Little Black Book

Graelin was laying in her bed listening to the water dripping from the leak in her ceiling. She had inherited the house when her parents died in a car accident a couple of years ago. The little green bungalow needed work, but the mortgage was paid so she’d have to find the money somehow to fix the roof before it got too much worse. Her alarm startled her and she groaned as she shut it off as she rolled out of bed. She quickly got ready for work and walked out to her car. That’s when she noticed the flat tire. As she slumped against the old blue sedan, she muttered, “I’m going to be late again”.

She tucked everything in her backpack and took off running for the bus stop. She made it just as the bus driver was about to close the doors. Hurrying up the steps, she makes her way to the back of the full bus. People going to work and a few running errands. If she had more time, she’d love to sit and people watch, but she was in her uniform on her way to work.

The bells ring as she rushes into the diner alerting her boss to the fact that she’s late again. He shouts, “Graelin, I swear if I wasn’t short staffed, I’d fire you!”

“I know, I know. Had a flat tire and had to catch the bus,” she replies as she makes her way to the back to put her things in her locker and grab her apron.

She comes out and an elderly couple clearly still in love after all these years are just finishing their shared piece of cherry pie and coffee. Graelin watches as they chat and giggle like teenagers thinking how sweet. She emerges from the kitchen with plates of food for other patrons and notices the sweet old lady had left her purse behind. Graelin grabs it and tries to catch them, but their bus pulls away before she can get to them. She turns and goes back into the diner, putting the purse in her locker to return to them later.

With work finally finished for the day, she counts her tips as she absent-mindedly opens her locker to grab her things to leave. She notices the purse and fondly remembers the couple. She whispers an apology, “Forgive me for intruding, ma’am, but I have to so I can return this to you”. She opens the purse, notices a well-loved, little black notebook, and pulls out the wallet. She writes down the name and address on the back of a page from her order pad. She quickly changes out of her uniform and into the jeans and sweatshirt she’d brought to wear to class that evening. She stuffs the uniform into the bottom of her backpack with her books for night school. Working full-time and taking night classes was the only way she could afford to pay for college. She gently places the purse inside her backpack to protect it until she can get it back to its owner. Grabbing the address off the shelf in her locker, she stuffs it into her pocket.

At the bus stop, she pulls out the crumpled paper to see which one would get her closest to the address from the owners ID. The #6 bus arrives and she jumps on to return the purse. She walks down the street looking for the right house. She counts the houses and decides it is the adorable little white house with the beautiful pink roses, purple lilacs, and blue hydrangeas growing in the front yard. As she gets closer, she sees the house number and approaches. She sees the couple through the window. The lady seems very upset and her husband is trying to console her. Graelin rings the doorbell. The lady pulls herself together enough to answer the door. “May I help you?” she asks Graelin.

Graelin looks at her and replies, “You look upset. Is there anything I can do for you?”

The lady smiles that I’m about to break out in tears again, but trying desperately to hide it half smile and responds, “I lost something today that I can never replace.”

Sliding the backpack off her shoulder, Graelin bends down and unzips it. She pulls the left behind purse out and hands it to the lady. “You left this at the diner where I work earlier. I’m so sorry, but I had to open it to find your address so I could return it. I didn’t look at anything else or take anything, I promise,” she says as the look on the lady’s face changes from sadness to elation.

“You found it! You brought it back to me! Thank you, thank you. Please come in. Thank you for bringing him back to me. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you!” she replies. “Henry, she found it and brought him back to us,” she said as she nearly pulls Graelin into the house.

Henry joins them at the door as his wife holds the purse close and awkwardly tries to hug Graelin without moving the precious purse. Henry is smiling and seems as happy as his wife when he says, “young lady, you have just saved the day by returning something that means the world to us. How can we ever thank you?” he asks. “Melinda, my love, how about some lemonade for our young hero here?” he asks.

Henry pulls her towards the living room to have a seat while Melinda heads for the kitchen. Graelin takes a seat and can see Melinda putting her purse down on the table. She gently opens it, pulls out the worn little black notebook and hugs it to her chest. She looks at the ceiling and sighs in relief. Henry asks, “where are my manners. I haven’t asked your name, our young heroine.”

She turns to face Henry with a soft smile and responds, “my name is Graelin.” She hears Melinda in the kitchen and looks around the room. She sees lots of family photos on the walls and a special photo of a soldier on the mantle with a folded flag in a case.

