Little Treasure

She stands, umbrella in hand, as the rain showers her in great grief. She wipes a tear from her cheek and proceeds to lay the reef upon the gravestone before her. She places her fingers on her lips and then touches the stone silently saying,

“Bye Will.”

Two months pass and still the heartache was taking a hold of her. She was numb and completely dissociating from life before her. She passes through the doors of the library holding her bag with about as much energy as she can muster. She sits at her work desk and opens her drawer. Out slides her usual clunk and junk. She glances at her pencil case -bought by him, her stapler -bought by him. And then in the corner of the drawer, beside her favourite book ‘King Solomon’s Mines,’ she sees a little Black notebook.

She doesn’t remember ever putting it there. She grabs it with intrigue and flips to the first page. It’s a list of coordinates. The first? A coffee shop down the road from the very library she’s working at:

51° 21' 56.124'' N0° 11' 38.76'' W

She visits, intrigued by the vagueness of the notebook. She remembers being here with him, ordering a latte with no sugar on their first date. She does exactly that.

“£1.99 please.” says the cashier with a smile.

“Thanks!” she replies walking to her table stirring the latte endlessly.

She takes her seat at the very same table they had spent their first date. It feels very strange, almost as if he were still there with her. She goes to grab the menu and as she lifts it out of its wooden clamp a small little Black notebook falls out. She stares in shock.

“What is going on?” she asks herself.

She opens the notebook and again she is greeted with a list of coordinates:

51.5033° N, 0.1196° W

Staring out of the train window, Kira sits waiting to reach her destination.

“We are now arriving at London Waterloo.” An announcement sounds out through the carriage.

She stares at her fellow passengers, putting a story upon every face that glances her way. She then heads out of the train door and zooms her way through the crowd of people congregated on the platform. She checks her phone for the directions of the destination she is headed to.

“Turn left on Broom Street, your destination is on the right.” Her phone tells her.

She reaches the Eye and stares up at the attraction in awe. She feels momentary déjà vu. She remembers him asking her to be her girlfriend on this ride. He was very romantic like that. She walks around taking in the surroundings. The couples walking past hand in hand make her think of him even more. She then walks beside the photo kiosk and studies the pamphlet section when she notices it…

Another little Black notebook parked right at the back. Yet again with more coordinates. She enters them into her Google search:

29.9792° N, 31.1342° E

“Egypt?” she laughs.

She sits on the plane second-guessing what this is all about. Was she going insane following these instructions? But it feels like this is something she needs to do. She feels the plane start to touch the ground. Excitement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived in Cairo, Egypt.” Announces the pilot.

She jumps off the camel she had ridden with her tour guide and looks at the magnificence before her. The Great Pyramid of Giza. She recalls the time he had asked her to marry him in Cairo. She walks toward the entrance alongside her guide in complete awe of its beauty. She feels a drop of sweat fall from her brow.

“Well… shall we go in?” asks the tour guide.

She nods and they enter with intrigue. They make their way through narrow tunnels and sandy footpaths.

“Wow, it's amazing,” She says as she takes photos.

The information her guide gives her bounces around her head with impact. She thinks of all the pharaohs that had been laid to rest here. It reminds her of him. They reach the Sphinx, and her guide says he can get a photo of her developed. She is hesitant at first, but he manages to sway her. He takes many snapshots and then puts the photos in a book. He places the photobook in her hands before moving on to the next tour as she bids him farewell. Within the photobook lies a little Black notebook. She shakes her head, stunned by the occurrence:

51.3588° N, 0.2282° W

“I don’t understand. What is happening?” she asks herself.

‘On Call’ by Kings of Leon bellows out of her headphones as she departs the bus. This was their song. She whispers the lyrics to herself as she makes her way to the park gates. She walks and slowly it starts coming back to her. The memory of his hands shaking as he walked hand in hand with her, being confused why he was nervous. She remembers walking across the lengthy field and the rare sight of deer coming for food. She remembers him throwing the picnic blanket down and pulling out the gorgeous Red wine they would share.

“Louise, I need to tell you something.” Will faintly informs her.

“Okay? You can tell me anything Will” she replies anxiously.

“Louise, I have cancer.”

