Pieces of Me

Early one brisk morning in March, one of those mornings you dont want to step out of bed onto the cold floor for fear of the icy shudders running through you, Nelly was sweeping out the back hallway carpet as she always did to welcome in new customers. Her bistro, inspired by her late brother, was such a hit the papers did regular pieces including something different about her spot. She somehow won the heart and belly of the editor and without fail there was something mentioned about her quaint bistro every week. Reddz Bistro became so popular she had to add a breakfast menu. It is adding that menu, that lead her to turn the extra room she had seperating the resort like bathroom from the dining area into a book lending library. Nelly had her husband Jack knock out one of the walls to open the space a bit. She added few lounge chairs, small wrought iron designed tables and a nook with a beautiful picturesque view of a lovely hidden garden and romantic trail that led to a lake. Candles adorned the tables and sconces as well as a massive crystal chandelier for dim lit occasions. To create an aura of serenity and peace Nelly accented each seated area with sheer white curtains appearing to float because of the invisible strings. Nelly divided the room from the dining hall with a beautiful silvery string curtain that glimmered under the recessed lights. The Winged Room as the locals called it attracted all sorts of patrons and attention. Of lately the majority of patrons were seniors and not just any seniors, they were of a spiritual or natural nature. They often brought gifts and the bistro usually did very good on those days. Nelly enjoyed them because they always left her with a positive note and huge tips for her staff. Everytime she looked at that part of her bistro she beamed with excitement for its beauty and new stories she encountered daily. This day though was like no other, Nelly dusted out the last rug when she heard a loud thump come from the backdoor. Hesitant, she turned down the music she had been playing to see if she heard anything else. There was nothing. With a sigh of relief she picked up the remote to turn the music back up when she heard another unexpected noise. This time it sounded like a whimper. Nelly usually parked in the back to get out easier once the dinner rush left out. She wondered if an animal got in her car again. She quickly flipped on the back light and grabbed her sweater and golf club she kept hidden near the door. As she opened the door she saw nothing, her nerves began to settle. She peered around the door to her car, horrified she dropped the club and lifted her hands to her mouth. Nelly slowly moved towards her car. On the hood of her Maxima was a basket. What horrified her was the little bundle peeking its head up from the basket and what seemed like mounds of covers. She frantically looked around, not a person in site. Daylight was creeping in on the now two of them. Nelly didn't want to panic. Deciding to take the tike to the nearest hospital, she grabbed the basket while fumbling around her pocket for the keys. Nelly placed the basket in the back, while trying to strap the baby in, a blanket fell open revealing a new surprise. The baby had a note and, what seemed like a glow.

The note read: Please, please help us. this is my baby Aurora she is of both your kind and mines. I cannot keep her safe and I am worthy you will. She is special, keep her safe. Nelly took a good look at the bundle and saw that it was indeed a girl with a full head of long ginger hair and semi pointed ears. She also noticed how beautiful the little one was especially when she smiled. Nelly wasn't sure what to do anymore. She jumped in the front seat and turned on the heat to keep them warm. The tapping at her passenger window nearly made her jump out of her skin. Instinctively she went to put the car in gear. The stranger put her hands up in a safe zone stance and gestured for her to role the window down. Reluctantly, Nelly slowly let the window down, enough to hear the stranger, still keeping her hand on the gear stick and foot on the brake. "Can I help you?" Nelly asked throught the crack trying to sound calm. "Yes" the middle aged woman said as she moved closer, and then she continued "I know your thinking how can I do this, what do I do and I couldn't help right now if I wanted to, but you're wrong. you can help. You can help all of us. When you go to the store make sure to buy a loteria." "A what?!" Nelly said trying to understand what and who this woman was. "Make sure to get a loteria when you go to the store" "Go to the store? I dont need to go to the store." shaking her head vehemently she was getting a bit agitated. "Really? then how else will you get the gas you need to move this car?" the older woman quipped. Astonished Nelly furrowed her brow in her growing frustration. "What are you talking about lady I got a full tank two days ago and..." Nelly glanced at her gage and to her horror the light was on, indicating empty. "What in the world?!" Nelly said a little too loud, startling the baby. She turned back to confront the woman but, she was gone. She had only looked away for a secon, staring all around she saw no one. She rubbed her eyes wondering if she was dreaming. She checked the time, still a couple hours before her first regulars came in. She decided to drive to the nearby 711 to fill up. Confusion racked her brain as she drove the 3 miles in silence, almost forgetting she had precious cargo in the back.

