Her Inheritance

Of all of her family members, Aspen was the most tolerable. She sat on the chaise lounge chair of the entertainment room, separated from everyone else. She couldn’t even look at them as they haggled over pieces of her grandfather's estate, arguing over minute details of his confusing will. She sat in silence, grieving in isolation.

“The old man didn’t even leave the house to anyone, he wasn’t all there at the end”, her mothers voice broke through her anguish, grating at her nerves.

She could hear her sister arguing in favor of her and her fiancé Garret moving in, given their upcoming nuptials.

Which should have been hers, Aspen thought to herself. Hers and Garret's own relationship had preceded her sisters, but quickly disintegrated because he had found her “uninteresting”. Not that she blamed him. Sienna was beautiful - hair that glittered like gold when the sun hit it, and large green eyes that made her look almost princess-like. Most people would compare them, noting her sister's angelic aesthetic as compared to her average looks. Mousy dark hair, average brown eyes, even her pale skin was marred by a smattering of freckles. It didn’t matter that she was a scholar, or that her sister had no other notable character traits. She was boring, she was a doormat, and she now she was completely alone.

“And no one knows what the old bat did with all of the money, he shouldn’t have had control over his estate. You know how his mind was slipping,” her sister spat.

“Here,” her mother had pushed a tote box towards her. “Your grandfather left you the books. You can go through them and take whatever fits in the box. I’ll be selling the rest.” She informed her.

“Shouldn’t I have more time to go through all of the books? Can’t I keep them all?”

“You have until the lawyer comes, then you’re cut off.” Her mother gave her a leveled stare, so Aspen abandoned her questions in favor of the task at hand. The lawyer had taken a while anyway. An issue with the will. With a heavy sigh, she lifted the bin and headed towards her grandfather's office.

She walked over to her favorite section of the room, her Grandfather's fantasy fiction. A phantom voice broke through the barrier of her mind, as memories shook her.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit”, he would read all of his stories to her, as their family enjoyed the more material things. Her sister and mother fawning over her grandmother and all of her earthly possessions. She smiled to herself as she remembered their exasperation about not having inherited anything when she had passed. Instead everything had gone to her still living grandfather, and subsequently, hadn’t been seen since. That was when her family had abandoned him. Still, Aspen had attended a close school, and lived with him. Towards the end, she’d read him the hobbit as well.

She walked over to the book, and smiled as she pulled it off of the shelf. She lamented about the fact that she didn’t have time to flip through it, and placed it gently into the tote. Lifting her eyes back to the shelf, she looked at the book that was next to the Hobbit. It was unmarked, and unremarkable - with a black leather spine. She lifted it perplexed. Of all of the books in the library she’d poured over, this was one that she’d never seen. She looked at the clock, and then back at the book. She was sure she’d be able to argue her case about the books with the lawyer once he arrived, so she sat and opened it.

Flipping through the pages, she squinted at the scrawling that she saw on each page, and smiled. This book was her grandfather's journal. She flipped through quickly, feeling some guilt at invading his privacy, until something caught her eye on the last page.

Dearest Aspen.

Flipping to the page completely, she began to read.

Dearest Aspen,

I hope you realize that you’ve always been different. My little librarian. Your family may have pushed you to feel shame for being different from them, but I’ve always appreciated your quirkiness. After your grandmother, I would consider you my second love.

I always wondered where I went wrong with your mother. After a while, all she seemed to care about was the money. I suppose that it wasn’t very nice to hide it all, but I’ve always been mischievous.

You deserve the world, darling. I’m afraid your family has taken you for granted. Just know, I haven’t. They’ll find that they get nothing in the end, or if they do, it will be your decision. And they say “dead men don’t bite”.

Yours forever,

Pop.

Rereading it once, she squinted at the last line, then stood back up - walking slowly back to the fantasy shelf. He’d quoted another of the books that they’d read together, another personal favorite.

It seems as though my grandfather has made my selection for me, she thought to herself, sliding treasure island from its spot. As she removed the book, she noticed a crack in the corner of the shelf, and pressed her finger to it. Rather than wall, she was met by a vacant hole that she was poke her finger in, and able to feel around. Standing, she pulled on the shelf.

Slowly it swung open, a doorway to another room. Of all of the time that she’d spent in this spot, not even she had ever seen this. Her grandfather had always been peculiar about book selection, and would insist on retrieving them himself. She’d always assumed that it had been out of chivalry, but he was an interesting man - as he said, mischievous.

As she entered, she felt the wall for a switch, and as light flooded the room she was met with a surprise. Older wooden chests lined the room, with the exception of a desk in the center of the room and another black leather-bound book in the center of it. Walking over to the desk, she lifted the book and opened it slowly. Empty pages, aside from a personal message he had left on the inside cover.

Aspen, you have all the resources you’ll ever need to write your own story. - Pop.

The rest of the day flew by like a dream. She’d opened all of her ‘treasure chests’ and discovered her grandfather's revised will, more books, her grandmother's jewelry, over $20,000 that her grandfather had left her, and other personal treasures. Her favorite by far was the gift of his journal, and one of her own. Aspen had closed the door to the room, and taken the initiative of calling her grandfather's lawyer herself. After the lawyer had arrived, her mother and the rest of her family were informed of the implementation of the new will. She seemed to be the only one who delighted in her grandfather's treasure island and hobbit surprise.

She was met by a chorus of curses, and angry faces. She didn’t let any of them waiver her newfound truth: She was the sole heir of her grandfather's estate, and allowed to do with it what she would.

After the events of that date, she was not surprised that she did not receive an invitation to her sister's wedding. It’s not a wedding that she’d looked forward to anyway.

Aspen resolved to embark on her own journey, and eventually, when she was ready, she resolved to settle down with someone that did not find her boring.

While her story has yet to be written, it wouldn’t be surprising to find that she would eventually create her own family - as quirky and tolerable as her.