Little Black Book

“Alice! Jess! Quick! I found it!” It was beautiful. The necklace was the last thing on the list. We have spent the last three days trying to locate the whereabouts of this gem. What a beauty!

As winter turned to spring and the last of the snow and cold air diminished, Jenny was looking forward to the long-awaited scavenger hunt that the besties planned all winter. She knew they could win as they always did when it came to things like this. Alice was the one who usually procrastinated and wanted to wait until the last minute to make plans. Jenny decided to plan for herself in this case. She had spent her entire winter couped up with granny, taking care of her while she was mending from her surgery. Jen craved to warm, soft touch of sun on her face. She hated winter and always looked forward to the final change of seasons.

“Granny”, said Jenny, “the girls and I are going on a scavenger hunt. We wanted you to be the first to know”. “How wonderful!” exclaimed granny. “I think that’s just what you need after that long, cold and dreary winter. I know how much you hate it, and this will be the thing to bounce you right back”.

Jenny called the girls and they agreed to get started as soon as the flyers were sent out. The long days of hunting in every nook and cranny for all those odd and useful things was going to be so much fun. They’d never done this sort of thing before, so the excitement was overwhelming.

Jenny was the planner and get-things-done kind of girl. Jess was the super smart one and could think of places to go that the others would never consider. Alice was the one you had to coax and prod to even get dressed. Not that she didn’t want to, but she would rather just leave the house like she was, even in her pajamas. In a couple of days, their fun would start so they gathered things, made lists, and planned out their days for the hunt. This was worth the long wait.

The day before the hunt, the girls decided to have a girl’s night, so they headed to their favorite pizza place. They were unsure of the things that might be on the list, so they all sat around discussing ideas. “What if there are things we’ve never heard of”, claimed Alice. “No need to worry, Alice. I’m sure we’ll be fine” said Jess. “But we’ve never done this and I’m afraid we may not get them all. What then”? asked Alice. “It’s fine”, said Jenny. “We can get all the easy ones and then start on all the rest. I’m sure nothing too strange will be there and, even if there is, we can do this. We are besties and besties always get through things” said Jess. As their worries subsided, they continued with their night. They just knew it would be okay.

The next morning dawned a beautiful, sunny spring day. The perfect day for walking or driving to all the places they needed to go. Jenny was the first to awaken because she was the most anxious to get started. Alice was still sleeping like a baby, but they did their best to awaken her for the big day. “C’mon guys, let me sleep. I don’t want to get up yet” Alice said sleepily. Jenny jumped in “Breakfast is ready, and granny spent all morning baking for our big day. You have to get up”! “Alright. I suppose so. You know I’m not the morning person and I’ll never understand why you always get so excited with it” said Alice.

The girls headed to their destination just in time to see at least a hundred others ahead of them. It was going to be a very exciting day indeed! Once they checked in and received the necessary lists and supplies, the girls headed out on their journey. One by one, items were found. With a few more to go, the girls were very hopeful they would be the winners. The next to last item was a Little Black Notebook. They knew exactly where to look for this one because Jess just purchased one for school and she knew how to get another one because she unexpectedly found it after purchasing the one she now has. They raced to the antique store and found it. Right where she knew it would be. Alice grabs it and runs back to the girls who waited outside. As she approaches, the book falls to the ground and, just inside the cover, a twenty-dollar bill falls out. As they stand there gaping and wondering why and where it came from, Jess starts pulling out more as she digs around the cover. Hundreds, then fifties and some more twenties. In total, it was exactly $20,000! They couldn’t believe their luck!

Who in the world would stash that kind of money and why would they just leave it at a random store for another to find? It must be from an estate sale or something. The girls then gathered everything they found and took it into the store to inquire. The clerk had no clue, but she did say the owner had left it a few months back but didn’t recall the name. As they were leaving, they decided to keep it and give it to granny as she could use it more than they could.

The girls did win their scavenger hunt in the end and they split the profits and enjoyed their summer exploring and recreating memories of the good old days.