Grandma's Last Words

Eric sighed aloud, frustrated with a word he couldn’t find. It had been three weeks since he received this crossword book from his Grandma and in that time he’d solved all but the last puzzle. Not even one word of it!

Taking a break to get his “brain loose” as Grandma used to call it, he went downstairs to grab a snack. Grandma had left the house for us when she died, which helped them out a lot. His parents fought about money all the time but at least the house made them a little happy.

His mother works nights, always tired - unless she is out shopping with her friends. She is so much happier when she is shopping or spending time with them, but it also causes her and dad to fight more. His father is a manager at the local grocery store. Even though he works lots of hours, he never seems to make enough money. His parents hoped that there was money coming with the house, but according to Mom it was all just… gone.

Eric wanted nothing except his grandma back. But that’s not how it works; he already knew death. Last year a car hit their dog Miles, his dad rushed him to the vet but when he came home, Miles wasn’t with him. When Eric asked about it, his father went silent before sitting him down to talk.

“Son… Miles won’t be coming back home again.”

“Why not?”

“Because he died son, and when someone dies, they don’t come back again… do you understand?”

Eric thought he did, and it made him so sad he cried right there in his dad’s arms. He loved Miles, and it was hard not to have Miles there to play with him and chase him around the yard…

When his Grandma died, it was even worse. He felt sad for days and days. His grandma had been one of his best friends. She watched him most of the time when his parents were working or sleeping. They spent their days going to parks, taking walks to new places, and on rainy days (which was most of the time) they played word games together with tea and cookies. Eric’s grandmother loved games such as scrabble, crosswords, or sudoku. She always said it was how you can best exercise your brain as you get older.

At first Eric had a tough time learning to play and would get frustrated. Over time, though, she taught him how to needle out the clues and find the right word. Practicing every day, it came faster. But this last book she had left him had him frustrated again. The first few puzzles were challenging, but fun and didn’t take much time. This last one was different. There were seven words, two vertical and five horizontal. There were a few hints and starting letters, but they didn’t help. The first word down had eight letters, starting with a ‘T’. The hint being “something hidden”.

He had been thinking about this for the whole dreary afternoon as rain poured outside the window when it hit him like a flash of lightening. Sometimes when the rain kept them inside, they read fun adventure stories, taking them to faraway places of blue seas and sunny skies. One of his favorite books they read was Treasure Island, and that was the clue. Hidden treasure! The next word down was eight letters long, started with ‘M’ and ended with an ‘S’, the hint was “sleep”.

As night fell, he knew his mom would get ready for work soon. Just as his dad settled into his evening routine: watching sports and drinking beer. Eric, frustrated at not cracking this next word, headed downstairs to make himself dinner. When he entered the kitchen, his mother had a surprise waiting. She had ordered pizza for dinner, a rare treat. Better yet, it had stuffed crust and all the best toppings.

Eric thanked his mother through a cheese filled mouth and she smiled while telling him not to speak with food in his mouth. His dad came in a minute later, taking in the scene.

“Where did you get the money?”

“Relax hun, I got a huge tip from a private party last night at work. Plus, we had a coupon.”

He grunted in response before putting half of the pizza onto his plate before shuffling back into the living room.

Mom just sighed, shaking her head before getting up and putting her dishes in the sink.

“Hey Mom, do you know any word that starts with ‘M’, end with ‘S’ about sleeping?”

“Hmm… is it mattress, another word for bed?” She busied herself with tidying up the kitchen while gathering her purse and keys.

“Can you spell that for me?”

“M-a-t-t-r-e-s-s, is this for one of your puzzles?”

“Uh-huh! Thanks Mom, that must be it!”

“You’re welcome, hun, don’t stay up to late tonight, ok?” She looked over at the clock and her face blanched. “Oh Lord, I’m late.” She rushed over and plopped a quick kiss one Eric’s head before dashing out the door and into her car.

Eric grabbed his pen and wrote the word his mom had just taught him before he forgot it. Then he rushed up the stairs to the playroom and wrote the letter in pencil in case they were wrong, but they matched. Now for the real fun! Each word solved made the next even easier.

Sitting in his grandma’s favorite chair, he looked at the next line down. A favorite relative? That was easy, “Grandma”, of course! It didn’t fit as there were too many spaces, but it could be Grandma’s! Filling so many boxes had lit a fire in Eric and whooped with joy. Jumping onto the chairs and pumping his fists in the air. That was until his father yelled up at him.

“Keep it down!”

Despite that, his enthusiasm was practically bursting. He was halfway finished now, and nothing could slow him down.

