“Come on, Pan, there’s got to be some way we can spin this,” cooed the nymph, cradling her friend.
“How?” Pandora sobbed. “I’ve ruined everything. Everyone hates me! I’m going to get blamed for the terrible things that will ever happen.”
“There must be something we can claim was good about it. Loads of things came out of that box,” the nymph squinted thoughtfully. “What about floods? Everyone likes swimming, right?”
“We’ve lost three islands to floods already!”
“Fine, not floods. What about greed? Having stuff is fun.”
“Peleus killed Atreus for his robes yesterday.”
“Not greed then,” the nymph sighed. “What about that weedy one that limped out last? What does it do?”
“Hope?” Pandora sniffled, wiping her tears on her shawl. “Oh, it makes people think good things might happen to them when there’s no reason to think so. I think the gods put it in to make all the other things worse.”
“But it’s perfect!” the nymph squealed, eyes aglow. “We can totally convince people that hoping is a good thing. Well, I hope so.”