Always turn the Page

As the seasons change the new day brought warm temperatures accompanied by bright sun beams shining over the mountain side slowly working its way down into the bottom of the valley where the city of Tucson sits. On the south side of this town in a small lower class trailer park neighborhood a bedroom window has been cracked open by fifteen-year-old Rose who then takes in a big whiff of the fresh spring breeze. With a smile on her face she turned on the radio and started to sing and dance along to the music while debating on what to wear before doing her hair and finally concluding her routine with some light make up that included mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss. What had started off as a great morning was unfortunately about to be flipped upside down by the simple sound of a car door being slammed shut from the driveway because for Rose this was the same as an alarm going off advising that trouble was headed her way. The music she had previously been pouring her heart out to has now faded into the background and has been replaced with the pounding of heart. All the happiness disappeared in the blink of an eye and has now become extreme anxiety resulting in sweaty palms, trembling legs as well as the feeling of having difficulty to breath. She quickly sat down in front of her bedroom mirror to attempt to pull herself together so that she could then mentally prepare herself for the nightmare she knew was about to walk through the front door.

For Rose that nightmare was her very own mother who was now stumbling into the house after the usual night out of drinking at the local bar or club. The difference today was that her mother had made it back home before she had a chance to leave for school and whenever this occurred it was as good as guaranteed that they were going to either get into an argument or possibly a full-blown altercation. Rose was born the youngest of two children to her single alcoholic mother that as far as she knew had personal problems long before either her or her brother were brought into the picture. Because her mother was so wrapped up in heavy drinking this left Rose with very little of a parent figure in her life but she had always found herself extremely thankful to have her older brother who was also her best friend by her side. At least up until the year before she entered high school because he was then sentenced to serve 5 years in prison in a city that was too far for her to even try to visit him. When he was around, he would always intervene to protect Rose from whatever chaos their mother was trying to stir up with no respect to who she was hurting in the process. Despite having to face her mother all alone now what really weighed heavy on her was how much she missed her brother and being unable to even see him. He was her inspiration to continue working hard towards her diploma in addition to even getting a baby-sitting job so that she could earn some income not only for herself but also to put money on his books as well.

Now brought back to reality by her mother’s pounding on the outside of her bedroom door she quickly wiped away the tears from her cheeks that had fallen while thinking of her brother and stuffed her belongings into her backpack before opening the door to face the last person she wanted to see that morning. Rose quickly stormed past her mother and into the kitchen to grab the lunch she had prepared for herself the night before so that she could attempt to avoid fighting with her. Her mother had followed her as closely as she possibly could while still being intoxicated and broke the silence by saying “Well good morning to you too, is that really any way to greet your mother!?” Rose shook her head in complete disapproval because she could not believe that even after fifteen years of dealing with this woman she still never ceased to be amazed by the audacity of her mother. She couldn’t understand how her mother could ask such a question when she hadn’t seen her in over two weeks now and then when she finally does show her face its only with the intention to get something from her that would only be beneficial for her. Roses mother now agitated at the fact that she wasn’t paying her much mind slammed her hands down onto the counter and began to scream. Her mother said “Since you want to be so disrespectful towards me and act as if you are already a grown woman it is time for you to begin pitching in money towards the household starting right this minute!” Rose then took a step back and while squinting her eyes began to observe the mess of a mother she had who never did a thing for her in her life but was now insisting on her to give up her hard earned money so that she could go out and continue feeding her drinking habit.

