Exactly What We Need

It is a frigid January morn, not unlike those of winters past. The land was blanketed in a fresh coat of glistening crystal while snow. Snow so white, so fresh, so deep and so cold. The air is fresh and crisp, a deep breath may cause a cough or two. Few animals dare to come out to play or forage for food today. However, there is a coup of young small squirrels playing in the distance. The occasional chirp from the birds in the trees. Not many though, not many. For this January morn, the temperature is well below zero. Nine O'clock A.M. and still below zero? Why this is unheard of, what is going on in the Universe today? There is something strange and exciting about this day that lie ahead.

As ten-year old Oslando wakes and wipes the sleep from his eyes he realizes that his room felt cold, he say, "My room is as cold as the freezer." From bed he arises and puts on his slippers and robe and makes his way down the stairs to the kitchen where he finds his mother preparing breakfast for the family. Oslando ask in a firm slightly loud voice, "Mom why is this house so cold this morning?" Christana, Oslando's mother responds, "The house is cold because I forgot to turn on the heater before I went to bed last night. When I realized it was morning and time to get up." Oslando ask, "But mom how could you forget you know we live in a large drafty house that takes forever to get warm. I guess it is fine. I will get warm as I move around and eat that delicious smelling breakfast you are cooking." Christana smiles, leans over and gives her beautiful boy a kiss on his slightly icy cheek. Oslando smiles and offers help to mom to complete breakfast for the family. As always, Christana accepts the help with a smile on her face. Oslando cracks a few eggs and butters a few pieces of toast. He sets the old sturdy table that sits so regally in the kitchen, a place for everyone, except the two dogs and two cats. Oh they will also have a special breakfast to help warm them as well, it just won't be toast, but will be bacon and eggs.

As Christana goes about her chore of preparing breakfast for the family and Oslando goes about setting the table. Christana notices out the kitchen window a skulk of arctic foxes. They look to be playing or maybe hunting or foraging for fool. Whatever they are doing they appear to be quite enthralled and rarely look away. Christana call to Oslando with joy and excitement in her voice, "Son come quick, look, look. Do you see the foxes playing in the snow out there?" With a bound Oslando is by his mother's side and looking out of the window. Oslando watches the foxes intensely and say nothing. Christana looks at him and ask, "Well what do you think of those magnificent foxes son? " Oslando responds in a breathy gasping manner, "Oh my mom look at them. Can I go out and see them up close after breakfast?" They are magnificent." Christana assures him that once breakfast is finished, he can go and see them, she reminds him they may not be there when he arrives.

Christana now urges Oslando to wake the remainder of the family and call them to breakfast. Oslando does just as he is asked to hasten the process of getting outside and observing the skulk up close. Up the stairs he runs and pokes his head in his sister Jenia's room. "Hey Jenia get up, it is time for breakfast. Sleep head." Jenia rises and wipes the sleep from her eyes and begins to complain of the cold, "Why is it so cold this morning Oslando?" He replies, "Well mom and dad forgot to turn on the heater before we all went to bed last night. But it is on now and the house is getting warmer, mom has a delicious breakfast cooked for us downstairs and there is a skulk of arctic foxes playing in the field out back. Get up so we can eat and go outside to see them ." Next, Oslando stops by his parents' room, he runs in and jumps on the bed to wake his father Donso. Dad wakes with a smile and ask, " Why are waking me up? Is it morning already?" Oslando responds, "Yes dad it is, it is morning and there is a skulk of arctic foxes playing in the field out back. Mom said I can go and see them after breakfast, come quick dad and eat so I can go outside and see them closely." Donso rises and readies himself for the day. The family meets at the kitchen table and eats their scrumptious breakfast that mom and Oslando prepared. The dogs and cats also eat some bacon and like the rest of the family.

When breakfast is complete, and the dishes are cleared from the table, the family dons their warm winter clothes for the day and put on their outer clothes as well. Oslando takes one last look out the kitchen window to ensure the foxes are still there. Yes, they are still there and it appears as if others have joined the fun. The family makes their way past the barn and shed in the backyard to the open field. They move cautiously, quiet as possible as not to disturb the animals. This short three-minute journey has now taken ten minutes. As they com closer, they see the foxes are tossing something about, but what could it be?

