Journey to Haiku

Her father had passed away unexpectedly. He had only just reached his fifth decade of life and was the picture of health. A recently retired military man, he was an avid runner and had participated in many marathons to prove that he had the physicality and endurance to do it. A heart attack they said. Lorelei still couldn't believe it.

Her mother, Julia had shut down after his death. She had dedicated her life to this man. In Lorelei's opinion, her mother had given up her identity.

Her father, Miles, had largely ignored his wife to Lorelei’s recollection. He rarely took himself seriously. Anyone that met him was immediately charmed by his quick wit and his ability to not take life too seriously. As a result, serious conversations were not something that Miles liked to engage in. Julia craved his attention but the world was a stage to Miles.

"Mom, you have to help me go through Dad's things", Lorelei called out to Julia from the bedroom. Two years had gone by since Dad was gone.

Her mother had taken to sleeping in the guest bedroom. She seemed to avoid the master bedroom that she had shared with her husband. Lorelei had convinced Julia it was time to move.

"Honey, I know I do but I can't bear to do it right now. I don't mind if you want to go through it. Take whatever you want." Julia continued to fill boxes of her own things from inside the guest bedroom.

Lorelei looked around at the clutter. "No better place than where I am," she murmured to herself.

Opening the closet door, she went through the contents, throwing things out as she went along. She took her mother's earlier comments as permission to do what she thought was best for Julia. Very few things were going to the new condo and this closet had all of Miles’ things.

She opened some shoeboxes lining the top shelf. Briefly, she surveyed their contents before pitching them but paused when she came across a box with old photos. In deciphering the importance of these pictures, she saw they detailed the time when her dad first entered the military. He was stationed in Hawaii as evidenced by the picturesque views of luxurious green surrounded by the crystalline blue of the ocean. Dad was young. The date stamps recorded the timeframe as 1993-1994.

Mom and Dad met in Hawaii in 1995. Lorelei was even born in Hawaii in 1996. These pictures documented a time in his life shortly before they met. The only other item inside that box was one roll of undeveloped 35mm film.

"You’re leaving?" Julia called out as Lorelei passed her in the hallway two hours later. Her job in the bedroom mostly done, Lorelei had tucked that roll of film into her pocket with the intent of developing it later, curiosity getting the better of her.

Twirling her jacket around her shoulders to signal her departure for the day, Lorelei turned to face the hallway in which Julia now stood.

"I got dad's things in order and I'm tired. I'll come back tomorrow to help finish." Despite Julia's look of disappointment, Lorelei turned her back to Julia and toward the door. She'll be ok, she told herself in an effort to assuage the guilt from within.

"Love you, mom!" Lorelei's voice drifted in from the outside just before the quickly shutting door could strangle the sounds entirely.

The next morning, Lorelei sat in her apartment poring over the resulting photographs from the developed film.

If her mom had seen these, it would have wounded her to her soul. They documented a relationship that her dad had obviously had before meeting her mother. A lovely, petite woman with long, dark locks danced merrily alongside Dad in many shots. More pictures of the two of them and even more of Hawaii's beauty.

Curiously, there were panoramic shots in the last few photos that showcased an old, decrepit staircase winding up a mountainside, seemingly climbing up into the clouds. No pictures of the two of them on this hike; just the staircase. Hawaii's beauty surrounding it almost seemed like a by-product to Lorelei's discerning eye. As if the picture taker had no intention of documenting it. There was purpose to that stairwell.

And then she came to it. The very last picture. Lorelei studied it for quite some time. Still, she could not comprehend its meaning. A photo of her dad, squatting in front of a huge rock, the ocean's waves licking the other side of it. Her dad held the camera with an outstretched arm.

He was alone, Lorelei pondered.

In the other hand, he held a little, black book. But it was what was written on the outside of that book that really had Lorelei confused. LORELEI written in gold letters was displayed on the front cover. She looked at the date stamp. June 24, 1994. Two whole years before she was even born.

That was a year ago. Since that day, Lorelei began experiencing dreams. She wasn't even sure if she could accurately describe them as dreams. She had been very cognitive when they began. It was in the twilight of sleep; that scrumptious place when you are falling into a blissful state but still aware of your surroundings. It was there that her dad came to her. In the last year, her father had come in the twilight a total of three times.

In the same way she could not describe his coming to her as a dream, she loosely termed her time with him as conversations. No words were ever really spoken. Just being together seemed to convey the proper messages. Through these thought transfers, she learned of Dad's relationship with the woman in those photos. They fell deeply in love in a proper whirlwind romance.

