Adventure Awaits

Plot: Alli is an unmarried 50-year-old English and History professor from Nowhere, Pennsylvania. Shortly after attending her mother's funeral, she finds a mysterious suitcase on the kitchen table containing $20,000 in cash, in multiple currencies, a passport, and a little black book. What follows is what can only be described as an adventure of a lifetime. Her task…scatter her mother's ashes in 4 locations around the world, all before April 21st! Is she up to the task? Will she make it to her final destination by the deadline? I guess you'll have to read and see…

The Locations:

• Cliffs of Moher, Galway Ireland

• River Thames, London England

• Seine River, Paris France

• Guia Municipal Park, Macau China

"You know you have to go!" Darla, Alli's best friend, came over as soon as she could and was way more excited about this mysterious gift than Alli was.

"No, there's absolutely no way!" Alli protested.

"What a beautiful gift, you know how you've always said you wanted to travel, well now's your chance! I'd come with you but. Your mom's instructions clearly say you're meant to go alone."

"Even if I did go, it wouldn't be safe. I've never left the country! Nor could I visit all 4 locations and make it to China by her birthday, which is in less than a month. It's just insane!"

"China, why China?" asked Darla

"Oh, mom and I growing up always would watch the movie Mulan, you know the 1998 version from Disney? Well, she fell in love with blossom trees, obsessed with them, really. She always even used to joke that we'd sit under a blossom tree in China together one day and re-enact the scene from Mulan. She always joked I was a late bloomer, but when I did finally bloom, I'd be the most beautiful of all!"

"That's adorable! Now, you have to go!" Darla exclaimed.

"No, Darla, I can't!"

"Look, if you don't go, then you're a horrible daughter!"

"Dang, Darla!"

"I'm just saying… you're the one who's always reading books, but haven't you ever heard the saying that the whole world is like a book and those who don't travel only read one page?"

"Hey, that's pretty good; where'd you get that from a from a fortune cookie?"

"No, some guy named Augustine. Now, no more excuses! Were going upstairs and packing that suitcase!"

Dublin

After a long 12 ½ hour flight, a bag temporarily lost in route, and hitchhiking with strangers, Alli arrived. After hearing her story, the old Irish couple who picked her up graciously took her all the way and offered to put her up for the night.

Alli stood on the mystifying Cliffs of Moher. She breathed in deep for the first time in what felt like forever and allowed the smell of the salty air to engulf her as if it could carry her away at any moment. Alli could hear the sound of hundreds of bird calls and felt the gentle mist on her face. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she opened up her mother's urn, reached inside, and released a handful of ashes over the Cliff. She watched the wind take them down and far out of sight into the waves crashing against the rocks below.

"You would have loved it here, mom," she whispered to herself as she stared off into the horizon; the sun was setting, and she couldn't help but be captivated by its beauty. She'd read about the Cliff's in many books and always wondered what it would be like to visit, and now she was here. Alli knelt down and ran her figures through the moist green grass, clenching it tightly in her fist, and began to sob. Just then, she felt a frail but gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You bout ready their lassie?" The old Irish gentleman's smile comforted her. He reached out his hand and helped her up, and supported her as they walked back to the car together.

That night Alli took out the little black book her mother had left and began to go over the instructions again…

"My dearest daughter, I love you! Thank you for taking this trip with me. I pray it goes smoothly; although I have a feeling there will be a few bumps in the road but have courage and stay the course! Journal every day in the blank pages I've left for you and remember each place has something to teach you. 4 Places, 4 Lessons, no more, no less, do not look ahead, take this one page at a time and enjoy yourself, just be sure to make it to the gardens by my birthday. Remember that there is a method to the madness and the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."

-Love Mom

London

The flight from Dublin to London was smooth, and Alli was able to sleep most of the way. Gale and Brian, the older Irish couple, had graciously driven her back to the airport. After a few days in Ireland, Alli started to get used to the idea of traveling. Soon after she landed in London and tossed some of her mother’s ashes in the River Thames, Alli came across a corner coffee and book shop called Black Gulls Books. After getting her coffee, she sat down, opened the little black book, and read the next few pages. Alli followed her mother’s instructions and took the rest of the day to sightsee. She visited the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, took a photo in front of Big Ben, and then caught a flight to Paris the next morning.

