A Sweet Discovery

The Duncan’s lived in a large old home. The Duncan’s had an incredibly beautiful and intelligent daughter named Sadie. This eleven-year-old girl was wise beyond her years. She was a quite simple girl, was well spoken and mostly kept to herself. Her parents on the other hand, don’t realize what a special girl they have at hand. Unfortunately, the Duncan’s were not best fit best to raise a child. As they have some internal conflict and unresolved issues of their own. Their self-sabotaging behavior left an impact on Sadie. She realized at an early age that not all parents are superheroes. They can be mean, uncaring and forgetful. Sadie often indulged herself in reading all sorts of books. Though she knew she doesn’t have the best parents, she found comfort and reading in the good ones in her books. Since she was often alone in her room, she often made up a pretend family of her own. Her play family loved her and adored her. They would read books with. Her play mother would wake her up with a kiss each morning and take a golden handle brush and gently brush her long golden hair. Her play father was a successful writer and let Sadie read the manuscript of all his books before they were published. It was nice to dream, wasn’t it? Sadie’s real parents were immersed with garbage on television. One time Sadie swore she saw a flower drop down one time her mother walked outside. It was all she knew. Despite all this, Sadie remained a good person and was nothing like them. There was one family member that Sadie did admire. Her Aunt, Mr. Duncan’s sister Rosie. Rosie used to make homemade jam and honey and sell it and eventually became successful. She opened her own shop called ‘Naturally Sweet’. Mr. Duncan on the other hand wasn’t so happy about her success. He was very jealous. He was so driven by money that he would do anything to get it. One day he even went to lengths to stealing a few jars of her honey and trying to make profit from it. He had no choice since he couldn’t find out what the secret ingredient in her jam was that made it so delicious. Rosie eventually found out about it and became upset by her own brethren’s actions. Since Mr. Duncan was living with Rosie at the time because he couldn’t hold down a job, she sent him out of the house. She realized she let him lie around the couch and do nothing for too long while he claimed to be looking for a job. Him going behind her back was the last straw. Enraged and still jealous of her success, Mr. Duncan had planned a horrible thing. He hired a couple of men to destroy Rosie’s store. He promised to pay themselves by taking the money from her register. It was in the newspaper about her store being destroyed. Rosie was grief stricken and had her suspicions on who could have done so. Rosie tried to confront her brother because she knew it had to be him. He did nothing but gaslight her and call her a bad sister for saying it was him. They got into a big argument. Rosie was still upset about the store and for what she knew her brother did but didn’t admit. One day, she just packed her bags from her home to start a new life and disappeared. A day later, the men that Mr. Duncan had hired to destroy the store said when they looked in the cash register, they didn’t find a cent. Mr. Duncan lied and said he would pay them back in no time and like some fools they believed him. By that time, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Duncan and a five-year-old Sadie wife fled away into a new city. Sadie doesn’t know the full truth of this. When asked about why she doesn’t see her aunt anymore. He tells her that she tried to steal from him. She knows it’s not the truth because she knows her father is notorious for lying. Unfortunately, Rosie has long passed. Sadie holds on the few memories she has visiting and spending time with her before they moved.

Sadie was in her room deep into another one of her adventure books when her mother stormed in. With a scowl on her face and a cigarette loosely hanging from her mouth she said, “Get your butt down and eat dinner.” Sadie folded the corner of her book and made her way down the creaky stairs. The Duncan’s always complained about the creaking of the stairs and the way the house looked at the time. The house was the cheapest thing they could find at the time. Sadie loved every bit of the house. Yes, it was old, but she loved it anyway. Even the funny noises the stairs made. When dinner was served, Sadie didn’t get much. A bigger helping was always taken by her parents and there was none left over for her. Mrs. Duncan’s cooking was terrible anyway, so it didn’t matter that much. When dinner was over, the Duncan’s plopped on the couch and glued their eyes to the television. Nonsense was on as always and Sadie made her way upstairs to finish her book. The book she finished reading told a tale about a captain going on an adventure. Sadie was feeling quite bored and decide to have an adventure of herself. She grabbed her makeshift sword she made of magazine, her teddy bear named Bean and crept away to the attic. She pulled the staircase down and looked through the stair railings to see her parents still glued to their seats. She went upstairs and looked around in amazement. She didn’t expect to find anything up here. Boxes of toys, trinkets and books surrounded the place.

