Queen of Hearts

Little Black Book

That’s strange, she thought to herself as she walked along the morning shore- a little black book had washed up on the rocks that lined the water. The early 20’s young woman climbed down the rocks with her tall black rain boots until she was able to reach the book. She picked it up out of the water- hearing a distant sigh- she looked around, up, left, right- nothing. Ella shook off the erethral shivers she considered coincidental as she opened the small book; the pages coarse with no guiding lines or words.. soaked in sea water moments ago, it was as if the pages were protected, they were not wet. Curious, she tucked the book into her back pocket and climbed back up to the path- it was an overcast spring day, not many people were out and about so no one seemed to notice her aversion to the path. As she began walking again, she brought the book back out and casually flipped through the blank pages, “What an odd thing to find on the shore this Sunday morning.”, She thought quietly aloud. As she flipped through numerous times mindlessly, something caught her eye in the pages. She stopped in her tracks and flipped back through the previously blank book; characters in black writing at the beginning of the book began to surface more prominently- becoming more clear the longer she stared. In cursive, the words read, “Each shiny red broach you see, you must always be aware, mark the signs, be grateful for each.” she flipped the page- then back, the words were gone and replaced by a chart seemingly for tracking, so many questions surfaced.. “What the hell? How will I know?” She thought. A confused face she wore as polite passersby pretended not to notice this confused young woman with a black book stopped in the midst of a walking path. The book closed. Ella was unsettled at this Sunday find, “Usually Sundays are quite predictable”, Ella observed silently. She began to put one foot in front of the other, tracking what she had eaten today.. she knew she didn’t smoke any mind altering substances this morning, "Was this reality?” Her pace was slow- her gaze low as she pondered further. Looking up, there it was, a bright red broach on a walkers coat! Almost as though programmed, she searched for a pen to mark this sigting. The sun caught the shiny broach and pierced Ella’s eye- the book dropped to the ground as she shot her hand up to stop the beam, the book had opened to the chart, seemingly prompting a track. She gasped, and rapidly dug through her purse for a pen, pulling one out from the depths of her posh leather bag, she ticked in the box measuring her first sighting. After marking, a gust of wind turned the page, new writing began to appear, becoming more bold as she stood above the book staring. ‘Everyday there will be new opportunities, but not everyday you will see, track what you see- at the end you will be rewarded for what you have seen’. Picking up the book she continued, trying to logically comprehend the recent events in her Sunday. Unable to fathom the experience, she internalized the event; vowing to track these broaches amongst her daily life.