The Storage Unit

Frank got in the car and placed a black notebook in the passenger seat. He took his gratitude journal everywhere. As he cranked up the car, it made a turning sound but didn't start. He did it again with the same result. Looking up at the sky he closed his eyes and mumbled as he turned the key one more time. The engine made a sputter but the car was running. Frank smiled and said, "thanks girl" as he patted the top of the dashboard. He put the car in drive and drove away. Frank loved his 65 Mustang but it needed a lot of work. But recently he had fallen in love with this bright red pickup truck at the local car lot.

Frank pulled up and parked on the side of a storage facility. He walked towards the entrance while putting on a polo type shirt and his name tag. In the corner above the pocket it read, "Lock it & Store It". As he entered the door, a female yelled, "You're late Frank"!! He smiled and shrug then pointed to the back. "Yeah he is back there" she said. He started towards the back then stopped. He turned around and ran back out the door to his car. He unlocked the passenger side and pulled the door with force. It creaked and gave a fuss before it opened. He grabbed his notebook and ran back inside and went straight to the back into an office.

"Hi Dad" he said while sitting down and opening up his notebook. He wrote something down and quickly closed it. "You're still fooling with that notebook son"?, his dad asked. "Too bad it can't help you with being on time". "I want you to clean out some abandoned storage units so we can hold an auction next week". Frank rolled his eyes and got up. He grabbed his notebook and started to walk out.

"You know dad, it wouldn't hurt you to keep a gratitude journal yourself". "We need to be thankful for what we have and in turn we gain more". His dad shook his head and went back to checking emails. He looked up as Frank left and motioned for him to close the door.

Frank shut the door and walked back down the hallway. He opened up his notebook and grabbed a piece of paper out of it. He walked up to the front desk and showed it to the girl. It was a picture of a used jacked up red Chevy truck. She smiled and gave two thumbs up. He knew that one day soon this truck would be his, he just needed to get $20,000.

He went to a board full of keys and found all the keys of the units that were "abandoned" or in non-payment status. He jumped on a golf cart loaded with cleaning supplies, and placed his notebook on the seat. He drove to the first unit and unlocked it. As he raised the door a horrible odor escaped and wafted through the air. He covered his nose with his shirt and proceeded to go in. He spotted a white freezer sitting in the middle of the floor. Having watched too many episodes of "Forensic Files" and "Dexter", he reluctantly walked up to the freezer and opened the lid.

When he opened it he found a deer carcass inside. He jumped back and slammed the lid back down.He noticed that the freezer unit was unplugged. He shook his head and walked back out. He closed the door and got back on his golf cart and grabbed the clipboard out of his cleaning caddy. He wrote something down and then checked it off. "I will definitely have to come back to this one". "Who leaves a deer carcass in an unplugged freezer!?"

He pulled up to Unit 1313 and shook his head at the number. He grabbed the key and went to unlock the door. He raised the door and a big smile spread across his face. Inside was every guy's dream. A pool table, Harley, stereo equipment, and loads of other things. He knew his dad wouldn't let him keep any of the stuff but he still happily cleaned up the unit. While cleaning he organized everything and sat on the Harley for a bit. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a black notebook pressed up against the wall peeking out from behind one of the stereo's speakers.

He walked over and picked the black notebook up. He marveled at how nice it was, much nicer than his was. He opened the notebook and found a map among some journal entries. He was completely intrigued by the writing and the map. The map was a "treasure map" leading to some hidden cash. He decided it was a great time to go take a break. He closed the door and locked it. He drove back up to the front and ran to his dad's office. He asked his dad if he could keep the notebook as he held it up. His dad waved him off and picked up the phone to make a call.

Frank went back out the front door and screamed back to the girl at the desk that he was going to lunch. He got in his car and drove to a nearby restaurant. He ordered and sat down to start reading. He hung on to every word he read. The date of the journal's last entry was 7 years ago. He wondered what happened to the guy that owned this notebook?

Frank called his dad and found out the unit hadn't been paid on for 5 years. His dad tended to give too much leeway to people giving them a chance to reclaim the unit. But at this point, Frank knew that it was safe to say the guy wasn't coming back for his things. More importantly he wasn't coming back for the notebook. So Frank opened up the map and decided to go see what it was all about. It spoke of a buried "treasure" in Hyde Park.

Frank went to the hardware store and bought a shovel and some gloves. He stopped at the 24/7 for some water and a pack of gum. He drove off and 20 minutes later he found himself at the entrance of the Hyde Park Hiking Trail. He opened the map and studied it again. He decided that he would wait until night time when no one was around but still wanted to map everything out.

He got out scared hoping that no one could read his mind. He proceeded up the path and into the park. He chose Trail A, like the map said, and proceeded up the incline. A mile up the path he began to look around and then quickly ran into the trees. He looked around and found the tree with a white zip tie hanging from the lowest branch. He took inventory of his surroundings and then proceeded back towards the tree lined area of the path. He peered through the trees to make sure no one was walking up. He popped back out onto the trail.

He quickly walked back down and ran to his car. He got in the car and hit the steering wheel with both hands in excitement. He goes to start his car and she doesn't turn over again. He tries again and she backfires before turning over. He pats her on the top of her dash and says, "just a little while longer girl". He backs out and heads back to work.

The next day Frank pulls up to a used car lot where he spots his dream truck on a lifted platform. As it spins he watches it in amazement and smiles. That truck was going to be his and finally his dream would come true. He donned his mask and headed in. He had already dropped the money off at the bank and filled out the proper forms. He had a cashier's check in hand and was ready. He asked about the truck and handed the salesman the check.

The salesman was surprised but told him to wait while he got someone to get the truck down off the platform. He asked Frank if he wanted to test drive it at least. Frank said "no sir I'm good, this is my dream truck". With that the salesman was off. The salesman came back while one of the mechanics got the truck down. He explained to Frank how they acquired the truck.

He explained that a guy named Chad Banks was a Ranger in the Army. He unfortunately died in combat. He came from a small family and was the only child. His parents couldn't drive the truck so they sold it to the dealership. They gave a strict rule that they only wanted it sold to someone that would appreciate the truck like their son did. The salesman explained that when he saw Frank barreling in like a puppy who just saw a squirrel, he knew that they found the new owner. Frank smiled but was sad at hearing the story. The name sounded familiar to him but he didn't know why.

After grabbing both black notebooks out of his old clunker, Frank drove off with the windows down and the radio blaring his favorite pick up truck song. Frank let Chad know that his "baby" was in good hands.

The next morning he pulled up at work, on time. He was so excited to show his dad his new truck. He jotted down another entry in his gratitude journal before placing it back on the passenger seat next to Chad's notebook and then got out. He walked in and as he passed the front desk he stopped in his tracks. There on the wall with the keys of all the abandoned units the name Chad Banks was scribbled over the keys for Unit 1313.