The Hidden Book of the Secrets of Life

It was a cold, rainy night in Boston. A strong gust of wind swept through the streets of Brighton. Penny glanced up from the eviction notice on the desk in front of her as the windows of the bookshop shook slightly. She sighed heavily and rubbed the sides of her head.

The clock struck eight.

Standing up from the chair behind the cashier’s desk, she walked to the front of the store. She looked out at the heavy rain as she flipped the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed.’

As she turned around to head back into the shop, a man with a black umbrella stepped off the doorstep directly across from the bookstore.

Penny didn’t see him approaching as she picked up a stack of various books to return to the shelves. The bell rang he opened the door.

“I’m sorry, we’re closed,” she called out as she turned around to see who had entered.

The man was standing in the doorway with the dripping, black umbrella hanging down by his side. He was a thin white male in his late 50s. His expression seemed nervous as he stared down at his boots, stomping the rain onto the mat. As he looked up, he brushed his brown, slightly damp hair from his face.

“Hello. I’m aware that you’re closed, but I was hoping you could still help me,” he replied timidly.

“What kind of help?” Penny asked suspiciously.

The man took a deep breath and said, “well…I’m looking for a book.”

“I’d love to help you, but you’ll have to come back when we’re open,” Penny asserted, eager to finish closing.

“Yes, I understand,” he stammered. “But it’s a…special situation.”

Penny’s eyebrows raised as she became more confused by the circumstances that were taking place.

“What do you mean special?” she questioned cautiously.

The man set the umbrella down carefully beside the door and looked back up at her.

“I’m looking for an important book. I’ve been looking for a very long time. And I think that book is here,” he announced nervously then paused to gauge her reaction.

“What book are you talking about?” she asked, wondering what could be so important. “And why do you think it’s here?”

“Well…it’s a long story. But what I can say is that there’s a book that’s been missing for over two hundred years and there are many people looking for it. I’ve been searching for most of my life and the clues I’ve found have led me here.”

Penny started to wonder if someone was playing a joke on her.

“A lost book? Two hundred years old? Here?” She scoffed.

The man’s eyes began exploring the bookshelf to his right.

“Actually,” he said without turning his face to her, “it’s much older than that. It just hasn’t been seen in two hundred years.”

Penny rolled her eyes again and shook her head in disbelief.

“This is absurd,” she whispered to herself.

“I’ve seen every book in here,” she called out to him as he moved towards the bookshelf. “And none of them are that old. I can promise you that.”

The man turned back to face her.

“Yes, you are right. The books you have seen are not that old. But if the book is here, I can assure you that you have not laid eyes on it,” he replied as he peered around her to the back of the shop. “It would be well hidden to almost anyone.”

Penny found it hard to believe that there could be some book more than two hundred years old that people had been chasing their whole lives hidden here in this shop.

“Listen, I’ve owned this bookstore for 15 years. If that were all true, wouldn’t I know about it?” she asked as he walked towards a shelf to his left.

“Not necessarily,” he responded without looking away from it. “The book has been hidden for many years, which could mean that someone placed it here a long time ago.”

She took a few slow steps towards him then stopped.

“So, you’re trying to tell me that a hundred years ago someone hid a book in this place and nobody, even me, knows?”

The man grabbed a book from its row and turned to look at her.

“Precisely,” he asserted, optimistic that she was beginning to understand.

“That’s ridiculous,” she exclaimed as she took another step towards him. “And even if that were true, how would you expect to find it?”

The man smiled for the first time.

“Where’s the poetry section?” he asked.

Penny shook her head and turned to lead him to the back left corner of the store, surprised at herself for entertaining this situation.

When they arrived, the man began examining the bookshelf.

“The book wouldn’t be on the shelf for just anyone to find. They say it's behind,” he said, barely audible as he bent down and started feeling underneath the bottom shelf.

“What do you mean behind?” she asked, confused.

His hand continued searching under the bookshelf until he gasped.

“That’s it,” he whispered loud enough where she could hear.

Penny watched without breathing as he reached his hand further under to get a better grip and then pulled.

At first, nothing happened. He pulled again, this time with a little more force, and the bookshelf shook. Penny couldn’t believe what she was seeing. He pulled much harder and the entire bookshelf began to move towards him, hinging on one side and opening like a door.

“Wow!” he exclaimed.

“What?!” Penny yelped in disbelief.

The man opened the bookshelf all the way to the right and they both peered inside.

