He pointed in the direction of a mirrored wall.

‘And how are you feeling in yourself? A little nervous? There’s really no need to be, you know. Just take your time and repeat whatever it was that you did to open the box in the first place. How does that sound?’

Arthur nodded. He wasn’t just feeling nervous – he was feeling completely nauseous.

‘Good morning, all,’ said the general, coming up behind them. ‘Everything set, Doctor?’

‘I believe so.’

‘Excellent, let’s begin then, shall we?’ And taking the box out of his pocket, he handed it to Arthur.

‘Right, two minutes please, everyone,’ announced the doctor, guiding him over to the square concrete platform in the middle of the room. Empty, except for a single chair in the centre. Arthur sat down on it and waited nervously.

<<Such a lot of trouble>>,<< >>he thought, turning the box over in his hands and gazing up at the mass of cameras pointing down at him from rails mounted to the ceiling. <<And all I>>’<<m supposed to do is say >>‘<<open>>’ <<three times. Unbelievable!>>

‘Ok, Arthur, we are going to dim the main lights now,’ came a voice once the room had cleared.

Nodding, Arthur took a deep breath.

‘Ready when you are,’ said the voice.

Dark, except for a soft light above him gently illuminating the platform, Arthur cleared his throat and held the box up into the air.

‘Open. Open. Open,’ he said clearly and evenly.

Expecting it to suddenly leap out of his hands, he watched in horror as it tumbled on to the floor in front of him. <<Oh no! Why didn>>’<<t it shoot up into the air like last time!?>>

Picking it up, he glanced over at the glass wall, fully expecting to see someone come out of it. But there was only silence. And catching his reflection in the glass, he tried to recall what he’d done that day at the cottage. <<Where was I? I was in the attic. What was I doing? I was sitting on the floor. What did I do? I held up the box and said >>‘<<open>>’ <<three times.>>

Sure that the only real difference was that he was sitting on a chair, he slipped off it and sat cross legged on the floor. He raised the box up again.

‘Open! Open! <<Open!>>’ he said, this time in an even more commanding voice.

A crushing silence fell upon the room.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t understand what’s happened, but I can’t make it open,’ he said.

‘Are you sure you remember everything that you did the first time?’ came the voice.

‘Yes,’ replied Arthur.

‘Are you definitely sure?’

‘Yes, I’m sure,’ he said, already feeling foolish.

The lights flickered back on, and the doctor emerged with his father and the General. There was no hiding the troubled expressions on each of their faces.

‘Okay, now let’s think, shall we,’ said the doctor. ‘Where were you when you opened it, what was around you, what you were doing, and so on?’

Arthur ran his hands slowly through his hair.

‘I…um… I was at the cottage, upstairs in the attic. The room doesn’t have anything special in it—a bed, a cupboard, a few windows, Aunty M’s painting stuff… I was sitting on the floor, and I said the word “open” three times, and it opened.’

‘And that’s all?’ asked the general.

‘Yes.’

The doctor and the general glanced at each other.

‘Doctor?’ prompted the general.

‘I mean, I suppose we could try to move this experiment to a higher floor—to a room with a window, for example. But I struggle to believe that it could be significant. You remember what happened that night on the train,’ said the doctor, mopping his brow again.

The general nodded and shook his head.

‘Wait!’ said Arthur, ‘I… um… I know this might sound strange, but my cat was also there with me at the time.’

‘Your <<cat>>?’ repeated the general, aghast.

‘Yes, he was there when it opened.’

‘Doctor?’ Please don’t tell me that a <<cat >>could be the reason why this isn’t working?’

The doctor stared at him thoughtfully. ‘Well, I suppose that it could be possible,’ he said at length. ‘Given everything we know, there’s no reason why it might not be the case.’

‘But Doctor, a cat!?’

‘I am well aware of how it sounds, General. But please don’t forget that the boy is the only person to have successfully opened the box without destroying everything around him.’