The New House

It was hers. Finally, hers! After weeks of waiting and hoping, piles of paperwork, hours of praying, repeated meetings with the bank and the relator. Finally, the house was hers! She stood quietly inside the front door and slowly looked around, taking it all in. Gently she closed the door and took a step forward, her boot clattering on the solid wood floor of the living room. Stopping, she looked down at her boots, smiling in total contentment at the sound as she imagined the boys running down the halls in their bare feet in the mornings.

She had purposefully left them at her parents', wanting these few moments alone, just to wander through the house by herself. It would need paint. Everything, well, except the floors of course! They were perfect. The joy and contentment filled her heart and she began to tear up as she walked down the hall, her fingers sliding gently down the wall as she walked. It still had that musty smell, from being empty for so long, but that would go away soon enough. Just painting the walls would take care of that! She smiled and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through pursed lips.

She wandered slowly down the hall, pausing to look into the bathroom for a moment on her way to the master bedroom. It will need a little work but, it would definitely do! Reaching the end of the hall, she paused to glance between what would be her bedroom and her oldest son's. The excitement was almost overwhelming as she turned and entered her room, picturing in her mind the things she had planned for her personal space. Walking over to one of the large closets that were built into the wall, she pulled open both doors and flung them wide! They were huge! The storage throughout the house was amazing and she was thrilled to finally have the space to put things out of the way. Her mother had commented on the boys being able to climb inside the cupboards during "hide-and-seek" and the fun they would have! Smiling, she closed the doors softly and moved back into the hall. Looking up and down, thoughts filled her mind with paint colors and design ideas. Where to put this, and would that fit there? She just couldn't believe it! It was all hers. Just hers. No bad memories, no "history". Everything fresh and new for her and the boys.

Turning from the bedrooms, she went back down the hall and stepped into the kitchen. Standing in the doorway, she marveled at the room she would have and couldn't wait to sand and paint the cupboards! They had never been touched, still gracing the light coat of clear stain from when they were first installed many years ago. Walking around the room she randomly opened doors and pulled out drawers, imagining what would go where. Pulling open the corner door, she squatted down to peer at the lazy-Susan inside. She loved these things, and had always wanted one! Reaching inside, she placed her finger on the edge and gave it a little push. The circle of wood spun half-way around and abruptly stopped. What? Reaching in again, she pushed the wheel a second time. It barely moved and she could hear something sliding in the back.

What is going on? What was that? She thought to herself as she leaned over farther to pear inside. Not seeing anything right away she got up and turned on the kitchen light, hoping that would help. Going back to the corner cupboard, she again peered into the back and saw what seemed to be a black square of cardboard. Leaning over, she reached in as far as she could and grasped the item with the tips of her fingers. She dragged it forward until she could pick it up, noticing, as she did so, that it was covered with years of dust. It must have been "on top" of the lazy-Susan to get that much dust on it, she thought to herself. But, what was it, and why was it in there?

Pulling it out into the light of the kitchen, she beheld a small black notebook. No print or writing on the cover, just dust. Hmmm. She gently opened the book and saw row after row of numbers with totals here and there as amounts were added or subtracted. Some were in pencil, others written in pen. What was all this? What was it for? Peering back into the cupboard, she reached out and ran her hand over the top of the round board, as far as her fingers would reach. Coming up with nothing more than dust she turned back to the small book in her hands.

Looking it over, she flipped through the pages, seeing nothing but numbers and more numbers. The last total written in pen was 20,000. Twenty-thousand? Twenty-thousand what? Dollars? Yah, right. One could only hope, but why not? Why not? Some people had that kind of money. Not her, of course! But some. She flipped it again and noticed on the second to last page, a message written in old fashioned ink pen:

"To whomever it may concern: Should you be graced enough to find my little black book, I am obviously deceased. The last written number will be the amount of money I have saved, hidden in the very back corner of the bathroom cabinet. It is now yours. I suggest you tell no one of your finding!"

WHAT?!? Could this be real? No. No! It couldn't be, it just couldn't be! She pulled herself to her feet and clutching the little book, she made her way across the hall to the bathroom. Stopping in the doorway, she reached around the corner and flicked on the light. Looking at the large built-in cupboards, she slowly made her way towards them, reaching out with a shaking hand to open the top-most door. She was sweating, and shaking! This wasn't going to work, she was too short. Thinking quickly, she ran out to the garage, where some of her furniture was already stored, and grabbed a chair. Making her way back into the bathroom, she opened each door and crawled inside to run her fingers along the back edges and corners. There appeared to be nothing amiss, no cracks or crevasses. She climbed out and inspected the remaining cupboards the same way, working her way down. Finally, as she ran her fingers around the corner of the bottom most cupboard, a board moved slightly.

NO WAY! She thought, yanking her hand back. Slowly she reached out again and slid the board over, revealing a small opening. Reaching inside she felt a cold metal box hidden in the dark. Grasping the edge, she pulled it out. Reaching in again, she pulled out one more and then slid back into the light of the room. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the small bathroom, she carefully brushed dust from the top of an old metal chocolate box. It was pretty old and a little rusty, 30's or 40's maybe? One was from Valentine's Day and the other was for Christmas candies. They reminded her of the one her mother had in her cedar chest, filled with old cards and memoirs from her great-grandmother. Taking a deep breath, she pried open the lid on the first box. It was wedged on tight! She dug her fingernails under the edge and pulled harder. The lid abruptly popped off and clattered to the floor as her lap was showered with money! She stared down in total disbelief! Prying off the second lid, she found the same. There, in her lap, inside the two rusty, old boxes, were hundreds of dollars. "Hundreds of thousands" of dollars? She couldn't tell, and. . . she couldn't tell!

What will our new home owner do with her incredible found treasure? Like my story and it's mysterious ending? Please be kind enough to leave a tip to let me know you approve and thank you so much for your time!