The Little Blessing in Disguise

As I stare blankly at my computer screen trying to find the words to put on a blank page and I just can’t find the words to create anything new right now, so I load my website hoping someone liked one of my stories enough to tip me huge or even ask for a commission piece. My website fully loads and no surprise, nothing new. I refresh the page over and over again with a small chance that just one person will come across my page and tip me big. I’m so focused on refreshing that I’m interrupted by my dog’s Phoebe and Joey whining for me to let them outside. I snap back to reality and close my laptop.

“Come on guys, let's go for a walk," I say to them.

Hopefully, a small walk will get my brain to function and I can write something brilliant enough to make some money. I leash them up and head out the door. We take our normal route down the street, hit the coffee vendor on the corner for my iced caramel latte, go a couple of blocks down until we reach the doggy park. They're overwhelmed with so much excitement they're practically dragging me to get them there. We get to the enclosure gate and make our way in. They bolt inside the park to the other dogs to play, while I make my way to the bench away from all the other owners and sip my latte. As I watch my fur babies play with the neighborhood dogs, I begin to daydream of what it would be like if I could spend the day in either one of my dog’s bodies, and just see what it’s like.

I then have an idea for my next writing piece. I could write a perspective of what I think it would be like to be them for a day. I can't write from experience because I would never be able to get the full-on perspective of what goes on inside of their heads, but an estimated guess wouldn’t be too far off.

I finish my latte and hang out on the bench for a few minutes before getting up to toss my empty cup. I continue to watch Phoebe and Joey playing with their new best friends while I gathered their harnesses. I whistle for their attention and they immediately stop what they're doing, sniff the air and look in my direction. I whistle again with the “come here” motions. They get excited once again and barrel their way toward me. Panting heavily and rolling on the ground lets me know they’re just as ready as I am to go home. I harness them up and make my way to the exit. Once we left the park, I begin to think of how I’d begin to write my piece.

We make it home just before the streetlights come on and just in time for dinner. We walk inside to the smell of dinner being cooked. Scents of Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti and garlic bread filled my nose. My fiancé had gotten home from work only moments after we left for our walk earlier and took it upon himself to do some chores and make dinner for us.

“Hi sweetheart,” he says as he kisses me on the forehead. “How was your walk?”

"It was nice, I got some coffee, took the babies to the doggy park, and I may have come up with my million-dollar writing piece." I laugh and smile at him.

He laughs with me and tells me every piece I write is worth more than any amount of money.

“I’m going to grab myself a plate and head to the room to start executing my thoughts, okay?” I tell him.

He laughs a little and wraps me in a hug. "Okay, let's make a deal. You eat some delicious food, take a nice warm shower, and then start on your million-dollar piece.”

After finishing dinner, I make my way to get in the shower. Thoughts of this new piece consumed my head and I spent quite some time just standing under the water that fell from the showerhead. Lost in thought of what I'd write, and if it was truly a good idea or not. Finally, I quickly do my shower routine, rinse, and hurry out. I wrap myself into a towel, wrap my hair up, and run to the bedroom to get myself into some comfy clothes. I get dressed and get in front of my laptop.

I begin to type and then erase. Type some more, erase again. I honestly had no clue how I could compose this piece and make it believable from a reader's perspective, let alone my perspective. So much time had gone by that it was time for bed. I look at the clock because I couldn't believe that hours and hours had escaped me and had no progress to show for the hours that had gone by. I make my way to bed and lay down. Before I know it, I’m out like a light.

The next morning, I wake up to the sound of a knocking on the front door. I slide myself out of bed and rub my eyes and look around. The house is quiet, with no fiancé and no fur babies insight. I check the door peephole and don't see anyone in sight. I open the door to a small package right down below me. It's addressed to me and there are no descriptions of where it came from. I come back inside and close the door and head over to the counter. On the counter there’s a note from my fiancé:

“Took the babies out for a drive to my dad’s house for the morning. Thought I'd let you have peace to write. Should be back by lunchtime. Love, M"

I decide to take the time and brew up a pot of coffee and while I wait, I decide to open the package. I cut open the box and begin removing the contents. Inside seemed to be a small black book and a letter attached to it. I open the book and it’s to my surprise a small black notebook. Nothing on the pages and seemed to be brand new. I go back to the note and read what it says.

