Little Black Book

Ivy made herself a coffee and began cleaning her apartment from the night before. She tidied the papers on her coffee table so she could sit and read her morning newspaper. She discovered a leather-bound black book. She knew this was not hers and assumed it had been left by someone the night before.

As she sat on her couch, comfy in her favorite spot, with coffee in hand she looked at this little black book and wondered if this was someone’s “Little black book”.

Ivy’s curiosity got the best of her. She opened the first page and written in ink were words she never imagined she would read.

"To the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, I give you a book of puzzles. These puzzles are just for you and can only be solved by you. This book will lead you to a reward that will allow your every desire to become a reality. Crazy as it sounds, this was done just for you Ivy".

Ivy nearly dropped her coffee and the book, as she took a deep breath and wondered; "who? what? where? when?. How did this book end up on her coffee table? It was clear it was for her but why?"

She needed to stop questioning everything and finish reading the inside of this book;

"Did you take a deep breath? Okay good, yes this is real. As real as you and me, even if you don’t know who I am yet, you will! However, before we get to that you have some work to do. There are some rules I need you to follow:

1) No reading ahead - everything will happen as it is supposed to happen and if you try and skip to the end NOTHING will make sense.

2) If you think you know who I am, all I ask is that you wait until the end. This took a lot of work and I did it just for you. I know how much you love scavenger hunts. I know how much you love Winnipeg, and I know that it’s worth the wait, just like you were for me.

3) You can only tell one friend, choose wisely!

So, here is your first clue:

If you want to meet in the middle of Winnipeg, go to the place where the two rivers meet and go to the old terminal and get a coffee (since I know how much you love coffee!)

Ivy knew she needed to go to the Johnston Terminal at the Forks, and whoever this was really did know her and knew how much she loved coffee.

Ivy decided to walk to her clue since she lived downtown. When she arrived at the terminal, she went straight to her favorite coffee place. As she placed her order she was handed an envelope. It said "Go sit by the river and enjoy your coffee, open when ready".

She sat by the water watching the ducks and geese as she had done so many times before. She took a deep breath and prepared to open the letter.

"You didn't waste any time did you, you have always been so excited about life and adventures. This next task involves you going somewhere spooky, you may want to phone a friend. It’s not winter in Winnipeg, so dress warm and check the book for your next clue".

Now Ivy was confused but so intrigued. She went straight home but not before calling her best friend.

"Riley, you won’t believe what's going on..." said Ivy as soon as Riley picked up the phone.

"What's going on? Are you alright?”

"Okay so this morning, there was a black leather book on my coffee table, I totally thought it was a, you know, "Little black book". It turns out it was meant for me. Someone who knows me is sending me on a scavenger hunt and my next clue says I am supposed to go somewhere spooky and dress warm."

"Do you know where you have to go yet?”

"No," She sighed "I left the book at home when I was instructed to go get coffee . Anyways, I do not want to do whatever is spooky alone and whoever this is said I could tell one friend about this, so of course, I called you. Can you come over?”

"Of course hun, I’ll be over within 30 minutes”.

"Oh my god Riley, you are a godsend. Thank you! See you soon".

Ivy returned home to pull out her heavy winter gear. She decided that she would wait for Riley to get there before checking the next clue.

Riley arrived with Tim Hortons in hand. She said "Spooky and Winnipeg winter. I brought reinforcements. So what does the next clue say? Actually tell me all about everything".

The page after telling her to go to the Forks was blank, but the page after had her next clue.

Go to the cemetery that your grandfather is buried in and make sure to go say hello to him. But then you need to find one of your favorite Canadian musicians who is also buried there. If you are wondering who I mean 'Kurt Winter - from your favorite band from Winnipeg, The Guess Who'.

Ivy and Riley piled into Riley’s car and headed towards Brookside Cemetery. First they headed to Ivy’s grandfather's resting place. It was in the back with the rest of the World War II soldiers. Upon arriving at her Grandfather's tombstone, she noticed another envelope.

The final resting place of Kurt Winters may or may not be in this cemetery, but I have the coordinates that you can follow and see for yourself. After that, you can go to St, Vital Park and go to the toboggan hill there.

“Ry, I am confused; why is he sending me to all these places? What do you think?”

“I think you need to follow the rules of the book or nothing will make sense.”

