Lucky Charm

Adam slumped over the kitchen table, covered his face with his hands, and tried to hold back the tears. I will never see her grow tall. Teach her to drive. Watch her fall in love. Why can’t I catch a break? I work hard, do right.

His daughter Alice had a rare blood disease. Without the proper treatment she had only months to live. He envisioned his life without her, and it was faded, somber, meaningless. Adam crumpled the letter from the hospital and dropped it to the floor. He had no savings, assets, rich relatives or credit. He was behind on rent, low on luck and out of hope. He shook his head in despair. How the hell am I going to get $18 762?

He heard a creak, turned his head and caught a glimpse of Alice descending the stairs, hugging her stuffed animal Piglet. Quickly he wiped his tears, gathered his composure, and put on a brave face. Alice climbed onto his lap and nestled her head on his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around her tiny torso.

“Book?” asked Alice.

“How about we make the most of this sunshine and get some fresh air. Why don’t you go upstairs, get dressed, Mommy will help ya.”

“OK Daddy.”

Alice’s love for books emerged from countless hours spent in doctor offices, waiting rooms and hospital beds. Cradled in his arms, Alice would get lost in the tales of Charlotte’s Web, The Wizard of Oz, and Winnie the Pooh. The friendly farm transported her from her cold, unfriendly surroundings. The magical land of Oz rescued her from her boredom. Her friends were Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Adam made a coffee and added a shot of Baileys Irish Cream to ease his nerves.

He looked up and saw Alice at the door, tapping her shoe. She was wearing her favourite Lucky Charms t-shirt for the third day in a row.

“C’mon Dad, time’s a wasting.”

It’s funny the things kids pick up from their parents.

His wife Julie came to the door to see them off. “Where are you guys headed?”

“You know Mr. Thompson a few doors over? He’s moving to a retirement home and there’s an estate auction today. Thought

we’d go check it out.”

“How exciting. Don’t stay out too long.”

“I’ll keep a close eye on her, I promise.”

The warmth of the sun painted their faces as they travelled hand and hand down the sidewalk.

“Daddy look!” Alice pointed to a twenty dollar bill lying on the ground.

Adam looked left and right; the owner was nowhere in sight. Casually Adam bent down, picked up the bill, and placed it in his pocket.

“What d’ya know—twenty dollars. Guess this is our lucky day.”

The auction was a hive of activity. The busy-bee buyers flew around as if pollinating every item for sale. The auctioneer shouted numbers with supersonic speed in an attempt to stir buyers into a frenzy and encourage the purchase of fishing rods, kitchen utensils, and table lamps. Adam and Alice perused the various odds and sods: canoe paddles, a dusty old record player, a rusty table saw.

“Hey Daddy can we buy that?”

“Nope.”

“How about that?”

“Nope.”

“What about this? I definitely need one of these.” Alice held up a shoe horn.

“Perhaps…every kid should own at least one shoe horn I suppose.”

“What’s a shoe horn?” Alice didn’t wait for an answer, she discarded the shoe horn and made a beeline across the yard.

“Daddy, Daddy come look.”

“We can’t afford it,” Adam said automatically. He approached and became intrigued. The shamrocks sparkled on Alice’s Lucky Charm t-shirt as she hovered over a cardboard box of old children’s books: Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. He sifted through the books, inspected the dust jackets, sniffed for musty odours, and checked for damage. “Wow, these are in great shape. Nice find Alice.”

Adam was a bookworm, however he was not well versed in the value of vintage children’s books. He pulled out his cell phone to investigate and brought up Nancy Drew listings.

Holy crap, three hundred bucks! He put his phone away and opened his wallet. Dammit! Fifty dollars, is that it? Adam decided that despite his lack of funds they would stick around and try their luck.

They waited… and waited… and waited. Finally the box of books came up for auction. The auctioneer, a short red-headed fellow with a handle bar moustache, stood on a wooden box and started to shout. “Next up a box of vintage kids’ books, somebody give me fifty-fifty-fifty-fourty-thirty-twenty? Bring these home to your kid and you’ll be a hero. Do I hear ten? YUP! How about fifteen.YUP! Twenty? I got Twenty. Do I hear Twenty-five?

A bidding war began between an old man with a crooked tooth and a middle aged women with a purple mohawk.

“Twenty-five!” Adam yelled. Alice jumped, unprepared for the outburst, and gripped his pant leg tightly.

The auctioneer panned to the old man. “Do I hear thirty? Ok we got thirty, forty?” He directed his gaze towards the purple mohawk; she dipped her head yes. The auctioneer ramped up the pace and glanced back at Adam. “Fifty?”

Adam nodded.

“Sixty,” said the old man.

Adam turned to Alice. “Well Ali, we gave it our best shot.”

“M’am do I hear seventy?” The auctioneer locked eyes with the woman; she took a moment to contemplate then bowed out of the contest. Adam turned away defeated, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Sir, Sir, don’t quit now.” The auctioneer pleaded. Adam felt a crinkle in his pocket and pulled out the twenty dollar bill.

“Going once… going twice…”

“Seventy!” Adam shouted.