“Wow, all for us Bean!’ Sadie exclaimed to her teddy bear. Sadie emptied the box of toys on the floor and looked at each for amazement. Then she spotted a small black book in the corner of the room. Sadie raised her eyebrow.

“Jackpot!” A new book for her to read. Sadie walked over to the book and opened it. She suddenly realized this was no ordinary book. She carefully looked at the pages and saw that these were magic spells. Her eyes widened in amazement. Loud stomps were getting louder and louder each second. Sadie quickly turned around and dropped the book out of freight when she saw her mother.

“What the hell are ya doin the attic?! Go to bed little girl!” Mrs. Duncan screamed. Sadie jumped with freight, grabbed Bean and made sure not to forget her book. Mrs. Duncan took Sadie by the ear and pulled her all the way into her bedroom. Mrs. Duncan slammed the door on her way out of Sadie’s room. Sadie was tired of this life. She was tired of feeling so alone. At least she knew she had her books, imagination and Bean. That bought her some comfort. Sadie flipped through the pages and one stood out to her. There was a large smiley face in the middle of the pages with ink text underneath. Out of nowhere the words ‘Sadie come with me’ appeared on the page. Sadie dropped the book out of amazement. Was what she was seeing true? Sadie looked again and took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was exciting. The words ‘repeat after me’ appeared on the page next. Sadie grabbed Bean close to her and waited for what happened next.

Come with me, I can see what you need,

Over here you’ll have a loving family.

It was as simple as that. It’s as if someone was listening to her thoughts. Sadie repeated the words and suddenly Sadie and Bean were transported through the book. Sadie looked around and no longer saw her bedroom. She was surrounded by flowers. The sky was shining, and it was warm. It was a whole new world. She felt happy here and a sense of familiarity. Suddenly she was approached by a man and a woman. Her eyes widened in amazement. Sadie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The play parent’s she made up in her head was who she was looking at. The parents looked at each other and then at Sadie. They smiled.

“We have been waiting for you for a long time.” The woman said.

“I know you must be surprised but we’re here.” The man said.

“But...but how?” Sadie asked while still staring in awe. Sadie’s play mother crouched down and looked in her eyes with a smile.

“Anything you imagine is real.” She spoke. There was a sparkle in her eye immediately after she said that. Sadie’s play mother sat her down in the middle of the field of roses and told her she knew all about her. Sadie’s play parents adored her and wished that they could raise her like she should be. Sadie deserved a good life. This was her biggest wish. She admired her play father because he told her he wrote many stories. He has a wish of opening his own book shop but just doesn’t have the money for it. He believes reading unlocks your imagination. Everyone should get lost in a book. Her play mother supported his dream and knew one day he can do it. Nonetheless, he enjoys writing for leisure anyway. Sadie said she would do anything to stay with them but there was a problem. Her play parents looked at her with sadness. They wanted her to stay so bad but remembered something. Since they are both a part of different worlds, Sadie wouldn’t be able to permanently stay with them. Their world was much purer than the one on earth. Anything that did not belong couldn’t stay. She must get rid of her earth scent and get cleansed in order to join them. There’s a key that’s been hidden away on earth, but they have no idea where it is. The key said along with the proper chant will cleanse her so she will be able to stay. Sadie’s play mother was delighted and brought to tears because she thought she would never find the book. They have been waiting for her as long as they could remember. Even though Sadie knew she couldn’t stay a long time, she promised the visit as often she can. Visiting wasn’t enough. She knew this is where she wanted to be. Sadie began to vanish because she knew she couldn’t stay for long. She found herself back in her bedroom with Bean in her arm. Sadie sat in her bed in tears.

“I want to go back so bad Bean. I’m never going to find that key.” Sadie sobbed. Sadie sobbed and sobbed until she fell asleep in bed.

The next morning Sadie was still daydreaming about her play parents especially when she knew they were real. To ease her pain, she decided to go up to the attic and find more things for her to discover. As soon as she began to go up the stairs her mom screamed her.