There was a dark, narrow passageway. He turned to her with a grin.

“Got a flashlight?”

She ran to the cashier’s desk and rummaged through a box underneath it until she found one and hurried back to where he was standing. Taking the flashlight from her, he started inside. Penny was scared but couldn’t help herself from following behind.

The corridor was made of stone and felt cool, almost damp as they moved further inside. The passageway was deeply sloped and as they continued, they went further underground.

After a few steps, Penny spoke. “Okay, now you have to tell me. What is the book you’re searching for?”

The man was silent for a long moment as they slowly walked forward. Finally, he answered.

“It’s The Book of the Secrets of Life.”

Penny paused almost certain that he was lying to her.

“The secrets of life?” she repeated, unconvinced.

“Yes,” he replied seriously. “It’s true. Many centuries ago, the world’s greatest rulers sought insight and advice from an infamous and widely revered sage. The sage came from a lineage of wisdom seekers who had passed down the secrets of life for thousands of years. After a lifetime of sharing these secrets only with those who held the most power and influence in this world, the sage decided the secrets should be shared with all. He wrote the secrets down into a book that he intended to be read by everyone, but those in power didn’t want the world to know the secrets. They captured the book and for hundreds of years it was fought over by different parties until one day, it disappeared. Never to be seen again.”

Penny’s eyes were wide as she took in his words. She wondered if any of it could be true.

The passageway came to an end and they found themselves in a small underground cave. The man reached for a pack of matches in his coat pocket and began to light a series of candles hanging on the walls that Penny hadn’t noticed until they started to glow. The space filled with enough light for her to see a table and bench made of stone in the middle of the room.

There, on top of the desk, was an old, wooden box. The man rushed towards it. He pulled out his handkerchief and began to clear away the dust resting on top of it.

The box was beautiful, a deep burgundy with an ornate pattern of gold engravings.

“I’ve found it,” the man whispered under his breath.

Penny’s eyes were wide as he raised his hands slowly towards the lid of the box and carefully opened it.

Inside was a small book. It had a blank black cover and looked at least a hundred years old. He picked it up with extreme care and opened it to the front page as they both held their breath.

It was blank.

The man gently flipped through all the pages of the small black book. They were all blank. He flipped through more aggressively and again found every page empty.

“No,” he cried out, “this can’t be!”

He tossed the book down on the table and began pacing back and forth in the cramped space. He rubbed his chin vigorously until he stopped moving suddenly. He whipped his body around to face Penny.

“It’s a fake,” he asserted. “The real book must have been found already and someone placed this decoy here for others like me to find.” He let out a cry of frustration and continued pacing.

“I must keep looking,” he announced as he turned to her a final time. “Thank you and goodbye.”

With that, the man walked out of the room and back through the narrow passageway from which they had come.

Penny was shocked. Her head was trying to process everything that had just transpired. She sat down on the bench in front of the desk and stared at the cave’s candlelit wall in front of her. Wondering if any of this had been real, she glanced at the black book and reached to pick it up. She flipped through the pages until she reached the inside of the back cover. Running her fingers over the thick page, she felt a rough edge of paper beneath her fingertips. She gasped as she realized there was a hidden pocket. Reaching inside, she pulled out a small piece of parchment with thick black letters written in elaborate calligraphy.

She stared at the words:

Each one strives to find the secrets of life,

Looking to the world to tell her what she seeks to discover.

Hoping her searching will reward her with treasure,

Only to find that the secrets are within her to uncover.

Penny was stunned. This really was The Book of the Secrets of Life. It just wasn’t what the man had expected.

As she took in the meaning of the words, she looked back towards the wooden box and noticed a gold pen within it. She reached for the pen. As she did, her fingers grazed the inside corner of the box and felt a tiny hole.

Leaning in close, she placed the pen’s tip into the hole and lifted the box’s floor. To her shock, beneath the false bottom was a compartment filled with money and jewels. She ran her fingers over the beautiful jewels and counted the bills in disbelief, finding a total of $20,000.

She looked up at the cave’s ceiling with a big smile and held back tears. Bringing her eyes to the treasure in front of her, she reached once again for the gold pen. Holding it in her hand, she reread the book’s message, pausing to take in the last line:

Only to find that the secrets are within her to uncover.

Penny leaned forward towards the empty, black book on the table in front of her. She opened it to the first blank page. Taking a deep breath, she lifted the pen to the paper and began to write.