An Unusual Inheritance

Inheritance is a peculiar thing. It is an explicit expression of one’s own mortality. Conversely, it is also a means to impact those still living even after death. There were once two brothers, Edison and Elias. The first brother was deeply moved by the beauty of life, while Elias felt drawn to the less esoteric and found comfort in money. Both brothers disapproved of the others life, however the more sentimental of the two, Edison, had a secret. He knew that for as much as he loved this life and the incredible things he had experienced, that journey seemed to be coming to an end. Instead of being mournful of this loss, he decided to use it as an opportunity to reconnect with his brother, even if this reunion were to come after his impending departure. Edison bought a little black book, plain in appearance, and began to write in it. He began to fill it with tickets to all the places where he found the most happiness. The day finally came for Edison, as it eventually comes for us all.

On this day, as was often the case, Elias worked late into the night. When he began making the ominous journey through the dark abandoned parking lot to where his car currently resided, he checked his voicemails. The first message listened was from his sister-in-law telling him about Edison’s end. The news hit him square in the chest as he stumbled the rest of the way to the stationary vehicle. Numb he sat, surrounded by the artificial comfort of pleather seats and faux wood. He listened to the message again until finally he began the long and usually quiet drive to his empty apartment. Along the way his thoughts though, were so loud that if they were to be broadcasted from his radio, his speakers would have blown out. After a couple of days of this noise seemingly becoming more amplified rather than dampening, he decided to attend the funeral and the reading of the will. All these faces gathered sporting a tapestry of expressions depicting things he could not sync his frequency to. Elias instead displayed the façade of a man neutral to the world, but inside that noise created turmoil. As with us all, he contained multitudes. Some make this commonality visible while others choose to hide their layers, and some may be oblivious to it entirely. Elias was one such person, none had seen into the depths of his complexity more than Edison. This insight ultimately led to the plot that would change the course of Elias’s life.

The will was read by a stone-faced lawyer with a voice which seemed to match perfectly with the drab appearance of their office. The oration went on through the significant and the inconsequential. Once the orator had finally finished their performance, Elias was stunned by the absence of his name. Storming out of the office all he heard was the call of his brother’s widow. Sarah ran him down with a look so intense that, if closer to the parking lot may have left many cars with flat tires. Along her shoulder was a leather bag, decorated with scars and stains that showed its life, Elias recognized it as being the one his brother had carried since College. Once coming to stand in front of Elias, Sarah began spelunking. After finding what had apparently been lost in the depths of the bag Sarah brought her prize to the surface. In her hand was enclosed an ordinary black book. The contrast in the new leather of the book and the worn material of the bag was apparent, but it brought the object into stark relief. A crack began to appear in the expression of Elias as he realized that this meeting was unavoidable and waited for the deserved scorn of this person. However, all Sarah did was maintain eye contact with him and said,

” Eddie wanted you to have this, he loved you and missed you.”

With those simple words Sarah handed over her package and looked at Elias a final time before turning to leave.

Standing in the hall of a law office, Elias was conflicted. While he may have yet to process the torrent of emotions within him, one suddenly jolted to the forefront of his psyche, anger. That emotion, so nuanced it can be, both in its creation and its application. Instead of throwing away this last gift from Edison, he opened the book. He furiously read what had been inscribed on this first page expecting some kind of overly sentimental drivel that his brother was so found of. Instead, he found a short note and an envelope taped to the inside of the cover. The note read:

Hello Brother,

I know that this may be quite the surprise for you both in my death and my gift to you. Though we grew up together and sprouted from the same tree inevitably our branches began to part. It has pained me to see this separation transpire and the fact I could not or did not try enough to broach it during my life. Instead, I have decided to give you a piece of me. I know you have thought that I could be infantile in what is important to me and what I have done with my life however, it led me to more success than I could imagine. I made enough to set up Sarah and the kids and enough to leave something for my brother. In this envelop I have included tickets to destinations that brought me so much joy in my life. I want you to experience things for which me relaying the significance of would do them a disservice. I have decided that this would not be enough enticement, so Sarah is to give you 20,000 dollars contingent on the completion of this expedition, with one condition. I want you to notice your surroundings and introspect about your journey, that is the purpose of the book. Much in the way my bag carried my possessions this book will hold your memories. When you are done, and the flights have been taken and the beds have been slept in, you will return to Sarah and show her your little black book. I asked her to not read it just to check that it had been filled out, only after satisfying this condition will she give you the money.

I know you probably think this is unnecessarily convoluted but those are my conditions. I love you and truly hope the best for you brother.

Till Next Time,

Edison

Six Months Later:

Elias had just arrived back from the airport departing with his duffel bag. Poking out of the front pocket of the bag was the corner of a faded black book. He found his way to the parking lot and called Sarah letting her know that he had landed and was on his way. After driving for about an hour he pulled up to a quaint little farmhouse standing behind a pond proudly sparkling in the sunshine. As Elias opened the car door and stood, Sarah exited onto the porch. Standing in her yard was a man that no longer sported the expression that seemed more appropriate for the bust of an old Grecian stoic. Instead, who stood before her was a man that looked content with his place in the world. Elias approached Sarah and brought with him his little black book, now covered in stickers showcasing exotic locales and foreign languages. The pristine condition that it had left in was far removed from the current state. It had obviously experienced much in the last six months. Elias looked at Sarah and skipped the customary small talk that seems integral to distant familial relations, because even though he had changed in some ways he still did not appreciate trivial conversations.

“Hello Sarah, here is my little black book.”

Knowing Elias’s dislike for pleasantries, Sarah just accepted the offering and began flipping through the pages. It was difficult moving past the first page as the handwriting of her departed husband was so prominently displayed. But, as she began to flip through the pages, she noticed how prolific Elias had been over the time of his journey. The pages boasted a plethora of writing and decorated with paperclips that held the ticket stubs of concerts and foreign films. Train tickets and polaroid pictures that found their second lives as bookmarks. This multimedia collage that inhabited this formerly mundane little black book felt alive in her hands. She looked to Elias,

“Let me go down to the bank and grab the money then you can come have dinner with me and the kids.”

Elias seemed to contemplate this offering and responded,

“You don’t have to do that right now, but I’d love to see my nieces and nephews, I have some things I got for them along the way.”

Sarah, stunned by the postponement of the reward and the subsequent acceptance of dinner, looked at Elias once more. Beginning to reconcile this new person with who she once knew, she turned to walk back into her house. This time Elias followed her, happy to reconnect with his family.