The List

Eat the berry.

Follow the rabbit.

Save the dog.

Emily was both disappointed and curious upon finding this strange to do list in a small, unassuming, black notebook.

She flicked through the pages. If it wasn’t a novel, then maybe it contained some interesting, very private information that she, of course, might accidentally read before returning the notebook to its owner. But, aside from the list, and the owners address inside the cover, it was empty.

Every Monday morning at 8.30am, Emily would visit ‘Life’ her favourite cafe. They made terrible coffee, hence were always one of the quieter cafes. They did however make fantastic Chai Lattes. They also had a large magazine rack to peruse and a corner nook with a comfy chair that molded exactly to the shape of her well rounded buttocks.

This particular Monday, Emily found she had read all the magazines and was now regretting her decision to grab the ‘novel’. Her latte had just been delivered to her nook, moments before and she was way too lazy to venture back to the magazine rack.

Instead she grabbed the menu and couldn’t help but smile. Blueberry pancakes were on the menu...Eat the berry? Well why not follow the notebooks advice?

She finished the last mouthful with great satisfaction. They were delicious, covered in ice cream, with ample berries and maple syrup. She consciously crossed off the first item on the list and left the cafe, taking the notebook with her. She could return it on her way home. It was a slight detour, but doable.

The rest of her day was uneventful, until she saw the rabbit. She’d just finished shopping at the local mall. A Facepainter had been busy over the lunch hour keeping the kids happy. She was intrigued with how quickly the line was moving and being a Facepainter herself, decided to check out the quality of the artistry. Slap dash, as she expected, but the kids seemed impressed, especially the little blonde girl, with the rabbit face. She was hopping around like a true rabbit holding out her front hands , as if they were really rabbits legs. Follow the rabbit! She thought about joining the girl and hopping along after her, rabbit style, but decided against it, thinking she’d probably be filmed and labelled as a psychotic child stalker.

As she headed towards her car, she noticed the rabbit jumping into a large four wheel drive. She was quite surprised when she ended up behind the car in traffic. A pure coincidence, but she was actually following the rabbit and it seemed to be going in the same direction as Emily. She was so intrigued, that she missed her turn off. Annoyed at herself for getting caught up in following a list that was reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, she pulled over and waited for her gps to calculate a new way home.

Then she heard it. The low whimpering of an animal, possibly a dog. Save the dog! Surely fate was guiding her footsteps today. She had to save the dog, or at least make sure it was ok.

The whimpering led her to an abandoned house. It would have been a cute cottage in its day, but now it was in disrepair. White paint was peeling off the weatherboards and the porch looked like it might fall down at any second. Emily braced herself and knocked on the door. It swung open, with a loud creek.

“Hello,” yelled Emily. But there was no one home. It spelt musty.

It was dark inside, so Emily used the torch on her phone to navigate. The layer of dust confirmed no one lived here. She was standing at the entrance of a long hallway that lead straight form the front of the house to the back, with rooms branching out from it. She glanced in each empty room as she made her way outside. The noise was definitely nearby.

The backyard was dominated by a large, outdoor pool. It was empty, except for a small section of rainwater in the deepend and a dog! She has found the dog! Now all she had to do was save it.

Emily wasn’t sure what type of dog it was. It was the size of a Jack Russell, but darker in colour, or maybe it was the coating of dirt and dried mud stuck to its coat. It certainly looked happy to see her. It wagged its tail, tried to stand up, but couldn’t. Being a dog lover, Emily brushed back tears and started climbing into the pool.

It had a few steps at the shallow end, then a sharp drop of about a meter. Easy for a small dog to jump down, but not so easy to jump back when you haven’t eaten in days, she guessed.

She gently picked up the dog and placed it on the edge of the pool, at the shallow end, all the while speaking softly to it, reassuring it that it was ok.

She made sure she closed the front door on the way out of the house and carefully placed the dog on the passenger seat next to her. It was so worn out, it hardly moved. Luckily the nearest vet was just five minutes away. If the dog wasn’t microchipped, Emily decided she’d keep it.

The vet assured me the dog would be fine and confirmed it was microchipped. Emily left her details in case the owners couldn’t be found or didn’t want the dog and went back to her car. She was covered in dirt, but so happy she had found the dog in time. Then she remembered the list. She was so curious about the owner, that she decided to go there straight away.

Ten minutes later, she was knocking on the door of a town house in one of the better parts of the city. A man in his thirties answered the door. He looked tired, but smiled when he saw the notebook.

“My daughter’s Moleskin notebook. Thank you for returning it. She will be so happy. She loves her stationary and it was the first good quality notebook I’d bought her. She’d started plotting her next story two minutes after l gave it to her. She said it smelt like magic and was asking to be written on,” he said. “ Are you ok?” He asked, noticing Emily’s dirty clothes.

“I’m fine. I just wanted to return your notebook. It actually saved a dogs life today,” she said.

After hearing the whole story, the man, Toby, was astounded. Not only from the string of coincidences, but Also from the description of the dog. It sounded like his late grandmother’s dog. He has just posted a $100,000 reward for its safe return.

The old lady had left her entire fortune to the dog, or anyone caring for the dog. He had been minding the dog while his aunt was in hospital and Ralphy had escaped. The dog had been lost for two weeks. Poor Ralphy had walked right across town to the home he’d shared with Toby’s Grandmother.

“I left my name at the vets. If the dog ever needs a home, I’d be happy to take care of it,” offered Emily. “Regardless of the money.”

“That would be great. I’ve just met you, but l have a good feeling about you. I’m not home enough to care for Ralphy. If you’re keen, there is also a house that comes with Ralphy. The one you visited today. It would be yours, even after Ralphy dies. What do you say?”

“When do l move in?”