As she slept, she had a dream about the box. In her dream, the box wad bright and beautiful, and it softly whispered her name over and over again, "Pandora......Pandora......." it said. Then she took the key out of her pocket and carefully inserted it into the lock. As she turned the key, the box became even brighter and more beautiful. When she opened the top, she was amazed because the box was filled with the most beauriful jewels that she had ever seen!

These were her gift from Zeus! But why wasn't she supposed to open it? With theose jewels,  she and Epimetheus could live like a King and Queen!

She awoke from her dream and sat up in bed. It was stil dark, and Epimetheus was in sleep at her side. She jumped out of her bed and ran out to her garden.

Her hands quickly pushed away the rocks that sat over the hole. She moved the heavy rocks so quickly that her hands began to bleed, but she didn't notice because there was not yet pain or suffering in the world. She dug into the earth and didn't stop until she felt the top of the box. Drasping the box with excitement, she pulled it out of the hole and placed it on the earth beside her. Almost without realizing it, she put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the key.

For a short moment,Pandora looked at the key laying in her hand. The metal was cold, and Pandora had never felt cold before. Unable to stop what she had began, Pandora put the key into the lock. The felling of cold ran through her body quickly, but she ignored it. She opened the lock and threw the the top of the box.

Suddenly a thick, black smoke poured out of the box and came into her eyes. She felt something that she had never felt before: it was pain. She could not see clearly and began to cry. When her vision returned, she looked down to see thousands of tiny monsters escaping from the box. They were running and flying out of the box in all directions, spreading out into the world. She grabbed one of the monsters in her hand, and it bit one of her fingers. She immediately became ill from the bite, and her body fell down onto the box in her arms breathing heavily and feeling the sickness that the monsters had given her filled her body.

After a minute, she heared a small voice cry out,"Please open the lid of the box." Pandora listened to the voice and worrid that it was just another little monster trying to trick her. "Why should I let you out, " she cried, " I've already caused do much damage!"

"Please let me out of the box," said the voice. " I'm not like the others, I can help to fix what you have done; I can reduce the pain and suffering of mankind. " With her last bit of strength, Pandora opened the top then fell back down onto the earth. A small, golden light then appeared before her. When Pandora looked at it, she saw that it was a small woman with a pair of wings. The tiny woman came down to Pandora's face and kissed her lightly on the nose. Suddenly, Pandora's suffering lessened, and she had the strength to sit up again.

The tiny woman hung in the air before her face, " I'm called Hope," she said. " I'm the last thing in the box. Through your curiosity, you have released many terrible forces into the world. Each of these forces has a name: Old, Age, Sickness, MIsery, Selfishness, Greed, and Ugliness. The people of earth will no longer live easy lives, but i'm the Hope that will give them the strength to fight these force. I wish that i could do more, but  that is the best that can be done. "

Then Hope flew away and a golden light followed her. From that day on, people began to get sick, grow old, and die. But they would always have Hope to help them. This was the punishment of Zeus upon men for taking fire from the gods.

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