Melinda enters the room with a tray containing a pitcher of lemonade, three glasses with ice, and a plate of freshly baked cookies. “Here we go. I brought some cookies too. I hope you like oatmeal scotchies. They’re Henry’s favorite,” Melinda announces as she nearly bounces into the room as if she had wings.

“I love anything butterscotch,” Graelin says. “Thank you very much, but you don’t have to go to any trouble for me. I was only doing what any decent person would by returning your belongings,” she continued. Melinda pours the lemonade and grabs a couple of cookies with a napkin placing them on a saucer that she had placed in front of Graelin.

“Oh sweetheart, most people wouldn’t go out of their way to return it like you did,” Melinda says. “How can we repay you for your kindness?” she asks. Both are looking at her expecting an answer.

Graelin looks at them and says sincerely, “Just knowing I was able to return something you dearly love to you plus it brightened the bad start to my day. That is all the payment I need. Thank you though.”

“What made it such a rough morning for you, my dear?” Henry asks.

With a slight smile, Graelin says, “oh nothing, just my luck these days.” She lets out a small chuckle as she continues, “the leaking roof kept me awake with the constant drips into the bucket. Then, I was late to work because I had a flat tire and had to run to catch the bus.”

The grandfather clock in the corner chimes and Graelin turns to look at the clock. “Oh no, is that the time? I’m going to be late for class again. I don’t want to be rude, but I need to get going,” she says as she grabs her backpack and stands to leave.

Melinda wraps the rest of the cookies in a napkin and hands the bundle to Graelin as she heads for the door. “Take these with you, dear,” Melinda says. “Again, we can’t thank you enough for your kindness in returning him to us. We will repay you somehow.”

As she steps out onto the porch, Graelin turns, “You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help. Thank you for the cookies, too.” She puts her backpack on her shoulders and waves as she descends the stairs two at a time. She hits the sidewalk and starts running in the direction of her school to get to class.

A few days later, a well-dressed man in his mid-twenties walks into the diner. He’s looking around for a unicorn with a superhero cape or the human equivalent. He lets out a small laugh when he sees the “young brunette who is quite pretty, but doesn’t do much primping because she works too hard.” She is exactly as his grandparents had described their heroine.

He approaches her and asks, “Excuse me, miss. Are you Graelin?”

She looks at him a bit confused and tentatively responds, “Yes. How do you know my name?”

He smiles and continues, “my grandparents, Henry and Melinda, asked me to find you. They’re insisting on repaying your kindness. Do you have a few minutes to talk? I can explain why this is so important to them.”

Graelin looks at the clock, turns to her boss, and tells him, “my shift is over.” She turns to the grandson and continues, “I’m going to go change clothes and be back in a few minutes. I have class and need to catch the bus. Can we talk on the way? I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

“David and yes, I can wait and walk with you,” he responds.

She returns and David is patiently waiting outside the front door. She joins him and they start walking towards the bus stop. “She hugged a worn little black notebook so I’m assuming that was the irreplaceable item?” she states hoping he’ll confirm.

“Very perceptive. That notebook is the last thing they have from my father. He was given his first journal in 1997 from a company called Moleskine that had just opened. He always kept a journal while stationed overseas. He was killed in combat in 2002 and that last little black book was returned to them with his belongings. Grandma reads a bit every day to feel close to him. So losing that was like losing him all over again,” David tells her.

“So when she referred to the journal as “him” she meant your father. It makes sense now. His photo is on the mantle with the folded flag. I didn’t return her purse for a reward. I did it because it was the decent thing to do. They’re such a lovely couple. I’ve noticed them a few times and they seem so in love even after all these years. It’s beautiful and enviable,” she says.

“It is. Please take this. They want you to have it so you can sleep and get everywhere on time safely. They have money and can afford this. To them, this is a small token for the priceless item you returned to them. They won’t take no for an answer and will keep coming or sending me to try to get you to take it,” David says holding out an envelope with a check inside.

Graelin looks at the check for $20,000. Tears fill her eyes as she thinks about how much this could help. She can fix the roof, get new tires, and pay for next semester.

Shyly, she looks at him, “are you really sure?” He nods happily.

She hugs David and says, “thank you! You have no idea how much this will help me.”