She was born and raised in Hawaii and given the name Cora. She gifted Dad with a rare, first edition of a book he loved by the famous science fiction author, Mary Bradborne. It was worth over $20,000 by that time and had been in her family since its release back in 1937, signed by the author herself. It was pristine.

Things went sour in their relationship when Cora became pregnant and she told him she had aborted the child. Dad was extraordinarily hurt that he had not been allowed a part of that decision. It was the wedge that ultimately drove them apart for good. When Cora's family found out that he had the book and would not give it back, a legal battle ensued.

Dad was left bereft. He decided to hide that book where it would never be found. A large part of him wanted Cora and her family to suffer in the same way that he had. The lawsuit was eventually dropped. Dad could hold a secret with the best of them…to his grave as it turned out.

Lorelei got to work. Her research of Hawaii helped her discover Oahu's famous "Stairway to Heaven", an abandoned staircase that was built upon the mountainside during World War II to hide a top-secret naval base. Over the years, as it was no longer used, the stairs were in disrepair and illegal to climb.

She also researched the origins of her name. Lorelei means murmuring rock or that of a rock being hammered by strong waves. The rock in that last photo to be more specific. Her name had been used as a code word to remind himself. Very clever Dad, Lorelei grinned.

She could no longer ignore the fact that she held knowledge that she should not have had access to. She had to get to the bottom of it, even if she felt crazy in doing so.

An airplane ride later and what seemed like an instant, she found herself parked outside of the back entrance to the old, abandoned staircase in her rental car. Her research told her that the main entrance was gated. The back entrance was lesser known and though you could gain access to the stairwell from there, it was much more rugged in terrain and therefore a longer trek. Her intuition was telling her that this was the way to go.

She really had no idea what she was doing or really what she was looking for. Instinctively, she headed out to the ocean. From there, she knew she would gain a more sweeping view of the stairwell leading up to the heavens.

She had all but forgotten that picture of her dad squatting beside a rock as being part of the mystery until something she saw made her audibly gasp. The contents of that picture released the breath of life back into her memory bank now.

There it is! She continued to walk toward a huge boulder that was looming in her sight. Instantly, she recognized it as soon as she saw the crash of the waves on the other side.

Scrutinizing the rock brought her to the only point in which someone could have possibly thought might be an undisturbed haven in which to hide something. There, a small little cove on the edge of that rock was protected by another series of large boulders that it was pushed up against. It was just barely large enough for her to sandwich her upper body into. That's exactly what she did. She was surprised at how dry that cove could remain surrounded by that vast ocean.

Disappointedly, she realized there was nothing in there. She sank her torso deeper into the sand. Dropping her flashlight in frustration, its beam caught a glint of something.

Plastic. Picking the flashlight back up, she shone it toward the other side, which was just within arm’s reach. She understood there was a tight corner of that cove that she had not explored. Something was taped on the other side. She ripped at it with all her might and pulled back a plastic bag surrounded by duct tape. Opening that bag as fast as her grit-covered hands could tear, she pulled out THE little black book. The one she had seen her father holding in the picture from years ago.

Wiggling her way back out of the cove, she opened the book with bated breath. Inside was a detailed drawing of the stairs and a map of the bunker at the very top. Buried beside that bunker was a treasure.

On the next page of the black book, Dad wrote of how he had hidden the book rightfully given to him by Cora. He knew he was wrongfully hiding it, yet he felt from within that there was a reason he should never give it back to Cora's family. He described them as self-righteous and unworthy. He had written this letter in the event that he could not reclaim the book himself. Perhaps the reader would understand what his true intentions were. In his mind, he was not a bad man. Lorelei would have to agree.

Two hours later, Lorelei had the Mary Bradborne book in her hands. She had made it to the top. She sat beside the dirt mound made with her portable shovel. Breathlessly, she took turns looking at the view and then the book. Dad had taken great care to ensure it was not deloused by many years under the earth when he prepared it for burial

Heaven, she thought, truly is breathtaking. Now for what to do with this book. She began the trek down.

Later that night, Dad came to her in the twilight for the very last time. His wordless gaze told her everything she needed to know. Waking up in a sweat, she shot straight up in bed.

I have a sister! Cora had lied to Lorelei's father about their love child all those years ago. Two days later, Lorelei met Keilani.

“Keilani means heaven in Hawaiian,” her sister explained to her.

Of course it does.