Paper Confidant

It only took a few minutes, running across the street to the gas station, but in that time the sun had disappeared, and the rain had begun to pour. I scurried out of the store and across the parking lot, bag of snacks in hand, only to be stopped at the cross walk by a slew of drivers speeding by, undeterred by impeded visibility.

It was then, with feet dancing anxiously and eyes darting back and forth in search of safe passage, that I spotted a little black book on the ground a few feet away. In my mind, I heard my mother’s voice saying, “don’t pick things up off the ground,” but it was too sad seeing a book in the rain. So, before sprinting across the street I grabbed it, even if only to throw it away safely indoors.

Back inside, and a hot shower later, I remembered the little book I’d tossed on the living room table and decided to investigate. It was a notebook, about the size of my hand, with leather binding, a ribbon place holder, and a weak magnetic clasp. The pages were still damp, and the blue ink on the first page had run to the point of illegibility.

Turning over the book and opening the back cover, I saw that at least the last few pages were blank. Only a few night ago had I filled the last page of my own journal, so this finding seemed to have been luck. I carefully opened the book to about halfway and found those pages also blank, so I propped the notebook upright on a towel to dry.

After a couple of days I figured the pages would be ready for writing. They were crisp and slightly wrinkled, but intact. Leafing through, I gave one more attempt at reading the few used pages, but after failure and a brief debate, I tore them out.

Welcome to your new home. I’ve been waiting to write in you. Sometimes it will be ideas. Other times poems. Sometime I’ll debrief you on my day. Other times my sorrows. Actually, I’m disappointed right now. I don’t usually celebrate my birthday, but this year Aali and I had made plans.

He called a little while ago to cancel. Something about a missed deadline and getting stuck at work tonight. I can accept that these things happen, but it’s still a last minute let down. I hope we’ll be able to do something later, but for tonight I’m on my own.

After writing, I settled in for the evening.

In the morning, I found a text message waiting from Aali.

Hey sorry about last night

I’ll make it up to you

How?

Weekend beach trip

Want to?

Yes! Can’t wait!

Two days later we checked into a small, beachside hotel. We spent the day walking the boardwalk and playing in the sand. The water was still cool, so walking along the shoreline was as far into the ocean as we went. Finally, we ended the day at a casual seaside restaurant before heading back to the room, toting a small cake.

While waiting for Aali to finish bathing, I decided to record the day. I pulled the notebook out of my mini suitcase and opened it to what should have been the next blank page. Instead I found a beautiful script following my first entry.

Greetings and thanks, author. I look forward to all you have to share.Regarding your disappointment, something better will come along. Happy birthday.

“Where did this come from?” I whispered to myself. For a moment I thought that it might have been a joke from Aali, but there had been no time for him to do it.

“What are you doing?” Just then, he walked out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist as he made his way to his duffel bag.

I looked up, startled. “Just some journaling. But, I found something strange.”

“Oh, yeah?” He returned to the bathroom and called out, “what was it?”

“Well,” I hesitated, “I think this book is magical.”

He came back into the room dressed. “What do you mean magical?”

“I mean, I wrote about a problem and it fixed it. It even wrote back.”

“So it’s a book genie?” he said, grabbing it and reading the first few pages.

I reached for it, but he pulled away. “I don’t know what type of spirit it might be.”

“So you were sad and got a vacation? What if you try asking for something specific?”

“I don’t know. I could try.”

“Try something simple.” He tossed it back to me.

I jotted down the first request I thought of. “Now we wait and see.” I said while closing and clasping the book.

“That’s it?”

“I guess.”

“Did it respond?”

“Not right in front of my eyes.” I checked quickly, but the next page was still blank.

“What do we do in the meantime?”

“Maybe, cut the cake?”

A moment later, Aali was lighting a single candle. “Do you think it’ll work if you make a wish here too?” he joked, blowing out the match.

“The past few tries didn’t, but I’ll take a chance.” I closed my eyes and blew out the candle. Right after, there was a knock on the door.

Aaili went to answer it. “Yes?”

“Good evening.” It was one of the hotel employees. “On behalf of the hotel, I’ve brought you a gift. Enjoy your stay.” He handed a covered plate to Aali, and left.

“What is it?” I asked.

He brought the plate to the table, and lifted the lid. There were two cups of ice cream and “welcome” written on the plate rim in chocolate syrup.

“Oh, perfect timing.” I said. I took the cup with vanilla and cut the cake.

After a few movies we headed to bed. Before flipping off his side of light, Aali turned towards me. “So what did you ask for, by the way? In the book.”

“Oh” -I said turning to face him- “I’ll show you in the morning.”

He said alright and turned off the light.

In the morning, we read my entry, as well as the response.

Hello again, friend. I have a request. You’ve been so helpful already, but I’m left to wonder what you can really do. So, I have a simple request to start. I’d like vanilla ice cream to go with my cake. Will you meet my wish?

A request like this is easy. Vanilla for you. Chocolate for your sweetie.

“So it worked.” Aali said. “Where’d you say you got this thing?”

“The sidewalk.”

He took it to inspect again. “So what are you going to do with it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you can ask for anything. You have to take advantage of it.”

“I don’t know if it wants that.”

“Seems like it does. Write something else. Actually, let me write it.” He found a pen and scribbled something in.

“What did you write?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” he said, taking the book away. “It’s a surprise.”

We spent a few hours on the beach before having lunch and heading back home. But it wasn’t until I unpacked that night that I realized I’d never taken back the notebook from Aali. I figured I’d worry about it another day. It was back to work in the morning, and I was exhausted from the trip. So, I simply went to bed.

When I woke, I was surprised to find a bank notification on my lock screen. I checked to find that $20,000 had been deposited into my account. I immediately called, Aali, who didn’t answer. But, shortly after he sent a text.

Just saying thanks

What did you do?

He didn’t respond. I called again later, with no answer. After three days of silence on his end, I decided to try catching him at home. He wasn’t there, and neither was his stuff. The door was open and an older man was inside.

“Hello?” I called from the doorway.

He turned around and looked at me in confusion. “You don’t look like a cleaner.”

I guessed he was the property manager. “Oh, no” -I inched through the doorway-“I was looking for the guy who lives here.”

“You mean the guy who lived here?” he said, crossing his arms. “He took off. Broke his lease all of a sudden. Didn’t say much more than that he was going.”

After recovering from my shock, I thanked him and left. On the way home, I stopped at a supply store for a new notebook, but as I browsed the shelves, I felt dissatisfied. None of them could replace the last one. In the end I chose a similar, albeit larger, notebook.

At home, I went to my room and wrote right away:

Hello. Usually I’m happy to start anew, but today it is under unfortunate circumstances. Both my preferred paper confidant and my preferred person have been lost to me, and I’m sorry to say that you won’t be able to replace either of them. But I won’t hold it against you. I’m sure with time you’ll have your own place in my heart.

Without too much detail on why you’re stuck in the middle, I’ll just say that I hope it sorts itself out. Regarding the aforementioned individuals, I don’t know yet whether to be worried or hurt, so for now I’ll just hope they’re well.

With nothing more to add, I closed the book and prepared for bed. I placed my notebook on the nearby nightstand, and turned off the lamp on its surface. But as I closed my eyes my phone began to vibrate. It was a message from Aali asking to meet. I turned the light back on and checked my new notebook. But, instead of mysticism there was only coincidence.

After a brief exchange of questions, answers, and angry face emojis, I found out that he’d lost the notebook during the move. Although disappointed by that information, I agreed to meet this weekend, with him promising a full explanation and good news.

Before turning the light back off, I decided to update my last entry, reopening my notebook to the next page.