With a tall and firm stance Rose responded with a simple no. Her mother now enraged moved closer to Rose and lifted one hand to slap her across the face harder than she ever done before that she went flying into the edge of the kitchen table then fell to the ground into a fetal position. Without hesitation her mother then unzipped her backpack to reach in for her wallet and pulled out the cash she had before heading towards the door to leave. Rose now laying on the ground cradling her side in excruciating pain and unable to even attempt to fight her mother off before she had a chance to take her money began to cry silently with great disappointment in herself. Before leaving her mother turned around one last time and warned Rose by saying “This will no longer be your home and if I find you here when I return I will personally call the police to have them escort you out and maybe this will teach you to have better respect for your mother!” then slammed the door behind her. Rose listened for her mother to get back into her car and drive away before letting out a deep breath followed by a loud and long painful sob. Despite the pain her now broken rib was causing her she was far to preoccupied with the thought of what to do next now that her mother has kicked her out of the house. She slowly grabbed what she could fit into her backpack before leaving the house she never really considered much of home anyways and even less without her brother around. At this point Rose had missed most of the school day but decided it was best for her to still go so that she could then use the showers and store some of her items in her locker before figuring out where she would spend her first night homeless.

Before it got dark out Rose managed to make a decent tent like shelter out in the desert near her school from the dry bushes and trees. Then with a couple scraps of cardboard she had found in a recycling bin sitting along the roadside she laid it down on the dirt ground to provide her some type of cushion to lay on. With all that had happened that day Rose wasn’t very hungry but decided to eat the food she had put into her backpack earlier that day because at this point it was best for her to try and keep her energy up as much as she can since there is no telling when she would have a chance at another decent meal again. As the night came it brought along with it many unknown noises and made it difficult for Rose to relax and get some sleep. Instead she just laid there for hours gazing at the night sky hoping to see a shooting star so that she could make a wish. At last the exhaustion from the day had finally set in and Rose drifted off to sleep. That next morning she was awaken by a bright light shining into her eyes and with one hand covering her face now to block it she sat up and began to investigate what it was that had awaken her. Under the bushes that she had been pulling from the day before to create her new home she noticed the bright light being reflected from what appeared to look like the corner of a book. Rose asked herself, “What book would reflect light like that? Better yet what would a book be doing out here under the bushes like that?” Without hesitation she began to pull off more and more of the bush that had been sitting on top of this mysterious object until she finally reached it and with disbelief she could not believe what it was she was looking at. It was a little black book.

This was no ordinary book you can find in the library it was obvious that this book had been made with great care. It had a jet-black leather cover with a flower design imprinted into it and inside where hand sewn pages that had been trimmed in silver on the outer edges. These pages were what had been reflecting the sunlight into her eyes and woke her up. Now sitting on the cardboard box she began to further inspect this rare book she found that was beginning to feel like treasure the longer she held it. While searching through the pages inside she noticed the first few were stuck together and gently began to pull them apart. Inside she found the following written down:

“Dear Stranger,

This book has been left here to serve as an inspiration for the person lucky enough to find it. Congratulations because that lucky person is now you! Life often comes with many difficult and hard times that can sometimes leave us feeling paralyzed and unable to move forward in life but the key is to never give in you have to keep pushing forward towards better days. Think of this book as an extension of you because despite being surrounded in darkness that inner light you hold will always shine. I am handing you your very own book of life and promise that no matter what happens you will always keep turning the pages.”

Rose now had to turn the page to continue reading the passage and when she saw what had been written down next she immediately ran to where she had found the book and began to dig into the ground with her bare hands. Fifteen minutes later still digging and with sweat falling off her forehead she had finally found what she had been looking for and pulled out a bag. She ripped open the bag and found exactly what the book had said would be there, twenty thousand dollars! Rose now with tears in her eyes and laughing with excitement looked at the precious little black book with great gratitude.

Rose carefully placed the bag of money along with the little black book into her backpack before heading to school so that she could clean herself up from digging in the dirt before students started arriving for the first bell. Rose used that money to hire a layer so that she can be emancipated from her mother before purchasing her very first vehicle and placing a down payment on a home she could now call her very own. Rose never forgot that what she had thought were to become the worst days of her life ended up being the best because of that little black book and not only because of the money but also because of the great wisdom it provided which she now lives her life by “Always turn the page because you never know what greatness the next chapter holds for you!”