“Why are you always going in places you ain’t supposed to?”

Sadie slowly turned to look at her. “You and dad never pay any attention to me. I like being to myself so just leave me alone. She firmly said. Mrs. Duncan rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Well, well, well, since you feel that way,” Mrs. Duncan grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her up the stairs to the attic, “why don’t you just stay up here where I can’t see ya. You’re a no-good brat anyway!”

“Hey, you can’t just leave me up here!” Sadie exclaimed.

“That’s too bad, have a nice life!” Mrs. Duncan screamed. Sadie tried to run back down but her mother closed the door behind her. Sadie tried to open the door, but there was something preventing the door from being open. Sadie looked at Bean with tears welding up in her eyes.

“Bean, we’re never gonna get outta here. Oh, how I wish I had that key. I want to leave this place and never come back.” Sadie opened the little black book with the page on which she found her play parents. There was no point in visiting if she couldn’t stay. It would only hurt more she thought to herself. Sadie shook her head and decided to put the book back for good. She gently set the book in a small cardboard box filled with toy. Toys weren’t going to fill the void of her broken heart. She looked around for something to do. She went over to lift a cardboard box to see if there were possibly any more books to read. It was heavier than usual. Puzzled as to why she couldn’t pick it up, she started removing the knickknacks from the box to see what was making it to heavy. At the bottom of the box, she discovered a small pink duffle bag. What was inside? Sadie slowly unzipped the bag and her eyes widened when she saw what was inside. Cash, and lots of it! On top of the cash was a small picture of her Aunt Rosie. But something was tapped to the back she felt. She flipped it over and it was a key. Could this be the key that could get her to stay with her play parents? Right before her eyes a ghost of Rosie appeared. Sadie was taken aback, and her eyes widened.

“Sadie my dear, don’t be afraid. I know I may be gone, but I have always been watching over you. I knew one day you would be smart enough to come and find this key. I know you love to explore, and your curiosity would bring you here. I’m over here on the other side and I’m happy. I know your family is waiting for you. This old bag is mine. Your father doesn’t know it, but this is where I moved to when I found out her destroyed my store. All truths are revealed here. Anything that was hidden to you while on Earth you can see here. And you learn to make peace with it. My intuition was telling me that he would do damage to my store. Oh, he was so jealous about my success and I couldn’t take any chances. I took all the earnings out of the cash register and kept it with me in case he tried to do anything funny. $20,000 I had saved from the earnings of my store. When I moved away, I took my bag and kept my bag up here because I was so scared, he would come after me. I have been scared so long I eventually forgot about the money up here and just started to work and regular job. I was content. One day I fell terribly ill and passed. My soul stayed here and that’s when I discovered that book and that key. Souls are allowed here because we no longer belong to Earth. But only good ones. But you my dear, you are something incredibly special. Only few were able to transcend here but only when it’s recognized that Earth just isn’t enough for them. There’s something special about them. This is also where imagination lives. Everything is real here.” Rosie took Sadie’s hand. “Now that you’ve found the key, it’s safe for you to come. You’re the chosen one. This is the last key. I know your parents are waiting for you here. The parents you deserve. Are you ready to come?” Tears of joy came from Sadie’s eyes. She wiped a tear away.

“What about Bean? Can he come?” She said with a smile.

“He’s more than welcome” Rosie laughed. Sadie knew that this money would be enough to help her play father get a head start on his business. Sadie finally realized she will have the new life that she deserved. The love that she deserved. She won’t ever have to worry about not being loved again. Anything that she imagined will come true. All her character from her favorite books. Anything she wanted. Sadie knew she was destined for more. She was a dreamer. Sadie took hold of the duffle bag, Bean and opened the black book. She found the spell that was meant for her to get her earth scent away from her so she can cross over. Almost immediately She began to glow. A bright white portal opened, and she saw her play parents extending their hand toward her. Rosie smiled at Sadie. Sadie walked lovingly into their arms. The portal was getting small and small as she stepped inside. What was on the other side was far greater than the life that was here for her. Sadie closed her eyes and smiled. The portal closed and Sadie didn’t look back for a second.