Flowers for Martha

Flowers for Martha

The snow was swirling frantically about her head as Brianna walked the half mile home from her daily shift at the local cafe. “Someday”, she thinks to herself, “ I will find a better job, a better place to live and change my life”. The cold tugging at her face as she grips her coat tighter around her. She finally manages to make it home only to find her power has been knocked out by the snowstorm. She screams to herself, “There has to be something better for me”!

Lighting a fire in the worn, stone fireplace with what little amount of wood she has left, she finally finds warmth. As she soothes her aching bones by the roaring fire, she slowly drifts off to sleep. Suddenly the sound of a siren racing down the street awakens her. Its daylight. Oh no, she must have overslept. Checking her watch, she realizes her shift starts in 30 minutes. How will she ever make it there on time. She bundles up and races out the door only to find that while she slept so soundly another foot of snow had fallen on the already blanketed ground. She begins her march to work. The cold once again licking at her face. Teasing her, taunting her. When she finally arrives, 15 minutes late, she is told she no longer has a job. So quietly, without a word she turns to make her way home again.

Halfway home now, exhausted from the walk in the deep snow, Brianna sees a bench and stops to rest. As she sits there thinking upon her life, the tears begin to flow. Softly and gently at first. Then the floods came. The tears rolled down her cheek as she sobbed uncontrollably. She looks up to the sky as she watches the new snowflakes falling softly around her and thinks to herself, “Will I always be this lost and alone”? And she drops her head in bitter silence as she watches the snow around her build even higher at her feet. She stands to make her way home. As she does, she notices something peeking out of the snow. Just a tiny corner of something poking out as if it were reaching for the sky. She scoops the snow away carefully to find it’s a tiny black book. Bound in the softest leather, with the initials MS imprinted very elegantly on the front. It was fastened only with a small strip of leather wrapped tightly around it. Obviously, at this point, anyone would be curious. After all, she was the one who found it. Surely that gave her the right to take a small peek inside.

“Hmmmm, so far nothing interesting,” she says as she turns the pages. Then something caught her eye. A small flower pressed tightly between the pages. It was not a flower she recognized. She had never seen this species blooming anywhere around here. It was most beautiful shade of lavender. And even though she could tell it has been between these pages for an exceptionally long time, oddly enough it still had the most vibrant hue. It was as if this precious delicate memory refused to fade away. She beings reading the pages where it had been so neatly tucked away. “ Oh my”! she declared. It was a love letter written inside this book. Now she was very intrigued. She sat back down on the bench to continue reading. At this point, she has forgotten all about the cold whipping around her with such fervor. She was transported to another place, another time, where love lived and for a time, she forgot all about her troubles and her worries and maybe she even felt a little glimmer of hope.

“My dearest Martha”, she read silently to herself. “You have been gone from my life for 20 years now, and yet I still miss you even more with each day that passes.” “ I saved this flower for you…the one from our last vacation to Milano.” Her heart was now aflutter at the thought of how much he loved her. She wondered if she would ever find that kind of love. The kind that grips you from within and holds on for eternity. Even though she felts as if she is intruding into someone’s private thoughts, she felt compelled to continue reading. “Each day I sit by the window and watch for hours thinking you will return to me”. “I know I will never find another love in this lifetime that could compare to you”. A single tear trickles down her cheek as she feels her heart breaking for this stranger. It could be someone she passes by on the street every day and yet she would never know. Obviously, it is someone who enjoys sharing her favorite resting spot. Otherwise, how would this little black book have ended up here at her feet. And what if this person has passed away. How sad it would be. But then then the realization dawns on her. At the rate, the snow was currently falling and the amount that feel overnight, this book had to have been dropped here as recently as this morning, or else it would have been buried in this snow until the spring thaw. And none of the pages had even gotten wet yet. She just missed the owner of the book by only minutes! Now, it has become a quest. What else did she have to do all day but sit in a cold room and fret over her troubles. Frantically she began skimming through the pages for a hint of who this book may belong to. On the very last page she found it. “Martin Stevens. 143 Stonebrook Lane”. She read it again, very excitedly. This address was only a block away!!! She gathered her thought and began the trek though the violent snow to return this book to its rightful owner.

As she approached the address, she could not believe her eyes. A mansion stood before her. Vast and exquisite. She had never seen a house with such beauty. She rang the bell, and a butler opened the door. She said she was there to see Mr. Stevens. The butler led her to a room where she waited. Soon a very strikingly handsome man appeared before her. He introduced himself and asked how he could help her. She was very hesitant, as he did not look old enough to have lost a love over 20 years ago. However, she went on to explain what she found and proceeded to hand him the book. His hands were shaking as he took it from her, and she was almost sure she saw tears well up in his eyes. He asked her to sit, and she did.

“This book belonged to my father, he passed away a few months ago”. “ I am so sorry”, Brianna said, “ I just came to the address in the book”. He continued, “My parents were the greatest love story that ever lived”. “They loved with a passion so deep and pure that it gave me hope to one day find that”. “I like to go sit on the bench where they used to spend their evenings gazing at the stars together, it makes me feel close to them still”. “I often take this with me to read as I sit there”. He paused for a moment as if he were searching for the strength to go on with his story. She sat quietly, patiently, wanting to reach out a hand to this person who was in so much pain, but knowing she could not. He finally regained his composure and caried on with this story. “It wasn’t until I returned home today that I realized I had lost the book somewhere in this snow.”

“ I thought it was lost it forever”. “ I don’t know how to every repay you for your kindness or to show how much this means to me”. She very sweetly replied, “There is no need to repay me, I am just happy that I could help this little book find its way home”. Suddenly he had an idea. “The snow outside is getting worse, and the cold is so bitter. Please stay here for the night”. “ I have so many empty rooms you can choose which ever you like. “ This big ole house can seem really empty at times and I would truly enjoy the company”. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, the thought of returning to that cold dark apartment was nagging at her from deep inside. So very politely she thanked him for the offer and accepted. They spent the entire evening, talking and laughing. Getting to know each other and she felt as if she had made a new lifelong friend.

When it was time to turn in for the night, he let her know that he had to leave on a business trip incredibly early. She was welcome to stay if she liked and when she was ready to go home his driver would take her. He then bid her goodnight. The next day as the driver pulled up to her appt building, he handed her an envelope as she was exiting the car. Odd she thought but took it. Once inside she opened it. There was a note, thanking her for bringing the book home to him and a check for $20,000.00. She had no clue he had already put out a reward for the return of it. He knew she did not do it for the money, but he wanted her to have it. The note also had this message. “There are not as many people in this world as honest as you, you have proven yourself to be very trustworthy”. “Not only did you return my property, but you stayed in my home and left with only the things you came with”. “I could really use someone like you in my firm”. “Therefore, I would like to offer you a position with my company, please come see me Monday and if you are interested, we can get you started right away”.

She cried once again, but this time they were happy tears. Just yesterday her world seemed so bleak and despairing. She thought she would never find her way back. But though it all Brianna had never given up hope. She no longer was lost…she was no longer alone.