The Signature

I looked down at the small, crinkled paper in my quivering hands, afraid it may vanish if I looked away. My heart pounded hard against my chest, beating in time with the blood pounding in my ears. Was this some kind of sick dream? Another dream of a fairy tale ending that was moments away from shattering into the reality around me?

I dared myself to blink quickly, trying to push away the single tear that threatened to trail down my face. I couldn't show that kind of weakness. Not here. Not after all this time. My eyes flew open again to find that same small, crinkled paper pinched delicately between my fingers. Maybe this wasn't a dream after all.

I shoved the paper into the inside breast pocket of my tattered shirt as I cast a quick glance over my shoulder. After 10 years in this horrendous excuse for an establishment, I could finally be free.

I raced around the small, musty room I shared with 2 other girls, collecting the few things I had to my name. I suppose that's what happens when your parents drop you off to work for the summer and never return. I shoved my well loved sweater in my only bag, cursing them under my breath. All the other young workers had parents who came to visit them through the summer, or would come to take them on weekend getaways. The other parents would at least write letters or call. I cinched my bag shut. Unlike the rest of them, I never got to leave. The summer would end each year, but my shift never did.

"Amelia?" the little voice may as well have stabbed my heart with a dagger.

I stood frozen in the wooden door frame, feeling the weight of her questioning pretty eyes burning a hole into my back.

"Where are you going?" the little voice belonged to Rose, only 15 and had been dropped off for her first working summer a couple short months ago. The same age I had been when my parents abandoned me. She had quickly become like a little sister to me, always excitedly chattering about travelling the world outside once she finished high school. Oh to have such dreams.

"I'm leaving."

A heavy silence filled the air between us, the weight threatening to buckle my knees.

"We knew this day was coming. My 25th birthday is at the end of the summer and I would have to leave then anyways."

Small footsteps pattered quickly behind me, thin delicate arms wrapping around my waist.

"Good luck out there," Rose whispered softy between my shoulder blades.

I turned around, wrapping her close to me. There was no need to speak the words that hung unsaid in the room around us. Unlike the others, there would be no one coming to pick me up at the end of the summer. I had to find a way on my own. I pulled away, giving her a sad smile.

"Wait," she sniffled, wiping a tear from dripping down her heart shaped face. She dug under her bed, pulling out a small black leather book. "Take this with you. Maybe we will meet again one day."

I gently took the little book, running my fingers over the worn leather cover.

"Thank you Rose," I murmured into her blonde curls as I pulled her in one last time.

With a deep breath, I pulled away marching down the hall before my heart could change it's mind. Rose's family would return at the end of the summer and she would continue to live her dream of a life. There was no more life for me here. I pressed my hand against my breast pocket, finding comfort the the paper silently sitting there. Freedom was finally mine.

I marched up to the front desk of the Inn, dropping my old bronze room key with a clang against the stone desk. The lady behind the desk hardly looked over her glasses at me, her grey hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head as usual.

"And where would you be going?" she sighed, annoyed. We had a long history.

"I'm leaving."

The lady barked a sarcastic laugh, setting down her daily newspaper to look get a better look at me.

"And where will you go."

Everyone here knew my sob story. I straightened my shoulders, looking her square in the eye for what could be the first time in my life. Today would be the start of that change.

"Wherever I please."

Without another word, I stormed out the heavy wooden front doors of the Inn. Never to return. I closed my eyes against the summer breeze as if it was the first time the wind had ever kissed my face. I was free.

A smile pulled across my face as I pulled the paper from my pocket, my long brown hair blowing in the breeze around me. Somehow, those little numbers were still there. They hadn't vanished like my hopes and dreams had all those years ago.

$20,000 to Amelia Lee

I traced my thumb over the unreadable signature across the bottom of the cheque. I may never know who wrote it, but I owed them everything. Whoever they were, they gave me a chance. A chance to start a life of my own, no longer dictated by the selfish choice my parents had made in abandoning me to work at this Inn until I aged out of their working student program.

I opened the little black book Rose had given to me as I began my first tentative steps down the long, winding dirt driveway. Her neat hand writing filled the pages, photos of mountains and waterfalls taped to the pages. I flipped through the pages. New Zealand, Scotland, Spain. This must have been a journal of all the places she planned to visit.

My heart ached at the thought I may never see her again. But deep in my stomach, I knew she'd find a way to make these hand written dreams her reality. Although, I had never imagined they could also be mine. I flipped to the back page, to a hand drawn map of the world. A sticker, a big red star, had been stuck over New Zealand. I smiled, tracing my fingertip over the sparkly sticker. New Zealand it would be.

I waved down a taxi, closing the little black book as my heart danced at the plans forming in my head. I would use the money to apply for a working visa and plane ticket to New Zealand. Far, far away from the Inn. Far away from any of the thoughts that haunted my sleepless nights over these past 10 years. I rested my head against the cool glass of the window, letting my mind wander through the new possibilities. Maybe in a few years, when Rose finished high school, I'll have worked enough to afford to tour the world with her.

I tucked the cheque with the mystery signature into Rose's little book. Never did I imagine two small, fragile items would set me free.