A block away from the gas station, Nelly decided that she would sit on what she just experienced for at least the night before she did anything brash and cleared her head. Her main objective was Aurora's safety. As she pulled into the gas station she saw a huge billboard for books that said Books are wonderous. It took her back to a flashback of a couple of weeks ago when one of her 1st regulars gifted her with a small black notebook held together by an elastic cord. The first thing Nelly noticed was that although the book seemed plain at a glance there was no title on it. Noticing her skepticism, the old lady told her that it was called the Book of Wonders. Nelly didnt believe much in fate and found the title to be a bit cliche, especially for a book that looked hand-written. The older lady warned her that the book was very special, very old and in the right hands could help with ones deepest desires. She even showed Nelly a section devoted to having kids. Nelly still cringed at the way she felt when the woman opened the book to the exact page on procreation. Earlier that same day Nelly and Jack had found out that he was sterile and her dream of children was squashed; seeing it made her stomach turn. Nelly read the section after the lady left, out of curiosity, and then placed the book on the top counter behind the hostess table with the intention to put in the library but she forgot. The baby adjusting herself snapped Nelly out of her revelry. 'Oh no!' She gasped. 'Could it really be?' she allowed herself to contemplate for a moment on the idea that some miraculously magical event just took place out of a dream. Suddenly the air felt thinner and head felt weird. Nelly shook her head to snap out of it, pulled herself together and parked at the nearest pump to the store. She turned, wrapped the baby back up, grabbed some cash and jumped out to pay for the gas. Happy she had the dark tints, she locked the car doors just in case. Pratically running inside, she requested and paid for her gas, almost forgetting about the weird lady tapping on he car a few moments ago. If it weren't for the clerk saying anything else 3 times she would of forgotten. Quickly surveying the scratchoff case, not knowing what to pick she felt the anxiety rising about leaving the baby in the car. Nelly turned her head to look at the car, when she turned back the clerk was adjusting the reel for a scratch called Loteria. Immediately Nelly blurted out "I'll take one of those." the aloof clerk slowly teared off one and handed it to her. Nelly dropped the 20 bill on the counter, shoved the ticket in her pocket and hurried out before she could get her change. Quickly pumping the gas, she jumped back in her car and sped off back to her bistro. When she pulled up she turned around amazed at how quiet and calm baby Aurora had been the whole time. Nervous about the story playing in her head, Nelly grabbed the basket and rushed inside with a clear direction in sight. She went straight for the little black notebook near The Winged Room.

As she rested the basket on the table the scratch off fell to the ground. Once again she almost forgot about it. It wasn't something she allowed herself to fantasize about. Her husband said the lottery was rigged for fools and liars. Still the bizareness of the last hour sent a shiver down her spine. Nelly glanced at the adorable baby who was now staring at her. "Oh what the heck" she said. She took her key out and scratched off the first box. The scream she let out should of scared the baby into a fit, instead baby Aurora cooed and laughed like she knew what just happened. The very first box Nelly scratched was a winner. She just won $20,000 and now had no excuse about affording to keep Aurora safe. Somehow, she knew that if she took on the task her and the precious little one would always somehow be taken care of. On that early brisk morning in March Nelly got her lifelong dream of being a mother and she could easily provide for her without disrupting any other source.

Next was to tell Jack. She let out a sigh and thought, well, I got this far can't turn back now.