“I knew you weren’t a quitter,” the auctioneer said with a twist of his handle bar moustache. “We have seventy. Do I hear eighty?” The old man glared at Adam and then at Alice.

Adam whispered under his breath. “Please give up. Please give. Please give up.”

Adam cringed. The old man raised his arm to bid. The hand came out and down in a gesture of dismissal. The old man grumbled and then shuffled off.

“Sold! Seventy dollars too?” Adam held up his number.

“Did we win Daddy?”

“We sure did.

Adam emptied his wallet and handed the clerk his last seventy dollars. He looked over at Alice and his heart melted as he realized he had not only bought an old box of dusty books, he had also purchased the priceless smile on Alices’s face. They headed home and Alice fired a steady stream of questions along the way.

“Why did that old man only have one tooth?”

“He forgot to brush his teeth.”

“How many books are in the box?”

“Twenty I think.”

“Can I get purple hair?”

“Ask Mom.”

“Can I have ice-cream?”

“For lunch? Probably not.”

Adam walked through the front door and set down the box down on the deacons bench.

“I was starting to get worried. How’d it go?” Julie asked.

“It went OK.” Adam replied.

“It went better than OK, look at all the books we got, Mom!”

“Wow that’s a lot of books, you're a very lucky girl.”

“Ya, I think of few of these could be valuable,” Adam said.

Julie rolled her eyes. “You mean valuable like the hundred bucks you spent on vintage silverware that turned out to be worthless; or the deal you got on the busted motorcycle in the garage?” Silence filled the room and then the dreaded question. “How much did these books cost anyway?”

“Seventy,” Adam confessed.

“Seventy dollars! Are you kidding me? We’re behind on our rent and you spent seventy dollars on books!”

“This is different.”

“It always is. Come on Ali let’s go upstairs, it’s time for your medicine.” Julie took by the hand Alice by the hand and headed upstairs.

Adam was determined to prove Julie wrong. He divided the books into two piles; keepers and sellers. Adam lifted the last book out of the box, and hidden underneath was a black Moleskine notebook. He gave it a cursory glance and added it to the keeper pile. He then posted six Nancy drew books and four Hardy boys for a hundred and fifty each.

“Lunchtime!” Julie hollered from the kitchen.

They ate ham and mustard sandwiches, while Alice regaled her mother with the tale of the days adventure.

“I found twenty dollars, and then I found the books, and then Daddy and an old man fought for the books and daddy won. You want to know why, huh, huh.” Her voice began to sing.” Because-because-because-because-because! “ Adam chimed in for the finale. “Because-of-the-wonderful-things-he-does!”

Adam checked his phone for the third time.

“No phone zone,” Julie said.

“Holy crap, I just sold two books for three hundred dollars!”

“Shut the front door!”

“I told you, I bet we make a thousand bucks.” Adam let out a smirk of redemption.


“Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” Julie said and then swallowed her final bite of her sandwich. “Sorry Honey, I didn’t mean that, you did good. I’m proud of you.”

“You’re not selling my books, are you Daddy?”

“Just a couple, we still have lots of books we can read. How about after lunch you pick one out and I’ll read it to you?”

“Deal.”

Adam lounged on the tattered living room couch and Alice picked the black Moleskine notebook off the top of the pile and brought it over.

“This one.”

“That’s not a book Ali. Pick another one.”

“I want this one,” she persisted.

“You’re the boss.” Adam opened up the notebook and on the inside cover it read, “This notebook belongs to J.K. Rowling. Notes and idea’s for Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone.” He read out what appeared to be storyline edits and revisions to one of the most famous stories of his generation.

“Jules! Get your gorgeous butt in here and have a look at this!” Julie, in no particular rush, sauntered into the living room. Adam handed her the notebook.

“What’s this?”

“Just look at it.”
 She scanned the pages.

“Is this what I think is?”

“Yep, look at the name on the inside cover,” Adam said leaping out of his seat.

“It’s just a black Moleskine notebook, do you think it’s worth something?”

“I’m about to find out.” Adam posted a message in his book collector’s Facebook group asking for help. Adam bit his nails and bounced his knee incessantly, hitting refresh every three minutes. The afternoon passed by painfully slow.

Why isn’t anyone answering?

Julie took a seat in the recliner next to Adam as a Facebook messenger notification popped up.

“My collector friend says it’s worth Twenty thousand dollars! He had a close look at the pictures and it’s definitely authentic. He knows someone who’s willing to buy it. Can you believe it!” He whisked Julie off of her feet and spun her around. Glorious tears cascaded down his face. The knots in Adams stomach untangled and his anxiety retreated like a defeated army. Adam felt ten pounds lighter as he collapsed on the couch. Gratitude swelled like a tidal wave in his chest. The universe had finally given him a break.

“Book?” asked Alice as she snuggle by his side on the couch.

“Absolutely.”

Adam, in honour of the days events removed Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone from the bookshelf.

“Daddy, today is my new favourite day.”

“Mine too.”

Adam’s soul overflowed with loving-kindness. He started to read and Alice drifted off to the land of dreams. Adam gently kissed her forehead, and whispered in her ear.“I love you, my lucky charm.”