One More Adventure

When parents pass away, a hole is left behind in the lives of their children. The size of that emptiness can vary depending on the relationship between the parents and their children. It can take the form of relief in the worst cases. Maybe it’s a somber sensation that never quite goes away, always returning when just the right memories are recalled from the recesses of the mind. For Nora it was a boundless chasm, and she was standing at the very edge of it.

That was certainly the way it felt as Nora wiped away the tears stinging her eyes once again. She sat in the dim light of the attic in the home where she grew up, staring at a sea of surprisingly well-organized memories. Surprising to some, but not to Nora, since her parents always valued a clean house. She hadn’t thought it would be something that would benefit her when tasked with cleaning out her parents’ home once they were gone.

She winced at the thought of their absence and blinked away the fresh tears welling up in her eyes, brought on by the recent loss and overwhelming heartache. Her parents passed naturally, peacefully, and very close together, but that didn’t make any of this easier for her. She squeezed the stuffed bunny she held tightly in her fingers, one of the many nostalgic items she found as she gradually made her way through the house. The tattered, little animal gave her bittersweet courage as she pushed back up to her feet to move deeper into the attic.

Moving around boxes that held years of holiday decorations, Nora stopped and stared at the large, wooden chest nestled amidst stacks of cardboard boxes. Her blue eyes blinked rapidly in surprise before she walked over and sat down in front of a storage trunk that looked as if it belonged on a pirate ship, or perhaps in some forgotten dungeon guarded by dragons.

Nora swallowed the lump in her throat, bringing her palms up to her eyes as she suppressed the waves of emotion threatening to drown her. She was glad no one was there to see her. She felt ridiculous, but it took longer than she would have cared to admit to compose herself. “Get a grip on yourself, Nora” she whispered aloud, a habit she picked up from her dad. Feeling silly, she forced herself to laugh before tugging the unlocked latch open and swinging the trunk’s lid upward.

The sight of the contents brought forth softer, more genuine laughter, even as fresh tears threatened her composure. The treasure chest contained exactly what she thought it might. Dropping the bunny she reached in greedily and started pulling out the memories. She held up a pirate’s treasure map drawn on a crumpled piece of paper. She reached in again and found a small box filled with gold tokens, each declaring they weren’t valid currency. Beneath it was another box that contained folded up pieces of paper that were all cryptic clues leading to a rare temple artifact, an iridescent plastic dragon still missing the talon she accidentally twisted off years ago.

Every silly, amazing adventure was there in that treasure chest. Nora kept digging through the nostalgia as she remembered all the little quests her dad created for her. It all started with that pirate treasure in the backyard. Her dad hid the small box of tokens and left a map for her to find. It was one of her earliest memories.

Nora smirked as she picked up the map again, wondering if this was the first time she realized he drew the map with crayon instead of pen or pencil. It had seemed perfectly natural to a four year old. “What a goofball,” she whispered. She loved the adventure so much he put together many more for her as she grew.

How many had he done for her? How much time had they taken him? Nora found herself asking questions she never really considered as a child. Some of them were pretty complex, especially once she was a teenager. With that thought she leaned over the chest and pulled out a beige folder, revealing the stack of printed papers her dad used to craft and record a secret conspiracy online. She spent days and days following the clues across more websites than she could believe, considering he must have registered and created them all just for her. She followed the cryptic leads to where he had hidden the keys to her first car, a used gas guzzler she adored for years.

“$20,000! Yeah right,” Nora suddenly said aloud and laughed. That was always the value of the quest’s hidden treasure. She once asked him why, and he said it was a big enough number to really impress a four year old, who might as well have thought it was 20 million. It ended up becoming an Easter egg in all of her adventures. $20,000 in pirate doubloons buried by the Dread Pirate Mark, the name of a stuffed, green dinosaur she had since she was a baby. An ancient dragon artifact valued at $20,000 at least. A secret cybersecurity crypto key worth 20,000 yen; it actually ended up being a gift card for $200 for her 15th birthday. Her dad said 20,000 was still valid due to the conversion rate. That also explained the old, used car she was given before college. She was sure it was worth $20,000 new, off the lot, and her dad probably made sure of it too.

Nora could feel the tears beginning to well up again, blurring her vision, but not so much she failed to notice the one thing in the chest she didn’t recognize. Carefully her fingers clasped the black, leather-bound notebook resting against the back of the trunk and pulled it into her lap. Her thumb slowly brushed over the textured surface as her brow furrowed, trying to remember which of her adventures this came from. Her thumb slipped under the black, fabric strap holding it shut and pulled it to the side. As the notebook fell open in her lap, she lifted her hand slowly to cover her mouth while reading the words scrawled in pen across the page.

