Chester's Interest

It is night time, not too late judging by the position of the moon. There is a light autumn breeze and I can smell the remnant scent of Lexi's supper wafting in our backyard. I am lazing at my usual spot in the darkness, waiting for Him to show up. I know He will, humans are creatures of habit and He has been coming by every night for the past week.

It started last Monday night as I was going through my usual routine of laying in the grass, listening to the crickets and owls; "chilling" Lexi would call it. I heard some unusual grunting when I noticed a man climbing over our fence. A new moon was out that night making it pretty dark outside, but of course I could see him. He was a short sort of fellow with a large back and skinny arms. He slinked into the backyard, made a few trips around it until he settled for the spot behind the large rock near the east of the yard. After he bent down behind for a moment, he straightened up and left the way he came.

Curious, I stretched and walked over to see what he'd done. Behind the rock was an old-looking black book, hand-bound and crusty. Bored, I left it where it was and decided it was time to head inside; the wind was getting chillier and Lexi would probably want to cuddle with me in bed.

Now, a week later and the book is still there. And He's been here every night since, checking behind the rock, most likely to see if the book is still there. It is, Lexi has not seen it. Though she has been outside plenty this week, getting the garden ready for the winter months, I guess she's been too distracted to notice it, and I'm obviously not interested enough to mention it. She'll probably just chuck it out once she sees it... no wait, Lexi is too nice. She'll probably post a "Found: Black Book" poster around the neighborhoods' bulletin boards. As if anyone would care enough about some crusty old book.

Ah! There he is, punctual as always. A quick in and out and he's gone again.

***

"Chester? Chester!" I yell as I look out into the dark night, waiting for Chester to come back in; the nights are getting chillier and I don't like him being outside so late.

I step outside and go further into the yard, calling his name out lightly. I make it halfway towards the back fence when I spot him near one of the trees intently looking across the yard to the big rock. I call out to him again but he's so intent on whatever's there that he doesn't seem to hear me. I walk over to the rock and notice what he's interested in: a little black book. I pick it up and tell him to come back in-it's late. Once in, Chester settles in at his usual seat at the kitchen table and I put on the kettle. A nice Earl Grey blend before bedtime sounds perfect. I sit down next to him while I wait for the water to be ready.

I look over the book; no name or address inscribed anywhere and no title. I flip through the pages and discover they are all blank. The pages remind me of old paper, yellow with a texture I'm not used to. How it could've gotten in my backyard? I haven't a clue, but as they say "waste not want not", so I guess I can consider this my lucky find: I love anything free!

I hear a "click", the water is ready.

***

Lexi's been eying the book for a few minutes now; I will never understand how she can find the most mundane things interesting. Finally, she takes out her pack of 24 gel pens, picks one of the greens (as usual) and hums while stirring her tea. She's making a face that tells me she's thinking about what to write. I ask her if she's writing to the queen, which makes her laugh. She annoyingly rubs my head and sighs. I can tell I've made her relax a bit, and that makes me happy, though annoyed that she's ignored my question. She slumps in her seat and proceeds to write something. I lean closer and see another one of her lists (I swear she's obsessed with them). This one reads "Things I Want" and the first item on the list in big block letters is "LOTS OF MONEY" (typical human). She continues to go down the page enumerating things she wants but I get bored after the first line and decide it is time to go clean myself.

***

A few days after Lexi finally found the book the man left in our yard, I saw him in the newspaper. He was caught in Italy after a two-month manhunt. He's been charged with stealing part of a priceless treasure that was supposed to make its way to the British Museum. Some excavators digging in Egypt found an old tomb and six mummies will be part of a new exhibition next month. Now, trust me when I say that the black book was the least interesting thing found but for some reason this man decided he wanted that boring old book. He also decided Lexi should be the one using it. Why? Humans are weird, that's why. Though, I suppose, Lexi saying he looked like her uncle Lester could have something to do with it...

***

A week has passed since I found that magical black book- yes magical. That is the only plausible explanation. Yes, I'm aware it probably makes me sound like I am slowly losing my marbles, but I guess I'll take it... and the one million dollars that comes with it.

I'm still over the moon! The night after I found it and jokingly wrote a list of things I want (including a pet cow, a cabin in the woods and a telescope) I won a lottery, of which I don't even remember entering! At first I thought it was a prank from someone with very poor humor (i.e. my younger brother who still thinks he's in high school and not a high school teacher). But no, the million dollars was as legit as legit can be. So now, not only can I afford all the things I'd listed on my magical list but I can also get Chester his own cat tree!

*Meow*