Little Black Book

The warm summer evening breeze dances through Mira’s hair. Cracked city sidewalk crunches beneath her thin-soled All-Star sneakers as she weaves through allies around old homes and abandoned warehouses, camera in hand. Catching the sunset illuminating abstract jagged edges of rusted fencing puncturing plumes of iridescent clouds, she pauses and brings the camera up to her eye, leaning at just the right angle and smiling at the soft click of the shutter.

Perfect, she thinks to herself. These abandoned streets still have so much magic. It is unfortunate that this is the side you rarely see or hear about this place. They only focus on the damage and lost real estate.

Continuing her exploration, she pauses periodically for a photo, savoring her escape from the aggressive reality of alcoholism and lost wages back at home.

They’re not at home anymore, she remembers with mixed pain and relief over the results of the last fight with her partner. Keeping an eye on the angle of the sun, she notices its place now low in the sky. It’ll be dark soon, I should probably find my way back home-

Mira’s though is interrupted by a shimmer of light and an odd THWACK sound to her left. She looks around and only finds a tattered little black book on the ground, its soft yellowy pages wavey between the covers. Glancing over her shoulder, she bends down the inspect it closer, brushing her finger softly over faded golden engraving of her own name.

Chills roll through her body, heart leaping as Mira opens the first page to see a set of numbers, today’s date, and an old pencil illustration. Mira’s brows slide together as she inspects the rough lines on the page. Why does this look so familiar? she ponders this image of a girl surrounded by old broken buildings, searching her memory for a clue.

With a gasp, she looks up, mouth agape as she compares the ally she stands in now to the image in the photo.

“This cant be the same place” She protests aloud, looking at the date of the entry.

“It is, my dear, just as I remember it” a voice responds, to Mira’s great surprise.

Mira whips around to see an elderly woman with long hair and a shimmery scarf gently waving in the evening breeze. “Who are you!” Mira demands, startled and confused. Why didn’t I hear her behind me? Where did she come from? Wait... where do I know her from? She wonders.

“You have a lot of thoughts, and I have a lot of answers,” the woman replies with a warm smile.

Mira doesn’t know how to respond. There is a strange familiarity with this woman and Mira is lured into the mystery. She tries another question, “Is this yours? How did you draw this picture so long ago?”

“It’s easier if I show you,” The woman replies sliding closer. “I know life hasn’t been easy, but now that you’re free. It’s time you know of your family’s destiny.”

“Seriously?” Mira rolls her eyes. She expects me to just blindly believe a stranger in an ally?

“This is why I will show you,” The woman smiles and instructs, “Think of a place.”

Even in this confusion Mira can’t help but think of her family home from years ago, when her parents were still around, and before she could say anything the woman draws a door in the air with her hand and a glittery window appears in the ally with them. Mira can make out the shapes of the familiar furniture and chaotic color schemes her mother always loved.

“Come closer,” the woman urges, and Mira is mesmerized so much so that she barely notices the woman’s embraces before plunging them through the doorway.

Breathless Mira exclaims, “What have you done? How- Where…“ Lost for words Mira sees they are inside her old home, but it looks just slightly off, the color and some objects don’t seem quite right.

“We are between worlds,” the woman says simply. “Your family has a gift, you see, traveling outside of time and space as most people know it to be. Unfortunately, they were not able to teach you, so when the time was right. I promised to come for you.”

Mira is mesmerized at the wholesome family scene from her past, but breaks away enough to try and protest, “That’s not possible,” she says as she watches the impossible right before her teary eyes.

“Yet here we are,” says the woman calmly.

“How could I not have known?” Mira asks

“Your family works for a private... ah company. This is a very sought-after skill that lies in your lineage,” The old woman explains as the scene fades away.

Mira turns to her in disbelief as they’re now standing in a starry field in a strange landscape. “What do they- I mean, what did they do?”

The woman smiles warmly, “I can’t tell you much, but know this skill, when practiced, offers you access to places and information to help a lot of people if you choose to use it that way. You have a natural eye for detail and a good heart. It’s why we’re offering this invitation for training.”

“If I refuse?” Mira asks pondering her new freedom from abuse and the unknown unfolding before her eyes.

“Then you simply continue on in your life, but if I may say, imagine what this job can offer for your photography! You will be paid to use your gifts with some exciting assignments along the way. Just think about it. Our time is just about up. Here, try a door yourself. You just draw it like so and imagine where you want to go.”

Mira looks quizzically at the woman, but decides to give it a go. Why not? She thinks, wondering if she passed out in that ally and hit her head. She draws a door.

Mira looks up, puzzled at the woman. Has she gone mad? Mira looks back through the doorway at her own room.

“Well, what now?” Mira turns to ask her guide.

Handing Mira a rose, the woman smiles and says “Walk through the door and if you want to learn more, accept your first task. “you’ll know where to go.”

Glancing at the rose and back over her shoulder she begins to ask “But what if I ca-“ before she can express her doubt, Mira gets a forceful nudge through the doorway. Feeling that same odd breath-taking pressure just before sitting up with a gasp in her own bed.

Looking around confused at the late morning light judging by the sun in her window, Mira looks around expecting to see this old woman with the long air and a shimmering scarf. There’s no way I dreamt all that is there? She wonders as she hears a knock on the front door.

Sliding out of bed, she doesn’t notice a rose softly hitting the floor as she walks out of the room. When she opens the front door there is a small box and a card with beautiful flowing handwriting that reads, “Here’s to your new life. May all your dreams come true.”

With one last glace around for the messenger she closes the front door, puzzled. Setting the box on the kitchen counter she slides off the lid. Her hand trembles as she finishes unfolding tissue paper from a shimmery bundle. Mira holds the familiar shimmery scarf in her hand for a moment before unfolding it to reveal a crisp new little black book. Her finger brushes the golden letters of her name engraved in the corner. As she flips through the fresh empty pages of the book a piece of paper flutters to the floor. Mira picks it up and unfolds a $20,000 check with only a set of coordinates in the memo line. A smile slides across Mira’s face.

“I’m in,” she says to herself excitedly. Throwing on fresh clothes, Mira puts her camera and her new notebook in her bag, wrapping the shimmering scarf around her neck just before slipping through the door.