As they inch closer and closer to the skulk, Oslando whispers, " It looks like a bag or someone's jacket they are playing with." The family inches ever closer and foxes appear to notice them. The foxes stand with an alerted stance, they the air and look around. It is for certain the foxes have spotted the intruders. They give one last toss of the object and dart off a ways then stop and look back as if to make distance between themselves and the family.

Oslando and Christana creep to the spot the foxes had been playing. They spot the object that was being tossed about. Oslando moves cautiously to the object then softly says to his mother, "It's someone's new computer bag, but there doesn't seem to be anything in it." Oslando moves even closer to the bag and has lost all interest in the skulk, he has become interested in what the skulk had been doing.

Oslando moves stealthily, he bends over and gathers the bag. He is curious, now holding the bag he knows it is not empty. However, the zippers are frozen and will not budge. Oslando tells his family, "I'll take this bag home with us and open it in the house once the zippers are warm enough to work." Excitedly, Oslando informs his family the bag is not empty. He carries the bag home as his family travels along side all wondering what the bag may hold.

The family arrives home and rush into the house. Oslando places the bag next to a furnace duct vent so it can warm quickly. As the bag warms the family remove their outer garments in the mud room. With excited chatter many guesses are offered by the family as to what secrets the bag may hold They wondered why the foxes were playing with it, where did they find it, who does it belong too?

Thirty minutes pass and the bag appears to have thawed, the zippers now work. With excitement in his heart Oslando ask, "Mom, dad can I open the bag now and what it hold, maybe it is a treasure." Christana and Donso agree to allow Oslando to open the bag.. Carefully, Oslando retrieves the bag from the floor where it had sat to warm and places it on the kitchen table. The family gathers around, and the fun begins. First Oslando opens the front zipper and turns the bag upside down over and shakes, out falls a small black book that appears to be an address book. Donso picks up the book and opens the cover. Donso begins to flip through the pages of the book and announces, "There are things written in this book in a language I do not understand." Christana moves to Donso's side and looks at the book with him. Oslando and Jenia look at the book as well. The family agree they do not understand the language written there. As they continue to flip through the pages the language changes. "This is weird, remarkably interesting and weird. Maybe I will take this to the language professor at the university," says Donso.

Oslando returns to the bag and opens the main zipper, he turns it upside down over the table and out falls a package. A medium sized package that is wrapped in plastic. The family stand around the table and ponder whether they should open it. The take their seats around the table and stare at the package. Christana notices a note attached to the package, carefully she remove the not and opens it. The not is written in a language they understand and it reads, "This is a gift from the Universe. Enjoy this gift and use it wisely. There is more to come." This piqued the interest of the family. Donso picks up the package and tosses back and forth in his hands. Then ever so carefully he begins to remove the outer covering. Inside there is more packaging that Donso carefully removes as well. Once all packaging is removed, the family sees a stack of money. Everyone's jaw drops and dad begins to count the money. "This is twenty thousand dollars. A gift from the Universe?. How did the Universe know that we needed twenty thousand dollars to complete the renovations on the house?"

Oslando places his chin in his hands as he leans on the table, and stares at the bundle of cash, "I knew this would be a strange day when I got out of bed, I just knew it," says Oslando. Christana agrees and states that she had felt this day would be special as well. Donso takes the bundle of cash and puts it in a safe place. The next day Donso was going to town he take the black book with him. Donso takes the book to the language department of the university and talks to the head professor. Donso tells the professor the story of how he and his family came into possession of the book. Professor Dangleman listens intently as Donso tells the story, he then takes the book from Donso and begins to study the writing therein. With a puzzled look on his face Professor Dangleman states, "I have no idea what language this is. Never in my fifty years of studying spoken and written language have I seen anything close to this. I am stumped. I have no idea what language this is nor what it says." Donso tells Professor Dangleman that he has never seen anything like that either.

Donso returns home and informs his family that the professor could not help, "The professor has no answers for us so I guess we will keep it in a safe place, and we will spend the money as planned. Hopefully, we never get a knock on the door from someone who may have lost it."

Life goes forth and season change the family completes their home. Then one very cold January morn, Christana is in the kitchen cooking breakfast for the family when out the window she spots a skulk of arctic foxes in the field tossing something about, she smiles.