The Black Little Notebook

It was a quiet evening, and Sero was in deep thought at family dinner. His brown, beachy curls are pulled back into a ponytail. His deep brown eyes hide behind a worn stocky pair of glasses as he stares at his plate, playing with his food. It is his 16th birthday today, and his mother made him his favorite meal: smoked roast pork, carrots and peas, potatoes with cheese, and fresh milk. But today, he is not feeling hungry. He had a strange dream last night, and he cannot stop thinking about it. Grandma noticed his perplexed face and asked him, "Are you okay, darling? What is troubling you this fine evening?" Sero looked at her and muttered: "I had a strange dream last night. I was out in the field, and I kept hearing someone call my name in a low, deep, but almost inaudible. It was almost like it came from within me." He paused and threw a big chunk of pork chop in his mouth. Then grandma said, "Who was calling you." Sero says, "I do not know. Each time I turned my head towards the voice, I saw this blue light that looked like a shiny object attached to a black book."

After a long silence, grandma said: "Hmmm, let me tell you a story that great-grandmother told me a long time ago.

“Once upon a time in the late 1700s was a legend of a little black notebook buried somewhere in the prairie. It was a magical book; It contained the mysteries, knowledge, and power of a clairvoyant witch. Her name was Clairvoya, the fortune-teller of the prairie. According to the legend, attaching to the little black notebook was a physical object of the present future. Many artists drew paintings of the notebook containing a blue diamond."

Grandma stopped knitting and looked at Sero and said: "Alright, enough storytelling for today, go now and get some rest."

The next day after working at his neighbor's farm, Sero stops by at the house around noon to get some of his grandma's delicious dumpling soup with lemonade. After eating, grandma tells him, "Take a break and play with your friends today. I hear they are having a party at the river." But Sero's only friends were the library and the museum. He was shy and awkward; he could not even get a girlfriend to kiss him. But today, he will be checking out some new paintings anyway at the old and only museum in his village. Each week, old new artwork comes out for display. At the museum, Sero noticed a dark image that impulsively called out to him. As he got closer, he noticed that the drawing is of a little black book sitting on a rugged rock next to a bush, and in the distance appeared to be dears and rabbits. Sero stood amazed at the painting. It was de Ja Vu to him. He believed there was more to this black book than just a legend. He was determined to find what the mystery was. He rushed home with a big grin on his face and found grandma sitting on her rocking chair, smiling at him as she knit his favorite socks. Sero started spewing words so fast that Mother paused her ironing and looked at him with a half-raised eyebrow: “Slow down son," she says, "the Little Black book is only fiction, dear.” Sero's face turned red. feeling embarrassed, he quickly laughed nervously and said, “I just wanted to see your puzzled face mother.” Immediately, he slipped through the back down to escape the embarrassment. He decided to head to the library and study all he could about the legend. The more he reads, the more convincing it was for him that the black notebook is real and buried somewhere in the prairie. One day Sero decides to take a stroll outside, and as it was getting hotter, he decided to head to his favorite tree for some shade. As he looked at the horizon, he noticed a weeping willow about three miles away, and for some odd reason, the tree seems to call out to him. Fond of nature, he got up from his shade, and he took one of the horses from the barn and rode off to the horizon. The closer he got, the more mysterious the tree became. As he got closer, he notices some piles of rocks a few yards away. It looked neatly stacked with care and marked with a wooden cross. But Sero seemed oblivious to the sign; all he saw was a mystery to discover. He eagerly started to remove the individual stones. He finds an enormous ant nest, but he could have cared less as he apathetically destroyed the poor ant! He found a sharp rock and started to dig like a mad man where he demolished the nest. About a foot deep, he heard a metal object. As he kept digging, he discovered a small box. His glisten with joy, and he impatiently grabbed the sharp stone to break the latch on the box. When it finally broke free, out came a worn-out little book with a black leather binding. As Sero opens its pages, he hopes to find some magical powers or a fairy pop out. His heart sinks as he turns page after page and finds only some dirty, worn-out empty pages. He screams in anger, and when he hears the wolves crying with him, he realizes it was getting dark, and it was time to head home. Wondering why the universe, his grandma, and his heart deceived him, he could not sleep tonight. Then he had an idea: he will sell the book as the "black little book" from the legend to the museum. But to add value, he decides to journal in the book and pretend to be Clairvoya, the witch. Then he would add a blue, shiny stone as the last touch. Sero smiled at his cunningness and slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, Sero wakes up before everyone else and goes to the closest antique shop about ten miles away, looking for that bright bluestone. As he walks inside the shop, the clerk greets him, "Morning Sero, long time no see. How can I help you today?" Sero says he was looking for a shiny blue stone. The clerk looks intrigued and points to Sero's right. To Sero's amazement, the clerk shows him the perfect shiny bluestone. As Sero reaches in his pocket to pay the clerk a day worth of wage, he thought he was going crazy. But there was no turning back now.

