Just Jenna's Luck

Just Jenna's Luck

Jenna and her friend hurried back to their dorm rooms to hit the books, as their exam was the next day. Sighing heavily, she dreaded one possibility that might actually happen tonight. Cramming through the night.

"Bye, Jenna! Good luck on your exam!", greeted Kelley, one of Jenna's friends. Kelley was a Native American from the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, to which Jenna was also happy about. She felt less alone; she was also Indigenous to Canada, she was from Nipawin, a Native town in Saskatchewan.

"Thank! I'm gonna need it!", she said, as they parted ways. her mind began to wander as she moved down the courtyard. Jenna thought about how far she's come for her family back home. Their race has always been looked down on, but their generation seemed to be making difference in not only their opinion of their people, but their culture was slowly but surly being revived. As a Cree born child, she knew the scrutiny she would be under when she was only 9-years old. The stares she always got when she was only trying to grab milk. But she worked hard with her chin up, being the bigger person and just ignored what others said about her. During her Senior year in High School, she found out she was eligible for Scholarship because she was Valedictorian of her class, all the while she was doing the Provincial Exams so she can Graduate. She then started applying and then she was accepted into some of the best Universities in Canada. Being a Law Student was hard, but she pressed on, and how she could smell graduation from University.

When she reached the dorm building, that was where she felt it... a soft calling, but her gut told her to keep going. Her Grandmother had always told her that the 'Gut Feeling', was actually the inner animal instinct, and that they should always listen to it because it was always right. But this seemed different

Her hair stood on end and she realized that her legs were moving without her consent. they were guiding her to the area where the funny feeling was coming from. She went down the alley, her gut was shouting at her to stop.

'What's going on!?', she thought to herself, now highly disturbed. Goosebumps all over her body, she was now face to face with a garbage bin... the calling was coming from here.

"What the?", she asked herself, looking into the trash bin. The feeling kept beckoning her. So, she did the one thing she hoped to never do in her entire lifetime; dig in a trash bin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About 20 minutes later

Jenna just sat there on her dorm room bed, knowing she should be studying, but this black leather book was enticing. But her gut was screaming at her to throw it away, but the leather was so smooth, and light. Her eyes transfixed, she read the label on the front.

“’Beware of the Black Book, for your wishes were never meant to be.’ Nice word play there, Bud.” She opened the leather book to see what else was in there, her forehead full of beads of sweat. As she read the passage on the first page, her heart was in her throat:

‘I wished and received, but it wasn’t worth it. Turn back! NOW.’ The ink in a deep red, she bit her bottom lip as she turned to the next page, it having only one instruction; Write from your deepest desires.

“More poor wording, but okay”, she said, chuckling nervously. Taking her pen, she decided to test it out.

“I wish to pass my Final exam.” As she finished writing, her body froze, watching the ink sink in. Then the page formed another set of words, that she expected to see, but not this way.

‘Your wish is my command.’

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day, After the exam

As she walked out of the classroom, she felt relieved, but pensive. She didn’t study at all last night, all she could think about was the book and why she felt so compelled to it. Jenna’s heart thudded in her chest when she realized something. Kelley was unable to make it to the Exam. She decided to send her a text, asking her how she was doing. After she sent the text a classmate hurried to her side, like he was being chased by the hounds of the Underworld.

“Jenna, have you heard about Kelley?”, Antonio said, staring at her with his brown eyes. He didn’t look it, but he was from Spain, his accent still thick in his lips. But that wasn’t what caught her off guard. It was the news about her friend.

“What happened?”, she asked, her hands shaking.

“She died in her sleep! The Ambulance and the Police are at her dorm right now!”, he explained, Antonio’s voice quaked as he stood there, his body vibrated, visibly.

“Kelley!”, she shouted, racing to Kelley’s dorm. Hoping he was just lying, Jenna raced. She had no idea what she was in for or why this happened to her best friend, but she had to figure this out. How did this happen? And why did it have to be Kelley!? They worked too hard and fought the odds just to get accepted into University, they both wanted to make a difference in the world and now…

Kelley was gone.

When she got there, she fell to the ground, seeing the white sheet over who had to be-

“Ma’am, please, stay calm”, said a Female Police Officer, as she held her tightly.

“That’s my friend! Kelley!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One week later

At home in Nipawin, Jenna sighed… staring at her email. By now, she would’ve received an email from Kelley, telling her about how she was doing, talking about her family, friends, Fianceé, and the like. She supposed that she was just in denial, that Kelley would somehow send her something… anything.

But it never came.