Hey Little Bit.

I know what it means if you’re reading this, so let me tell you this if no one else has. You’re going to get through this. I know it’s tough. I was there myself, once upon a time. But you’ll get through this. Remember what your mom used to tell you over and over. You’re strong, you’re smart, you’re brave, you’re kind, and you’re important. Your mom and I are so very proud of the amazing person you’ve become.

Now, I hope you can spare a little detour from whatever you had planned today. What do you say? One more adventure?

Nora stared at the page so long a tear slipped off her cheek and landed on the paper. Seeing the tear stain she quickly dragged the back of her hand across her cheek to dry it before turning the page. There in the same handwriting was a scrawled set of coordinates. Below it were two trees drawn with a sun descending between them in her dad’s terrible artistic style. She knew it was setting because of the arrow pointing down. She rolled her eyes and laughed at her dad’s attempt at landmark-making. He was never great at it.

The promise of another adventure was strong though. She couldn’t help but grin as she snatched up the notebook and headed for the attic stairs, feeling just like the little girl who found a treasure map waiting for her one morning. Nora’s thumb flew across her phone inputting the coordinates leading to the entrance of the large, national park just outside of town she often hiked with her parents.

An hour of anticipation later, Nora made her way through the trees trying to get to the precise spot described by the coordinates. As her phone’s map showed her getting close, she held the notebook’s drawing in front of her and gazed at her surroundings. She entered a clearing, and the sun’s descent on the page meant she should face west. It took little time to spot the two giant trees along the distant tree-line towering over the others. She ran to stand between them and then carefully counted out the number of paces scribbled in the book.

On the next page, Nora found another of her dad’s crude drawings. She shook her head as she wondered how long he was out here trying to get these directions exactly right. The drawing showed what looked like a winding creek and a hill with some sort of building on it in the distance. She spotted the creek and quickly started following it deeper into the park. Looking around, she began to feel glad she let someone know what she was doing during her drive here. “Way to go, Dad. I’m going to get eaten by 20,000 rabid raccoons, aren’t I?” she laughed, not really afraid. She hiked these woods so many times with her parents they felt like a second home.

For a moment Nora stopped, drew in a breath, and let the memories of exploring with her parents wash over her. The wind in the trees, the birds singing, the sound and feel of the earth beneath her feet. They invigorated her and left her feeling peaceful at the same time. She wondered if that was why he had brought her out here. That thought made her smile and whisper, “Thanks, dad.”

She followed the creek until she saw a hill peeking out behind the trees and a ranger’s station visible in the distance on the side of the same hill. She looked at the notebook again, turning the page to see another drawing of a tree hanging over the same creek and what she assumed was a large rock next to it. She spotted his landmark immediately. She flipped the page again, but it was simply a drawing of a big heart with an x in the middle. The rest of the pages were blank.

Nora walked uncertainly over to the last landmark described in the black notebook. She looked all around, confusion nearly bordering on frustration. “Come on, Dad. What…” she stopped as she spotted the same heart shape carved on the side of the rock. Bending down, her fingers traced the shape. “Okay, I’m here. Now what?”

She let her gaze drift around her but didn’t see anything else other than the carving on the rock. Looking back down, she pursed her lips before placing her palms flat against the surface. It took less effort than she thought it would need as she pushed, the rock shifting to the side to reveal a wooden treasure box hidden beneath it.

With the rock moved aside, she pulled the unlocked box free. Stacks of cash were piled inside, wrapped in plastic to stay preserved. Her eyes widened in shock as she touched it to confirm it was real. She didn’t need to count it. She already knew precisely how much was there. “$20,000. Dad, I can’t believe…” her voice trailed off as she found there was a note wrapped in plastic along with the money.

Nora’s eyes began to fill with tears once more as she read it.

Great work, Little Bit! I hope you had fun. Just make sure this isn’t your last adventure, okay? There’s a lot of adventure left to have. You just have to go out there and find it. But stop and look around once in a while on those adventures. I don’t want you to miss a thing. – Love, mom and dad.

“Okay, I’ll remember. I love you too,” Nora whispered with a smile as she looked up and watched the wind moving the leaves on the trees. It was a beautiful day.