Let’s see… next was a four-letter word for broken paper that started with ‘T-O’. It must be… “Torn”! He was on fire now! Next was… a five-letter word of something that doesn’t show. Starts with ‘H’ and ends with ‘S’ and doesn’t show… it “Hides”! Unbelievable, weeks with nothing, and now he only had two words left.

Ok next, a land down…. Starts with ‘UN’ ends with an ‘R’. Being almost complete made this word easy. Duh! It’s a land “down under”! One of Mom’s favorites songs.

Here we are at the last word! Hint: Part starts with ‘S’ and ends with ‘N’… what the heck does that mean?

Eric groaned, thinking this word was going to be obvious. It was disappointing, but this last didn’t make any sense. His grandma sometimes told him to look for a patterns in the words. Taking his notepad in hand, Eric put each word out in a line. “Treasure”, “Mattress”, “Grandma’s”, “Torn”, “Hides”, “Under”. These words had little in common, but the answer must be here.

Sighing in irritation he started mixing the words up into a different order, hoping to find a pattern. It was three or four tries before something made sense. “Grandma’s Treasure Hides”. Using this as a base he put the rest together. Grandma’s treasure hides under torn mattress, Eric wondered if his grandma had left him something more than just a puzzle book when she’s died…

Was there a torn mattress in the house? Taking another look at the puzzle, he tried moving words around again and came up with a different order: Treasure hides under grandmas torn mattress. Even with the last word missing, the message felt right. Now he just needed to check Grandma’s bed.

Running all the way into Grandma’s old room, left untouched since her death. He crawled under her bed where he barely fit and began checking for tears in the bed. Right on the bottom corner he found it. A torn piece of fabric sticking out between the mattress and the bed frame. Eric's heart was beating so hard he could hear it in his ears. Reaching up, he tried to pull on the fabric, but it wouldn’t budge.

He wasn’t strong enough to lift it from the outside when he’d tried, so he decided it was time to call in the big help.

“Hey Dad!! I need your help. Dad!!”

The door opened while he was under the bed inspecting the tear and his father grumpy voice called out from the doorway.

“Eric? What are you doing in here? You know you’re not supposed to come in here, it would upset your mother.”

Sliding out from under the bed, he ran up to his dad and shoved the crossword puzzle into his face. “Look, Dad! It right here in the book Grandma left me.”

Disgruntled, his dad grabbed the book out of his hands and looked at it.

“What are you talking about?”

“Look!” Eric said, pointed at the message. “She made this puzzle book for me before she died, Dad. She must have hidden a treasure for me to find. I just wish I could figure out the last word…”

“Hmm, well my guess would be… ‘Section’, ‘Torn Section’. I guess we should look, huh, buddy?”

Erics eyes lit up with excitement, “Yes! I’ll climb under if you can lift the bed.”

Alright, you ready? One, two, three and up!

His dad lifted the bed while Eric got a good hold on the ripped fabric and pulled. There was a loud ripping noise, and the fabric came away. He found himself pummeled with heavy bundles of money in a rush. Money! More money than Eric had ever seen fell out of the mattress. As father pulled the bed all the way up, he looked at Eric, now buried to the hip.

“Oh my God…” His dad said in awe. “It was here the whole time?”

“Isn’t it great Dad?” Eric said as he threw money into the air, letting it rain down.

His dad laughed in delight, picking him up and swinging him in circles with joy.

“Yes, son… wow. Just wait until we tell your mother, she’s never going to believe it, heh!”

“Does this mean you guys will stop fighting now?”

His dad looked at him in shock.

“What? Oh, Son, I… Your mother and I fight about money that’s true but… well there’s more to it than that.”

“So… this doesn’t help?” Eric asked, crestfallen.

His dad looked from the money to him, seeming to decide something.

“You know what? It just might. Let’s go call your mom. I think I’ll ask her to take the night off of work.”

After she came home, they all laughed and hugged each other in disbelief. His father apologized to them both for the way he’d been acting. The bills were just so stressful for him. Promising things were going to be different now, he hugged Eric and his wife.

His mother was crying and clung tightly to his dad. “Thank you! I’m so glad to hear that.”

“I love you both! Now what should we do with all this money after we pay the bills?”

“I don’t know Dad, what do you think?”

“Honey?” Dad asked.

“Why don’t we save or invest it, honey? I trust you”. His dad then ruined the moment by kissing his mom, but he let it slide.

Eric wasn’t sure how they were going to spend it and didn’t care. He knew his family was going to be okay now, and that was the best gift his grandma could ever give him.