Hidden Miracles

The sky was crazy today! Swirls of blue intertwined with pale greens, and shades of pink. I was laying on my back in the cool grass. I could feel the leftover morning's dew dampening my cotton shirt. I caught a whiff of the lilac bushes that my gran had planted years before and gently smiled as I watched the clouds change their floating shapes. It had only been three weeks since gran had passed. She was everything to me and now I was all alone. I laid there for the millionth time, next to the babbling creek in her backyard, pondering what my next life move would be, having no money or hope after a grueling couple of weeks of selling off most of gran's life gathered items. The only thing left was the old farmhouse, 15 acres of unused farm land and an old antique dresser that she kept her knitting supplies in.

I had come to live with gran when I was 8 years old after witnessing my fathers untimely death. I had developed this intensely strange ability to feel both emotionally and physically, what humans around me felt. My distraught mother couldn't accept my new "gift". I guess it was too much for her when I would scream out in pain when a childhood friend would fall and hurt themselves or a stranger in the store would be upset and I would consequently start maliciously throwing cans off the shelves. She felt I needed to be far away from humans, hence my sweet gran took me in to live with her on her secluded farm. My days were filled with grace and ease once I settled into farm life, having mother nature as my best friend and gran to support my every mood. Now barely being an adult, mother nature seemed so quiet with gran gone.

I got up and shook off my damp clothes and slowly walked up to the empty house. I was hoping that the sales from all of grans belongings would put it right and I could keep the house. I let out a giant sigh as I stepped onto the creaky kitchen floor. I made my way into the parlor where her old dresser stood, looking as alone as I felt. I could smell the musty odor of age as I ran my fingers across the dusty top. I couldn't stop the rush of tears that needed to fall from my heavy lidded eyes. Taking a deep breath, I started opening the drawers to gather the last of grans knitting items. The dresser was going to be picked up later by it's new owners. At the back of the top drawer was a little black notebook. A memory of gran rocking in her wooden chair, writing in it, swept through my mind. I never knew what she was writing as it wasn't my business and I really didn't feel comfortable looking through it even now, but as I went to put the notebook in with the bag of knitting gear, a loose piece of paper fell out. I picked it up and walked out to the porch for a better look. It was a crude drawing of some sort of map. Upon closer inspection I noticed the drawings on the map ended at a picture of the creek right where we always had our Sunday picnics. Following my new paper guide, I made my way to the new destination. The creek was flowing a little heavy due to the rain storms we had days prior and the birds were reaping the moist benefits with all the plump worms that were washed out of their soil homes. The map had a drawing of a large sea shell next to the big oak tree. Sure enough between the tree and the creek's bed was a big white shell half covered in soil and grass. With a tender smile, I bent down and pulled it free from its earthly confinement. So funny gran would make this little map just to some shell. Maybe it was a rare, special shell? Shrugging my shoulders I stood up and was dusting of my dirty hands when a little piece of shiny metal caught my eye. It was under where the shell had been. Bending back down, I cautiously starting digging up this new object. It was a big tin can! With dirt filled nails, I Popped the plastic lid, gazed inside and promptly fell to my knees. Shaking, I pulled out a large wad of hundred dollar bills! Counting one, two, three, all the way to two hundred! Shock and excitement overwhelmed me. The exact amount of money I needed to keep gran's house was $20,000! I was saved by gran again, even after she was gone. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I gazed at the sky, to the heavens where I knew gran was smiling down on me and shouted "Thank you, gran! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Feelings of hope and relief now floated through my body. I was going to be just fine, thanks to gran and the map from her little black notebook.