“Just promise when it works out for you, pass this blessing onto someone you feel needs it.”

I'm confused because I wasn't expecting anything from anyone. There was no return address, nothing indicating who sent it or why. Why was this small black notebook called a blessing? So many questions, not enough coffee. I pour myself a cup and sit down with the notebook. I examine every part of it and there's no evidence of anything. I finally give up and decide that someone was playing a joke on me or something and I was thinking too far into it. It was a notebook, so I decided to do what they're intended for and tried to go to the basics and use pen and paper for my story idea. I get a pen and finally the moment I've been waiting for, words start becoming visible on the notebook paper. I was writing my piece and I was confident in what I was writing. Maybe I figured out why this notebook was a blessing after all.

Next thing I know I’m opening my eyes. It was only a dream. Except for this time when I wake up, I'm on the floor. I look around and I'm confused. I was on the floor of my future father-in-law's house. I see Joey and my fiancé but no Phoebe. I get up and I instantly start stretching. I make my way over to my fiancé and try to ask why I was on the floor when he reached down and started petting my head. I was caught off guard and got confused about what was going on until he asked, "Are you ready to go home and see mommy Phoebe?"

PHOEBE?! What the hell was going on? I tried screaming out to him that I was not Phoebe, and that’s when it dawned on me. It was Phoebe. I was in Phoebe’s body. But where was Phoebe?! My fiancé started to put the harnesses on us and get us to the car. The excitement of going for a car ride overcame me and I completely forgot what was going on. I hopped my little sausage body into the back seat and started looking out the window. Suddenly the car started, and the windows came down. A series of random smells started to fill my nose and so many objects were distracting me. I could hear my fiancé talking to Joey and me, asking if we wanted to get doggy ice cream before going home. Next thing I know I’m screeching because he said ice cream and home. My two favorite words. We make a quick stop to get the ice cream and as soon as he hands me the cup, I yank it out of his hand and chow down. Almost too fast and almost throw up. I lay down on my back and get the sudden urge to flail my body around all happy like as if I’m on fire and trying to put it out.

Before I know it, a familiar smell hits me. Home. My fiancé opens the door and I come running out and run straight to the door. I start scratching at the door as if I know someone is there waiting to open the door. My fiancé and Joey get to the door and my fiancé unlocks the door. We get inside and there insight is my body at the island counter fast asleep. I was exactly where I remember leaving off in my dream, looking the same, and I could see the small black notebook hanging over the edge a bit.

My fiancé walked over to my body to wake me up when the next thing I know is, I wake up at the counter. I look around and see everyone back home. I’m back in my body with no idea how but I looked down and saw the notebook filled with a story. “Finally figure it out?” He asked. I hopped up and ran to my laptop and typed my story I had come up with. It was my entire experience from being in Phoebe’s body, and it was very convincing. I published it on my website and before I know it, I have people leaving large tips on my new piece, and even on some of my old pieces. My hard work has finally paid off. I was finally being recognized.

A few days later I received a call from a contest official that my newest piece was entered by an anonymous person but left my contact information, and I won the grand prize total of $20,000. I then remembered what that note had said. It was time to pass it to someone after it worked for me and when I felt they needed it. I decided to investigate the internet to see if I could find someone. I finally came across a page with a bunch of work and I read some pieces. This was it. I found the person who I felt needed it. I got the address and started to pack up the book. I looked at it one last time and it looked exactly like how I had opened it. Blank and brand new, ready to be filled. I packaged it up with the note that had come with it and wrote the new address on the box. No indication where it was coming from, just where it was meant to end up.

The little black notebook; the little blessing in disguise.