HIDDEN WONDER

Not much had to be said the moment Diedra heard the news of Sol’s death, she just understood it was her grandmama’s time to go, she sat on the floor silently with her face between her knees and her arms wrapped around her head, trying to hide the tears coming down her cheeks, more than sadness Dre, as everyone called her, felt at peace knowing that her grandma had lived a full happy life, Dre and Sol had a special connection after all Dre was raised by Sol who was wonderful, smart, creative and possessed a vivid wondrous imagination, Sol told the best stories, As a very young girl Dre thought all the stories, the places and fantastic creatures truly existed, Dre was always looking for signs to prove the stories were real and not just fantasies, like looking at the mudslides trails far away on the mountain after a rainy night and wondering how a giant snake fell from the sky with such a force and heaviness that took all the trees down, or the little people living in the old sewing machine helping to make wonderful dresses out of fabric from old clothes. Dre had a happy childhood because Sol was always there, Sol was the wisest most caring woman Dre had ever known and because of that Dre chose not to attend Sol's funeral, she wanted to remember Sol the way she was, a beautiful, kind and strong woman.

A few weeks later Dre came to the old house, the one where she was so happy, but today emptiness creeped into his soul, she finally grasp the fact Sol was not there and will never come back, Dre just close her eyes so no tears will come out, took a deep breath and went inside the house, it was empty and dusty, the plants Sol loved and was so proud of had died, the green luscious curtain the plants made was gone, only brown decaying sticks remained, Dred look around inside the big empty room that at one point had been her bedroom, and there it was the old Treadle Sewing Machine from the 1930s, the wood body include a main drawer with a cover used to store the arm of the machine, three drawers on the side and a long thin drawer along the front, the legs and pedal made of black iron, on a side a big iron wheel, Dre loved the sound the machine made, when Sol move the pedal back and forth to saw a rithmic tic tac tic sound. For a moment the image of Sol came back to life, her long white hair flowing down her back curled by the braids that had been brushed away wearing her long white gown, smiling telling her stories and sewing, “grandma” she thought or said out loud. The machine look even older than it was, the wood was dry and the varnish faded, Sol covered the machine with a colorful cloth and tape all around it to seal it, a note that said “Deidra” was taped on top, Dre was certain the machine was still there because it was old and most likely did not work, not because of the note somehow telling everyone that machine belonged to Dreida. She was surprised and touched, Sol had thought of her in her last days Curiosity crept in, what was hidden under all that tape that Sol worked so hard to seal? How did she do it? Did someone help her? Now Dre was even more curious. Dre began the quest of untapping the machine, the process was taking so long and was so hard that she almost gave up, but curiosity is a great incentive so she kept on taking the tape off until she finished. She opened the side drawers to only find colorful ribbons, threads, zippers, scissors, old magazines, some old pictures of the two of them but nothing much, Dre kept wondering, why did Sol spend all that time securing the contents of the machine? Then she opened the long drawer, again, ribbons, needles, thread, a few buttons, nothing else, Dre remembered, almost could hear Sol telling her, don’t give up, be patient, search and you will find, remember, dream, imagine and you will accomplish. Sol trained Dre in the art of dress making, more than enjoying learning the trade Dre enjoyed all the stories and Sol’s reassurance that everything was going to be just fine, maybe Sol wanted her to make dresses? With this thought, Dre opened the cover of the main drawer and tried to pull out the arm of the machine, but it was stuck. She tried and tried again but something was preventing the arm from releasing, by now Dre was tired and almost felt defeated, whatever it was hidden, it probably was important, or might not be anything, by now however, Dre truly thought Sol had hidden something, with her hand she search the main drawer, sliding her hand around the arm of the machine trying to find what was wrong, why the arm of the machine could not be freed, all the way in the bottom of the drawer, stuck by the leathery machine’s band was small package the size of a jewelry box wrapped in brown paper tied with a jute string, Now Dre was truly intrigued, Sol was a very modest person and never owned jewelry, what would that be? After a struggle Dre finally got the box out.

The sun was high in the sky, perfectly posed above the old skylight brightly lighting down like a revelation was about to happen. Dre sat on the dusty floor, admiring the package, her feelings were mixed, she was partly scared but also anxious and excited, wondering if Sol wanted her to open the package, or if someone else was supposed to open it, but whom if not her? Besides, the note clearly said “Dreida” and that had to mean the box was meant to be opened by Dre, yes? Dre remembered their time together, all the stories, the riddles, all the wonders Sol described and how that made Dre feel. At this point there was no other option than opening the package. Very carefully Dre shook the package, there was no sound, then she pull on end of the jute string to begin opening the package, the brown paper made a cracking sound as it left the box behind, at this point Dre could hear her heart pounding as she grew more anxious and nervous, she slowly continue the process until a wooden small box appear, it looked hand crafted and very old, it had carved unfamiliar symbols and the figure of a very small man pointing to one of the symbols, could Sol’s stories be true after all? The box was obviously very important to Sol, at that moment Dre felt Sol was there encouraging her to open the small box, she pressed in the small wooden tab that served as a lock and the box opened with a click.