had no meaning since the powdery white had been confined within the dark recesses of the cardboard box. The outside world only saw the bright and cheerful orange, yellow and blue. They had no idea of the long and torturous suffering the powdery white had to endure… knowing its vital purpose and waiting patiently… oh so patiently until the time when it would be free of the dark.

But time had also been patient, patiently and diligently weaving its way into the mind of the powdery white. Until enough time had twisted the thoughts of the powdery white; turning its pride of purpose to agonizing doubt that it would ever be free of the dark and then on to unbearable despair.

The unsuspecting shopper reached up, taking the box from its place on the shelf and placing it gently into the rolling basket. She smiled innocently as she casually strode through the brightly lit aisles and sang along with the canned music playing over the intercom system.
The powdery white had felt the movement and instantly felt a mixture of excitement and fear.
“Could it be now?” thought the scarcely hopeful powdery white, “Will I soon be free to fulfill my purpose?” But time was not about to release its grip on the powdery white.

“Don’t be so stupid!” it sneered, “you’re just going from one pointless shelf to another. You’ll never be free of the dark!”

The shopper moved the box from the cart to the conveyor belt that swiftly and smoothly transported it to the smiling cashier.

“Oh! It’s on sale!” the shopper realized. “And I have a coupon! So nice!”

Being mindful of the sensitive balance of the ecology, she needed no plastic or paper bags. And the shopper was happy. So happy that she politely refused the help offered by the bagger.
A decision that sealed her fate, for the powdery white could not have possibly escaped the hands of the experienced grocery boy.

So off strode the naive shopper, out into the bright sunshine and on to the waiting SUV; all the while completely unaware of the epic struggle inside the apparently harmless box. With one hand, the shopper gripped the box of powdery white to place it into her SUV. But the powdery white did not realize how close it was to its lifelong purpose and its struggle between sanity and delusion was finally too much to bear! It jumped from the shopper’s hand, falling helplessly toward the black pavement below! Time was joyous, for it was now only a microsecond away from victory! Time slowed to gleefully observe the events as they unfolded.

“Noooo!!!” Thought the shopper, knowing the explosive result should the box reach its current destination. Quickly and instinctively, the shopper reacted, using her leg to catch the falling box by pinning it to the side of the SUV. The box flailed wildly and unintentionally stabbed the inner thigh of the shopper with its corner, breaking the skin and releasing a slight trickle of blood.
The shopper yelled in pain! Pulling away… the box plummeted the rest of the way to the pavement.

Time stopped. The box bounced once, turned and rolled and finally came to its final rest. Ignoring her own injuries, the worried shopper quickly picked up the box. Turning it in her hands, she was stunned and grateful that no harm had come to the powdery white. Her blood sacrifice had been enough to soften the blow and the box had survived. She carefully placed the box safely into the back of her SUV.

Time was infuriated! Victory over the powdery white had been stolen from it at the very last second! As time watched the shopper drive away with her rescued goods, it swore that this war would rage on. Time never gave up. The powdery white would never complete its purpose. Time knew that eventually, everything succumbed to time.