Ivy and Riley squished back into the tiny car as the snow began to fall. It seemed like a perfect early evening to go sledding. Riley had crazy carpets in her hatch and was always ready for a slide.

They headed to St. Vital park.

When they arrived, the hill was busy with kids and parents but they decided to give it a go.

The first slide was a success, and afterwards they went over to the open fire pit to warm up a bit. A man who looked very familiar came over to Ivy. She couldn’t place the face but knew that she knew him. He said nothing and handed her a piece of paper.

The piece of paper said “Your next task is in the book… Hope you brought it with you.”

Of course after the first clue Ivy was not going to leave anything up to chance.

Ivy and Riley headed back to the car to warm up.

Near the middle of the book was the next clue: “It was your favorite mall growing up and now it holds your favorite book store. Go see Richard (you might remember him from high school, and yes you have known me that long)”.

Ivy knew that meant she needed to go to Grant Park Shopping Centre. It also meant that she needed to go to McNally Robinson Book Store, but why she needed to go find Richard was not something that made sense to her.

Ivy and Riley had known each other for years; since grade 10, Could Richard be who wrote this whole thing? Riley had her guesses but Richard was not one of them.

When they arrived at McNally Robinson, Ivy went straight to the front counter and asked for Richard.

“Richard is working in the travel section tonight. Just head to the front of the store near the mall entrance” said the girl at the front desk.

Ivy and Riley who were now excited with what could be next hurried to find Richard.

“Oh my Richard, is that you?” Asked Riley

“Hey Riley, ohhh your here with Ivy; Hey Ivy!”

“I believe I am supposed to come see you tonight Richard?” said Ivy

“Yes, yes you are and no I cannot tell you anything more than that... I am not allowed.”

“Well, what are you allowed to tell me?”

“I am to give you these 5 books. You have to read all 5 books and then you are to read the very last page of the black book. Well here you go”.

The first book was The Secret. She thought it was kind of strange but she read the whole book that night.

The next book was The Notebook which she found cute, it was one of her favorite movies, yet somehow she had never read the book.

The third book was titled Stop Overthinking. Wow did this person know her or what?

The 4th book was called Cuba: A Jake Grafton Novel. This book was barely in her wheelhouse.

The fifth book was titled Everything you need to know before you go to Cuba.

She went to the little black book...

“How many days did this take you? I bet only a few days knowing you. I need you to pack everything you would bring if you were going somewhere warm for 7 days, then go to the airport. Go to the Sunwing booth and tell the person your name and give them your passport, I will be waiting when you land with fruit in my hand.”

She packed her suitcase and called Riley.

“OH MY GOD - I think I am going to Cuba”

“Are you serious?”

“Yah the last clue told me to go to the airport and I would meet mystery man when I landed”

“Oh my - how can I help?”

“I need a ride to the airport as soon as you can.”

“I'm on my way, coffee?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

“I'll see you in 20 minutes.”

“Am I really about to jet off somewhere to meet someone I don’t know?” Ivy asked out loud.

“If I tell you something can you promise not to get upset?”

“Well, now you have to tell me…”

“I think I know who you are meeting and I was the one who put the book on your coffee table but even though I think I know, I still cannot tell you. But know this, when he said it was worth the wait...trust me it is”.

Ivy was dumbfounded, Okay so Ry knows who this is, and this person knows who I am, maybe I should stop overthinking and trust. I’ve always been so bad with trusting.

Riley dropped Ivy off at the airport. Ivy went in to find the Sunwing booth. She did just as she was told and just as expected was handed a boarding pass that stated she was going to Veradero, Cuba.

Her flight took 6 hours all together and as she came through the customs doors, standing before her was a man she hadn’t seen in 5 years. The love of her life Mickey, holding a pineapple in his hands.

As she approached she said “Why all the mystery Mickey?”

“It’s Mick now, and the reason for the mystery was that I won the Lottery last Friday, and when I won, I knew there was only one person I wanted to share this with, and that’s you Ivy, it’s always been you.” Mick replied

“Why the games?”

“You always said you wished your life was like the movies. I wanted to give you a little taste of what you have always wanted. How did I do?”

“I am at a loss for words, I really don't know what to say.” Ivy was in a bit of shock; Who would have thought this little black book would have been the start of the next chapter in her life.