By Various Authors
Rated: PG13
Submitted: September 2007
Summary: This collection of drabbles (100-word vignettes) are related by the Pandora's Box theme. No two alike, they cover characters ranging from Tempus to Jimmy to Clark, Gretchen, Lex, Lois, Mxyzpltk, Martha and Perry. The original Pandora's Box was the vessel from which Pandora accidentally unleashed all the known evils of the world upon mankind. (Zeus was cranky because Prometheus gave men fire … long story.) But the good news is that she closed the box before the release of Hope. Hope sustains us today. Do we dare hope that our characters will survive the evils of Pandora's Box? Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one-hundred!
NOTE: This started out as a fairly simple challenge on the http://www.lcficmbs.com/ message boards. The idea was to write a 100 word drabble based on a set theme. Before I knew it we had a handful of people participating and it has now become a weekly challenge. These drabbles are fairly simple to write but we have had some amazing entries as you will see below. We hope you enjoy these as much as we all had writing them. — Jojo
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Drabble #1
Author: bakasi
He should never have followed the strange looking man. The adventures H. G. Wells had promised him had turned out to be Pandora's Box. What he had believed to be the fulfillment of all his dreams was only the beginning of a never ending nightmare. He had come to see everything that made life worth living, everything that he hadn't known. Whenever he had tried to wrest a better life from his fate, he had lost. Despite all his efforts he wasn't stronger than those forces that protected the future to keep it this horribly peaceful place that it was.
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Drabble #2
Author: Laura S
He panicked. He had really done it this time. The chances of forgiveness were about zero. No, knowing Lois they were less than zero. She'd find some way of holding on to this, some way to make him pay. Some twisted, horrible sort of revenge. His veins filled with ice at the macabre thought of it. He hadn't planned on misplacing the file. Or botching her story. Or even coming to work today. He should really look into leaving the country. When she found out that he had lost her work, all hell would let loose. Jimmy. Olsen. Was. Dead.
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Drabble #3 and #4
Author: Dandello
Title: Feelings
Who would have thought that blue spandex and a red cape could mean so much. Most people looked up to the alien who flew in to the rescue, aiding the emergency workers. He saw relief, joy, hope, even love, on their faces when he swooped in to do what he saw needed to be done. It felt good to be appreciated, even though those with baser motives frequently responded with fear, distaste, even hatred.
A Pandora's Box of feelings. All for a refugee from another planet who wore blue tights, a red cape and a funny symbol on his chest.
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He'd opened Pandora's Box. There was no going back. He'd thought it was a good idea at the time — pretend to be under the influence of Miranda's magic potion and declare his love for *her*, publicly, loudly. That she ran into his arms meant he had beaten his despised rival. It was something they could laugh about later.
There would be no later. He was dying in a kryptonite cage, listening to her marry *him*, the one who finally beat him. It was his fault insane jealousy got loose, was killing him. All his fault — he'd opened Pandora's Box.
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Drabble #5
Author: BJ
Always curious, her questions drove her relentlessly to discover truth. But everything changed when she fell in love. He discovered her secret desires and used her curiosity to satisfy his own lust for power.
Now, her fingers trembled as they slid over her triumph, his perfect form hidden from her gaze by only the green, translucent casing. His glass tomb embodied years of research, her efforts fulfilled with its restorative capabilities. It was time — time to conquer death and release her beloved. Gretchen threw the switch and smiled as the box opened, unleashing misery upon mankind.
Lex Luthor lives again!
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Drabble #6
Author: DSDragon
One word — that was all it took. One word, not even backed by any feeling stronger than curiosity, forged a bond of eternal enmity between them.
As Clark remembered his first years in Metropolis, he wondered what might have become of the very first year if he had not so cavalierly thrown out that one word.
A challenge, an intellectual hiccough, an entropic event which sent them spiraling into the duel of the ages.
Clark remembered, and he wondered, how would his life have changed had he not felt the urge to point out that the blade was "Macedonian?"
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Drabble #7
Author: Shadow
She attracted too much attention and opened Pandora's Box.
In a horrible, split second, her life collapsed.
Because her job was more than a pencil and some copy. It was even bigger than the criminals she put away and the daily risks she took.
Her job was to keep her partner alive. She would never have admitted it before, but she needed his cautious step to balance her uneven stride. He wasn't supposed to be as forthright as she was. He wasn't supposed to protect her tonight.
She may not have pulled the trigger, but she'd sentenced him to death.
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Drabble #8
Author: Clasicalla
Title: The Gift
Mister Mxyzptlk hated that overdressed clown in a cape. Every time he tried to bring chaos to *his* dimension, Superman always… *always* managed to get him to say Kltpzyxm. Well, this time he had an unshakeable plan. He would present Superman with a gift in the guise of a Kryptonian artifact.
When Clark got home from work, he was wary of the thing sitting on his kitchen table. Although it was covered with Kryptonian symbols, something was wrong — it was most assuredly not from his home planet. Upon touching the box, voices of *evil* invaded his mind. Pandora's Box would remain closed forever.
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Drabble #9
Author: Catherine Bruce
Title: Trunk
For almost twenty-five years, it had sat in her trunk. When he was a boy, she would sometimes take it out to study it, trying to figure out where her precious little angel had come from. For some reason, she could never bring herself to show him, even when he would ask countless questions revolving around the word 'why.' Eventually, she would tell him truthfully that he was simply the answer to every single prayer she'd ever had.
Now, she knew the time had come to open the box. When she held up the piece of cloth to her son, she couldn't help but smile adoringly at him, at the blanket. Everything was set free now, and with this symbol, she knew she had to share her baby boy with the world.
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Drabble #10
Author: Nancy V. Sont
He sat at his large desk and twirled his pencil, remembering. Clark about to open the storage room window. Disappearing under the desk. Pulling on his tie. Running out. His partner always rescued. Sonic booms after he'd leave. Superman stories in his lap. Superman his close friend.
"Kent! My office!"
"Yes, Chief?"
"It may be Pandora's Box, but you're going to sit here until you tell me everything."
"Everything, sir?"
Perry nodded slowly, bore into his eyes and enunciated, "EV-RY-THING!"
Clark raised his eyebrows. "Everything?"
"What? There's an echo in here?"
Clark shifted uncomfortably.
THE END
If you enjoyed these, please let the authors know. You can find the original challenge thread and comments here:
http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000622