Those words resonate in her mind every single day since. She wipes a tear before heading for the spot that they shared the emotional moment. She stands confused and agitated.

“Why are you doing this Will? I don’t understand. I’m hurting so much!” she bellows and falls to her knees in deep pain.

She looks at the ground before her. Green grass, full of life, full of vibrance. She shakes her head.

“Sorry love, I just miss you so much.”

She gets back to her feet walking beside the tree that had sheltered them during their tender moment. Then in the corner of her eye, she sees it. The little Black notebook. She beams almost knowingly.

“Will, what are you up to?”

She smiles looking up at the clear sky above her and reaching into the tree hole to grab the book:

51° 21' 40.104'' N0° 11' 33.468'' W

“Thank you!” she says closing the taxi door.

She stands outside the church. She takes in a deep breath before letting her mind take her back to the moment the two of them came walking out of those church doors hand in hand for the first time as Mr and Mrs Sampson. A tear slowly rolls down her cheek. She crosses the road keeping her gaze on the church doors. She throws the doors open and walks in. The wedding day feels like a movie replaying over and over in her head as she walks down the aisle.

She stops at the very end of the aisle. The church feels very hollow and empty, but she did not feel alone. She steps on the platform that they both had exchanged vows on. She slowly closes her eyes and holds her hands out and begins to say,

“I do.”

She feels fulfilled and happy. But as she turns to leave, she then catches a glimpse of the bible perked up on the board in front of her. Except this wasn’t a bible. It was far too small. This was as she was now fully familiar with, another little Black notebook. She chuckles.

“Will, you never to cease to amaze.”

She opens the book and again is met with coordinates:

31.2089° N, 29.9092° E

“Back to Egypt?” she asks herself and seemingly him.

She reaches the foyer of her hotel, her suitcase dragging behind her. I’ll be a mummy by the time you’re done with me Will, she thinks to herself as she unlocks her hotel room. She has a very good sleep, she dreams of him being back beside her. Yet she awakes and sadly realises he is not present. But she had good reason to strive on. This quest he had put her on was too tantalising to abandon. She looks up at the behemoth of a library before her.

“Wow, my god he would’ve loved this.” She says as she looks back at the times they had held Friday night book night.

“Why am I here Will?” she asks in utter confusion.

She ascends the flight of stairs before entering the main room. This library felt so different from the small, dingy one she works at back in cold England. She feels like the library was swallowing her whole. Book upon a book, she glances at in awe. She knows exactly what book she wants and heads straight for the Adventure section with the classmark numbers scribbled on the palm of her hand.

“It must be here surely.” She says as she walks past a collection of adventure stories that she was all too familiar with.

“PR 4731.K5,” she says repeatedly whilst throwing book after book aside in the search for her destiny. She stops on one particular… a small little Black notebook.

“Does this ever stop Will?”

She shakes her head with a smile. She opens the notebook to co-ordinates again but this time she knew exactly where she was going. She was to go back home:

51° 22' 10.308'' N0° 8' 5.532'' W

She parks her suitcase up beside the front door before putting the key in and unlocking it. She is met with a parade of letters. One immediately drew her attention. It was the handwriting, it was…. His handwriting. She closed the door behind her before picking the letter up, opening it gently in anticipation.

“My beloved Louise,

You are my life, you are my soul, you are my happiness and you are my wealth. I am forever yours and I will never forget the memory of us. We are immortal my love.

We are pharaohs,’

She stares passionately kissing the letter she has in her hand. His words comfort her and bring her a sense of closure that she was yearning for. She reads on.

‘P.S. Check the garage x’

She makes her way to the kitchen and the key stand. She takes the garage key before walking, heart racing toward the final destination. She hated the garage; she had never wanted to step foot in there. Too afraid of the cobwebs, the coldness and the claustrophobic feeling it brought on. But she un-locked the door thew it open and there it lied. A briefcase ready for her to open. She did so and out fell note after pound note.

“Wha…What?” she stutters.

She stands is in utter shock. She’d thought the couple had spent all their money on Will’s chemotherapy. She had not known Will was past the point of repair, but that his last gift to her was to take one final journey with her and to give her every last remaining piece of him. She smiled,

“I love you Will.”