As soon as Sero got home, he tears a big enough hole in the leather big enough to fit the bluestone. Then, he starts journaling in his little black book. It takes him five days to complete the journaling. On the 6th day at noon, he goes to his local museum and asks to speak to the collection manager, Mr. James. A tall, slender man with a sandy beard pops out from the back office, looking straight at Sero and says, "I'm Mr. James," and motioned to Sero to come hither. As they sat down in a private room, Sero starts acting nervous, twirling his thumbs as he clears his throat. Once he musters some courage, he finally said, "I have something that you want that will make you lots of money." Mr. James seems interested and said, "Go on." Sero asks, "Do you know the legend of the little black book?" Mr. James nods his head. "Well, it is true. And I am here to prove it," Sero remarks. Mr. James leaned forward with enthusiasm: "Well, let me see."

Sero reached in his pocket and pulled out this worn little book with the black leather case and leaned forward to show Mr. James its contents. Mr. James was in awe and expresses: "Is that the diary of the witch! This is a real find, son. I will take this right away for $10,000." Sero clears his throat and pushes his shoulder back, and says, "I accept only 20,000, sir." Mr. James gasps: "20,000?! What is a boy like you doing with 20,000?" Sero tries to look firm by clearing his throat and slipping both hands in his pocket, remained silent, like a savvy businessman. Then Mr. James, realizing Sero was not going to budge, said "What about 15,000. That's an excellent deal!" Sero replied calmly but firmly, "Sir, only 20,000. If you cannot afford my price, good day sir." As Sero turns around to leave Mr. James says, "Hold on, not soo fast, son. 20,000 it is then!" Sero's eyes grew big with excitement, trying to stay calm. Mr. James goes to the back room, and as he came back with a grey bag, he passes it over to Sero. Sero counted it to make sure every penny was there. After calculating the last penny, he screams with excitement and utters, "The treasure is all yours, Mr. James," and he hands off the worn little black book with pride. He rushes out of the museum and hurries to get home. He screams: "Mother, grandma! We are rich! We are rich!" Grandma asks, "How?" Sero says: "Sit down grandma; it is storytime, and I'm telling it!" Granma looks puzzled and amused as she takes a seat in her old comfy rocking chair. And so Sero began his story "Once upon a time...," and continues just like grandma told the story. In the ending, he was part of the story this time; it involved not only a little black book but 20,000 dollars that made a young lad and his family rich. However, when grandma heard the end of the story, her eyes froze, and she whispered, "Son what have you done? She's here." At that moment, grandma becomes mute, and when she tries to talk, her voice sounds like someone is covering her mouth. Mother and Sero look at each other confused and panicky. Sero rushed outside to the village to grab the doctor. After the doctor examined her, he said, "She must have had a stroke. There is nothing I can do." That night Sero could not sleep. Finally, a deep wave of sleep fell on him, and he found himself in a field in the middle of a thunderstorm. It was dark, and he heard someone calling him again. But this time, the voice sounds high pitch and a hint of evil. The Sero hears a familiar voice: It was grandma's voice whispering, "She's here." Sero woke up from his sleep scared. He broke the still silence of the night, sighing: "What now?" Immediately, he starts seeing the present future. He sees himself taking a walk past midnight because he could not go back to sleep. Sero stayed up all night worrying about grandma, and what his dream meant. Then he decides to go for a walk to clear his mind. Slowly the sun starts to come up. As Sero watches the sunrise, he realizes he never went back to sleep and can strangely now see into the future. From that day forward, Sero was not the same. The rumor quickly spread into the village that Sero could see into the future. Many thought he was crazy, but some believed and secretly saw him so that he could tell them their fate. Sero died on his 20th birthday. The village remembered him as Sero, the Seer.

-Jackie Cross