Paris

It had been the worst possible day ever! Alli's flight from London was delayed twelve hours. She'd missed the window for checking at her hotel and while she went around to the other smaller inns a man had stolen her suitcase! All the thief ended up with were her clothes, books, and umbrella (which would've been nice to have considering it was pouring!). Thankfully she was smart enough to keep all her most important items: passport, little black book, the money, and mother's urn in her backpack. The rain pelted Alli relentlessly as she made her way to the last inn on her backup list. She finally reached her last hope for shelter and caught a short, burly man just as he was going inside the building. "Please, sir, do you have any room for one night?" The man began to shout in French and waved his hands furiously, shooing her away. "No room!" he called, "come back tomorrow!" He said rudely as he popped his cigar in the ashtray and slammed the door in her face. Alli began to break down and slumped to the cold, wet steps, and began to sob. She pulled out her mother's urn from her bag and clutched it tight. "Could this get any worse!" she thought out loud to herself.

A few minutes later, Alli noticed that the rain had stopped and looked up to see a dark-haired woman standing over her with an umbrella in hand. "Rough night?" the woman asked. Alli whipped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "Alright, come with me." The woman offered her hand and walked her across the street to a building with a big neon sign outside that read "Gigi's night club for gentleman." Alli was taken aback by the sight she saw. Women who were barely dressed were swinging around metal polls like acrobats and cascaded in red and purple lighting. The woman guided her to the bar and spoke something in French to the bartender, who grabbed a bottle of brandy and poured two glasses. "Oh no, I don't drink," Alli said shyly. The woman smiled and slid the glass in Alli's direction, "tonight you do, it will warm you." Alli hadn't touched alcohol since that one-night sophomore year at college where she got so drunk she felt like she'd puke out her liver. But she was so cold that she reluctantly took a sip, then another, and then shot the rest of the glass."

"Profitez-en!" the French woman exclaimed.

"No, my name is Alli."

"No, No Profitez-en. It means to enjoy it; it is the French recipe for the good life. No matter what situation or unexpected complication, remember life's a gift, every moment a treasure so, Profitez-en and nice to meet you Alli my name is Gigi."

"So what brings you to Parie?"

"My mom, I'm taking a trip with my mom."

"Oh lovely, where is she?" Gigi asked inquisitively. Alli reached in her bag and pulled out the urn.

"I see, come with me. I will trade a free night's stay for your story." Alli followed Gigi into the back of the club where the girl's dressing room was.

"All my life, I've wanted to travel, but I could never get beyond the pages I read, and now look at me. I'm halfway through, and I'm no less terrified than when I started." Gigi placed her hand comfortingly on Alli's shoulder.

"Growing up wanted nothing more than to become an actress! I would be the next star; I would move to Hollywood and become famous "GIGI THE GREAT!" they would call me. By 18, I'd saved enough money to book a flight and a few months' rent for an apartment. Then, my father died. To support my mother, brothers and sisters, I took over the family business and turned it into what you see today! And you know something Alli I wouldn't change a thing."

The two women talked for hours, and Gigi made good on her promise, gave Alli some fresh clothes and a place to sleep.

Macau

Alli slowly knelt down and placed the urn with the remaining ashes under the tree and then slowly sat down on the ground with her back up against the trunk. Against all odds and many, many bumps in the road, she'd made it! All the way from Nowhere Pennsylvania to Guia Municipal Park in Macau, China, by April 21st, just as her mother had requested. As Alli looked around the beautiful garden, it seemed to her that the world looked a bit differently. A world much bigger and more colorful than the one she'd left behind. She thought about all the people she'd encountered along her journey. How she'd hitchhiked with an older couple in Ireland was mugged and lost almost all her possessions. Even spent the night in a strip club in Paris, among other things. And now was sitting under the most beautiful blossom tree she'd ever seen! But she also realized everything she'd accomplished and learned in the process, and as she turned to the last page in that little black book, it read:

“My, my, what beautiful blossoms we have this year but look, this one’s late, but I’ll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all,” Alli smiled at her mother’s favorite line from Mulan and took a moment to look up at the beautiful blossoms around her. Then back down and continued reading, “You may have been a late bloomer, but now that you have blossomed, don’t let anyone or anything shut your petals. Keep blooming!”

-Love Mom.

Closing Thoughts from the Author:

We walk around most of us all our lives, “waiting for our golden ticket,” or a little black book and $20,000 cash attached to it…that gives us permission to embark on a grand adventure that will require everything of us. We believe that money, a car, a house, a family will make us happy, yet the more we have, the more we take for granted.