Little Lottie and the little black book

It was a crisp Fall afternoon. Lottie looked at his mama as he put on his shoes with excitement. It was time to go to the park and play his tiny little heart out.

Lottie skipped the whole way to the park as he held his mom’s hand.

“Mama, who did you think will be at the park today?” He asked with sparkling eyes.

“I don’t know Lottie, but knowing you, I bet a big fun adventure is in store.”

Lottie’s smile grew from ear to ear and he giggled at his mom’s response. As soon as he made it to the park Lottie went off to play and make friends.

As Lottie slid down the slide he saw his friend Parker. “Hey Parker” he yelled gleefully. “Wanna play together?”

“Yessssssssss!” Parker responded as he wiggled his way towards Lottie.

“Uh, why are you moving like that?” Lottie asked.

“Well I decided today I would be a Komodo dragon” Parker responded.

“That is so awesome! I want to be one too. I can be a blue Komodo dragon, ok?”

“Ok! Follow me thisssssss way” Parker said as they started to play near some small trees by the park.

“Let’s play dragon hide and seek! But let’s make sure our moms can still see us” Lottie said as he waved to their moms who were now chatting on a park bench.

“Sssssounds good to me. I’m it. 1,2,3...” Parker began to count and Lottie went to find the best hiding spot as fast as he could.

As Lottie went to hide behind a big tree he crawled like a dragon. He went to sit behind the tree, but felt something under his pretend paw right near some roots. It felt smoother than any tree he had touched before.

“What’s this?” he thought to himself. He dug a little deeper into the soil and saw more of the smooth surface. It was black in colour and almost matched the soil around the tree perfectly. As Lottie continued to dig out his new found treasure, he could see it was a simple, small, black journal book. He pulled it out and forgot that he was a Komodo dragon playing hide and seek. He opened it up and saw some words. Lottie only knew a couple of words so he wasn’t sure what the message inside the notebook said, but he sure knew what he saw in the middle of the mysterious book.

“Money” he whispered to himself. Silver and gold coins. The page beside the money said $20000.

Wow. He thought, that looks like a lot of zeros!

“Found you” Parker said as he crept up towards Lottie.

“Ahh!” Lottie was startled. Forgetting about the game Lottie looked at Parker and said

“I found real treasure Parker! I was just here and I found this book. It has words on it and money! The money just fell out. It’s says there is uh... well a 2 with lots of zeros. That must be so much.”

The boys laid down together in shock and awe. They stared into the sky and smiled wondering what they could we do with all that money. The clouds that day were perfectly fluffy clouds covered the sky.

Lottie began to see shapes in the clouds and move using his imagination. Every word that came out of his mouth seemed to be illustrated in clouds. It was like watching a cartoon in the sky.

Lottie said with some excitement “We could go and buy so many lollipops. I bet we could buy 100! Or we could get Komodo dragon costumes and learn to fly!” Parker’s eyes lit up at Lottie’s last idea.

“We could buy a submarine and see all the cool fish in the ocean. And eat pizza at the same time!” Parker said with joy as he chimed in.

It was then that they began to dream so many dreams that only a child could dream.

As they dreamed they thought of one of their best friends, Julie. “Wait. We could have a big party to make Julie happy!”

Julie had been sad because her parents lived so far away. She missed them, her grandma took care of her. Julie’s parents didn’t have enough money to fly to visit her, she hadn’t seen them since the day She flew and moved to Canada.

“We can have a surprise party for Julie! Parker, I bet we can fly her mommy and daddy here!”

They both got so excited. Parker paused slightly saddened “But can we still get 100 lollipops and dragon outfits?”

“It wouldn’t be a fun party if we didn’t!” Lottie exclaimed as they got up and began jumping up and down for joy.

“We should go ask our moms what the note says and how much money these coins are actually worth.” Lottie said. Parker nodded with so much excitement and then bolted towards their moms...in lizard fashion of course.

“Mom, mom, mom!” the boys exclaimed. “Mom I’m so excited. I think I am going to explode with happiness and giggles!” Lottie exclaimed as he reached his mom.

“What’s all this about?” Lottie’s mom asked as she captured her son’s cuteness in her mind like a photo.

“Look mom!” Lottie said as he passed the little black book to her.

She looked at Lottie a bit oddly and opened it up. As she began to read the note inside the little black book her eyes began to grow wide.

“Mom... what does it say? Why aren’t you happy. Shouldn’t we be happy?”

She continued to read as if she didn’t hear Lottie and her mouth opened. She began to cover her mouth with her hand.

A few moments ago, while Lottie played, his mother had shared how his father had been laid-off and was struggling to find work these past few weeks. As she read the words of kindness in the little black book her eyes welled up in hope. She then read the handwritten note out loud.

“Dear person who finds this book (insert your name here),

My father was a man who loved to search and find treasure. In our life time all his treasure amounted into a great wealth. My father’s sense of adventure was big, but not as big as his smile when he brought adventure and joy into the lives of others. We hope that a family near this park can find this instalment of his treasure. When he passed we knew leaving a few of these notebooks with such a surprise treasure would change lives just as our father deeply changed ours for good. This treasure is yours now. These coins amount to $20000. Please bring hope to others with it, but also take care and treat yourself. We want you to share in his joy. Please share what you do with the money to the news so we may share in your joy. Love,

The Mystery Family”

Everyone hugged each other. Parker’s mom hugged Lottie’s mom and said “You guys need this. We are fine really.” They all jumped hugging in a circle.

“My prayers have been answered.” Lottie’s mom smiled.

“Mom?” Lottie said as he tugged on her shirt.

“Parker and I had one thing we wanted to do with the money...” he continued to explain their plan for Julie. His mothers eyes lit up and she smiled.

“That sounds just perfect.”

About two weeks later Lottie invited Julie over to his house for a dragon party. As they celebrated surrounded by lollipops and fun music their was a knock on the door.

“Go answer it Julie.” Lottie said

Julie thought that was odd, but her grandma nodded. She ran to the door and as the door opened her eyes filled with tears of joy. It was her parents, they had come all the way from Thailand. They picked her up in their arms and jumped for joy.

The joy was contagious as everyone began to celebrate and hug in the room.

“Thank you little black book.” Lottie whispered to the new little black book framed on his wall.

And then looking at everyone Lottiie shouted with joy in his green dragon costume.

“Who wants a lollipop?!”

The party was better than his imagination could have ever conjured up.