21

Ah, the little black book. Its mystery eluded my family for decades, but not me. Each year we visited Grandpa's old cabin and I looked in his office drawer, I always felt a connection, a pull, towards this little book of mystery. In it were names, dates, figures drawn out, numbers of accounts maybe or perhaps telephone numbers? The way Grandpa wrote inside was even mysterious. Why did I feel so connected to a book that was presumed to be an old work journal? Why the pull?

"Sarah, we're going down to the lake," yelled mom from the kitchen, "you coming?"

I guess I had better save the mystery book for another time and go be with my family.

"COMING!" I yelled back.

As we trekked along the half mile path to the lake, I noticed it wasn't a normal 'feeling' afternoon. Something was off. The energy, the sound of the woods, the birds even seemed quieter. No one mentioned feeling anything off like me, but then again, they never felt what I felt. They never noticed when the air around felt palpable, or the ringing I heard in my ears, and mentioned on numerous occasions. I was different. I have always been different. Grandpa was like me, though. He was different too.

We got to the lake and all seemed perfect in the world. A younger me would have brushed off those eerie feelings I had on the walk, once we arrived at the perfect lake, on the perfect day, with the perfect little boat. But I had learned in my twenty one years, that feeling those things meant something. Even if nothing ever came of my feelings, I knew in my heart they still meant something. My mom, her wife Aiden, and my younger brother Court were loading things into our little boat, Grandpa's old fishing boat, but I had no desire to be on the water, so I set up a little camp on the beach. They pushed off and I remained. I had my sketchbook and a new charcoal pencil I hadn't tried yet, so I was content to hang back alone, while they went to fish in the middle of the lake.

As I sat sketching a tree across the lake with interesting branches, I noticed the feeling in the air had changed. There was a lightness to it, almost a playful energy that I faintly recognized. Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw it! A floating orb of light came into clear view, seconds later. Was it a fairy? A Pixie? I didn't know for sure, but I was going to find out. I followed the orb into a shaded corner of the wooded area where I remember Grandpa had an old storage shed. Sure enough, there was the shed, a few yards away. The orb had led me there, but why? The shed was overgrown with weeds, and cobwebs blocked the windows and doors, but I knew I had to go inside.

I opened the door and walked through what must have been thousands of webs. Dust sprang out from the door frame as I swung it open and took the first step inside. Dimly lit, by the light coming through the dirty windows, I could barely see the figure standing in the corner. I was taken aback by the thought of another person here at the cabin with us, since the closest neighbor was five miles away, but I proceeded nonetheless. It appeared to be a man standing there, not threatening or frightening, but holding a little book. He didn't speak, but waved me forward with the hand holding the book, as if saying, "Come and see."

I walked closer to the man, who started to hold out the book to me. Taking the book from him I gathered that I had not met this man ever before, and he didn't, in fact, seem like a man at all. He was something I would describe as a being. Taking the book from him, I saw that it was identical to the black book in Grandpa's office, but it was red. I sat down on an old broken chair as the man watched me, and opened the book. The first page only had a number on it: 21.

The next pages shocked, bewildered, and enlightened me. It was a full code key to the black book upstairs, giving me all the information that was once my grandfather's. He was wealthy man in his youth, who had lost a great deal of his fortune before I was even born. My mother was born the same day my grandmother passed, so he left her to au pairs to raise. But when once money was gone, he was left to raise my mom alone in the cabin.

"The information in the books will help you understand your grandfather," the man said, in a voice that was unlike any voice I'd ever heard on earth. Almost like it was inside my head. "Take it, read it, and make better choices than he did."

I ran back to the cabin, into Grandpa's office, and grabbed the little black book. Using the little red book, I began decoding the contents. What was in the book, I couldn’t have ever imagined. But the first page of the black book is what made my hair stand up on my arms. It read, "I earned my fortune through alternative means, giving up what mattered most to me. Will you choose family over fortune?" I flipped back to the first page where "21" was written and realized my grandfather was 21 when my mom was born and when grandma passed. What did this all mean? What was I supposed to learn and what 'better choices' were I to make?

Two hours later, I had finished decoding the entirety of the little black book. I was certain of the choices I needed to make for my and my family’s future. I took the books to the fireplace, held them close to my heart as I recited the decoded incantation I found in the book. I chanted the words over and over until I felt their power wash over my body, then threw both books into the fire. A spark so grand it could have fully engulfed me in flames, erupted from the fireplace and thousands of orbs filled the room where I stood. I heard a voice behind me and turned to see the mysterious man standing in the doorway with an old briefcase in one hand. He said, "You chose family over fortune, yet you have earned your fortune anyway," then handed the briefcase over to me.

My family, which I had forgotten about during all of the day's excitement, returned to my mind at that moment. I felt them like I had never felt them before. I needed to see them. Leaving the briefcase in the cabin I ran out to the beach where I'd left my sketchbook and pencil. Looking out at the lake, the boat was nowhere in sight. Usually, the boat is visible from any point of the lake, but I couldn't spot it anywhere. Suddenly I heard my mother's scream from what sounded like a few hundred yards away. I ran toward the scream shouting for my mother again and again. When I finally reached my mother on the beach, I noticed Aiden kneeling over my brother with her lips pressed to his, giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The boat was sloppily tied to the dock like they had been in a hurry. My mother was frantically explaining to me while watching in horror, that Court had gone underwater to look at something that was catching his eye from the water's surface. When he didn't return after a few minutes, my mom sent Aiden down to check on him. My brother's free-diving lung capacity had only capped at four minutes during his longest dive, so she was extremely worried when Aiden dove in. They had just returned to the shore to apply CPR for an unresponsive Court.

As my mom finished the story, Court miraculously popped up m, coughing up lots of water. My mom screamed again, this time out of joy, and with wet eyes tackled Court to the ground hugging and kissing him. We were all so thrilled and that Court had made it and would live to dive again. After gathering our belongings from the beach and boat, we headed back to the cabin. Court sped up to walk with me as we approached the porch. He leaned in over my shoulder, close to my right ear and whispered, "Thank you for making the right choice, Sarah. I love you."

Back in the cabin, the briefcase greeted us at the door. My mom asked where it came from, and I told her a mystery man dropped it off while they were out swimming. She knelt down to open it and couldn't due to the code lock on the latch. I told her to try "2121" as the code to see if it would open. It opened. Tiny orbs of light emerged from the briefcase and as we watched them float out the door, Aiden screamed, this time. We all focused our attention back on the briefcase, filled with more money than any of us had ever seen in our lives.