Turns out, she did end up passing her Final, but it felt like there was a cost, because now Kelley was gone before her life could even begin.

That funny feeling returned, but this time she fought to ignore it. But before she knew it, she had the black book out. She reread the passage on the first page over and over again, wondering what it meant… her gut once again screaming at her to put it down. But she turned the page to the same blank page she made her first wish on. Thinking about what she wanted next, she jotted down her next wish; To inherit her Mother’s Will.

Her head spinning watching those words disappear, as the new set presented herself, she instantly regretted her decision. She didn’t know why, but she did. Closing the book, she wiped her forehead she now realized was full of sweat.

Like a fire alarm going off, there was a loud scream coming from downstairs in the living room.

“Mom! Mom! Someone call 911!”, shouted her older brother, Jamie-

“MOM! Oh NO, she’s not BREATHING!”, yelled out another one of her siblings, who was Kayla. Jenna raced downstairs and into the living room, where their Mother, wearing her favourite Regalia dress, lay.

Silently.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About 3 days later

As the First Nation Traditional funeral went on, Jenna stood there frozen on the field. Her siblings stood there beside her, as they watched the smoke of the Ceremonial Fire take their Mother’s Soul into the Spirit Realm.

“Little Sister, she’s with our Grandfather now, he will take care of her”, said Jamie, who was on her left side. He put his hand on her shoulder gently, as if he were handling a fragile artifact.

“Jenna, she will be fine now and- “

“-It’s all my fault.” The siblings just stare at her, like there was something wrong with her face.

“What?”, asked Kayla, who was on her right side, her voice full of concern.

“No, it isn’t. I saw her fall onto the floor- “

“-No, Jamie, you don’t understand!”, claimed Jenna, with tears in her eyes. She didn’t care that she Inherited her Mother’s Will worth $20, 000, or the restaurant. She just wanted her Mom back. And now she understood the meaning behind that awful warning.

“I have something I need to show you both, but you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone.”, Jenna said, her stomach running in circles.

“You don’t even have to believe me! But please… let me show you guys something.” The pair of siblings gaped at each other, and they both nodded at their younger sibling.

Relief spreading throughout her being, she breathed through her nose, watching the flames slowly die. Her mother in her proud handmade leather clothing with a feather she held in her hands, rested beside the fire; her eyes closed in an eternal sleep.

‘May the Creator watch over your Spirit, and may you go back to Mother Earth, where we all belong.’ The trio waited patiently for the service to finish but as soon it was done, they race back to the house. Jamie driving down the road back into town, Jenna’s heart pounded so hard she thought the organ was going to jump out of her left breast.

Once they made it to the house, Jenna got out of the car, and sprinted into the house, after fumbling with her keys to the front door. Her siblings behind her, she ran up the stairs, and into her bedroom, and started hunting down the Black book.

“What are we looking for?”, asked Jamie who came into her room.

“A black book, it looks exactly like a notebook!”, she replied, the trio now flinging around papers and cloths, but Jenna managed to find it with the call again.

“This is it!”, Jenna announced, feeling her siblings come up beside her. Upon showing it, she explained the coincidence with her making her first wish, and Kelley, the smartest in their class, died in her sleep. And now the Coincidence of their mother dying RIGHT as she finished writing her second wish. It was all too freaky, and she made the mistake of not following the warning and her gut feelings.

“We need to take this to an Elder! We need to know if this book is cursed!”, Jenna suggested, her body quaking, but Jamie just stared at the book in wonder…

“It grants… wishes?”, he said, as if he were in a trance.

“Yes, but at a cost!”, Jenna said, racing past her siblings. It was now or never-

“Give me that book!”, shouted Jamie, who power slammed Jenna into the floor, knocking the wind out of her. Jenna tried to wrestle her brother off, but he managed to take it from her hands. He opened it and grabbed a pen-

“JAMIE STOP!”, yelled Kayla… but it was too late.

Jenna… was as still as a board.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About 5 days later

Kayla’s heart heavy as she walked down the street, with the black book in her hand. Unfortunately, she was $20, 000 richer, but at the cost of her brother Jamie, who wished for Jenna’s death. And in exchange for her death, he followed her soul as soon as he finished writing his wish. Kayla was the only one left in their family as their Dad died one year before.

She decided that somehow in some way, this book will be destroyed, as it destroyed her whole family. It was most definitely cursed.

And she knew just what to do. She owed that much to her family. She would excorcise the book, as she was in Training to be a Medicine Woman, but the steps must be done very carefully. And then, once that was done, destroy this wretched thing.

End