True Riches

'It was just a bad dream and when you open your eyes it'll all be better.' Sophie lay in bed, pressing back the anxiety that threatened to take her over like a wave. The phone call she'd received yesterday seemed a million years ago.

"Your mother only has a few hours left Sophie. She asked for you specifically. I believe she has something for you, but didn't want to tell the nurses." Sophie didn't know she could drive that fast. Her mother had been battling pneumonia on and off for the last 2 years. When she got to the nursing home, her mother handed her, "My quote book. I've had it since I was 16. It has all the answers you will ever need."

The book sat on her night stand next to her. It wasn't anything grand. Just a little black book. She'd only open the first page to see her grandparent's address underneath her mother's name. She could see past her mother's handwriting or then suddenly the tears.

She remembered the moment her mother let out her last breath. It was like an explosion had gone off next to her. She couldn't hear the nurses as they were trying to revive her. She couldn't feel anything. Her sense of smell was gone and her mouth tasted like ash. It was like watching someone dump a bucket of water on a vibrant watercolor painting. It became grays; muted and dulled.

She opened her eyes and grabbed the book opening it randomly to the middle. "All the answers..." Sophie didn't believe it. There were no answers when her mother was gone. She opened it up to a random page. "Suck it up Buttercup."

She threw the book across the room. Anger replacing the despair. What kind of answer was that? "Suck it up?" Her mother used to say that to her all the time when she'd finish ranting about this or that. She stared across the room at the fallen book. Finally, she climbed out of bed. Staring at the book a moment before dressing for the day. Begrudgingly, she walked over to the book. Opening it to another page: "I would let you wander a little bit but never let you go astray."

"These aren't answers! They just mom's silly quotes." They were quotes her friends and family and random strangers had said to her throughout her life. Sophie sat down hard on the end of her bed and began flipping through the pages until she found a bent page. An envelope fell and she looked at the page. "Every day is a choice filled with choices. Make the ones that give you the greatest chance at your dreams."

She reached for the envelope and opened it. It contained two pieces of a paper. The first a short note: "My dear daughter Sophie, If you are reading this then they will be the last words I have for you. I am sorry I can not make you light up the room one more time. I hope you can find joy in the moments of my life with this book as I did. The answers are what you make them. I hope this little bit helps with the rest."

Sophie glanced back at the page, "What are my dreams now?"

Sophie picked up the other tiny folded paper. Unfolding it, she found a check dated for 3 days prior by her mother for $20,000. She stared at it. This was a thing that happens in stories, not in her life. You don't just have twenty grand fall into your lap from some book a relative left you. You really don't have it happen when you need it to pay for a funeral and all the other expenses while waiting for the will to kick in.

She got up and reached for the phone. Numbness replacing the anger she felt moments before. "Sam and Sons funeral home, how may we assist you?"

"Hi, it's um...sorry. I mean, this is Sophie. I'm um....I was wondering what the expenses would be fore the...the..."

"It's alright miss Sophie. We understand. The expenses were already paid for. I'm sorry. We thought someone had informed you. Your mother was very thorough. She paid for everything a little over a year ago. She told us she remembered how you struggled when her mother passed and that she didn't want you to endure that."

"Oh, I..." The anxiety was back. That monster that threated to take over her very soul and reek havoc on everything.

"Miss, would you like us to call you to let you know what time the viewing would be? It is looking like it will be on Wednesday. Is that alright?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you." She waited for him to say a polite goodbye before handing up. She felt her chest grow tight and her heart start to race. And then she looked at the check slowly being crushed in her hand. She had $20,000, no answers, and no mother.

She knew today she would be going to deposit the money in the bank. She didn't know what she would use it for. She wasn't poorly off financially. She glanced at the book. She picked it up heading toward the kitchen.

The doorbell rang.

The person left themselves in as she was rounding the corner. Her dad stood there. "She gave you the book then? I never understood how it could make her so happy reading through it. My favorite is the one about the Christmas tree they named damnit."

"Dad...."

He took Sophie in his arms. "Sweetheart, I promise it will get better but it won't go away. This doesn't ever go away. Laugh and smile at the memories. Don't cry that you can't make more. Rejoice in the once you had."

"She left me money."

"I know."

"I don't want it."

"I know that, too."

"I just..."

"I want her back to, Sophie."

"When this is done can we go..."

"Anywhere you want. I have money I can't take with me and now is the time while I still have time."

Sophie stepped back, wiping her eyes. She looked down at the book one more time. "Dad?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Mom named a Christmas tree damnit?"