An unusual mixture of real events and people with a novel twist... 
     
     The Roadside Antique Shop was hardly a store at all - a curious place that a totally unsuspecting lady had stumbled across when a road less traveled was taken to get away from the hassle of stop and go backed-up traffic on an interstate highway…

     Perhaps more often than thought, treasures that touch the soul – which we are somehow bound to know about - are found hidden away in places where such things are least expected - and under circumstances not imagined…

     

     Tears flowed freely from Amanda Elliott’s alluring blue-green eyes down over the soft contours of her lovely face. Soon, the supply of tissue from her purse was exhausted. Embarrassed for her lack of self-control, she sheepishly looked about - hoping no one had witnessed the display…

     

     Moments before, while inspecting an old piece of furniture, there was a discovery of what looked to be two diaries along with a large brown envelope with…

     

     Curiously, Amanda had casually opened one of the books about mid-way and started thumbing through the pages. She randomly focused on a page that, for whatever reason, had caught her interest and she began to read in earnest…

   

      Maybe it was the look in the elderly lady’s eyes, a sort of, you really should look again statement, or was she just feeling sorry for the lady and thinking she should make a financial contribution to the elderly couple’s struggle to make a living?...

     “I’ve changed my mind. I think I have decided to buy the old Secretary. Do you have any idea where it came from?” Amanda asked softly… 
     “Since you say you want it, I’ll have my husband clean it up and take all the trash out of it"…

     “No, no! I don’t want you to clean it out. I would like to have it just the way it is. I don’t want to have anything done to it. I want it just the way it is!” Amanda said adamantly but politely, repeating the main points to be sure the elderly woman understood…

     

     Amanda looked out her window across her front porch to see her son-in-law pull into her driveway. He and his son were bringing the piece of furniture Amanda had reluctantly bought a week ago in the little road side shop about thirty miles away… 

     

     She slid the drawer open. There was no trace of the diaries or the large tan envelope! She felt sorely disappointed. She thought, in disgust, “What should I have expected? Now I know I wasted my money. Darn!!! Darn!!!" … 
     
     The tap at the door sounded familiar. She had been so consumed with the frustrating thought of the diaries and envelope not being there, she had not heard the vehicle drive up again. She opened the door to see her grandson smiling and holding the two books and envelope she thought had been lost. “Dad said you might want these. The drawer came open and they fell out as we were loading.”…  

         

     She looked at the two books and envelope, let out a sigh of relief, thought for a moment.... and decided she would take a look at the diary again…
     She started reading slowly, as if to digest every word, under the heading of 01 March 2004: 
     “The pain of missing you overwhelmed me again last night. It always begins each day at dusk - soon after I have fed the creatures outside. I take my last daily look at the flowers and plants you cared about so deeply.”
     “As the light of day begins to fade, the loneliness creeps in. I feel as though I want to run away from it all…. but then a sense of comfort settles in because I know you want me here for a reason."
     "I remember what you told me… I can still hear the tender words of your voice. We were sitting in one of your favorite places. You often napped there in the swing. You watched the birds and the squirrels feed. I still feed them every day… often…. several times a day. I think of you each time I do… hoping somehow you are still watching."…
     
      Amanda’s eyes opened wide as she turned to look in the direction of the night stand. It was 3:00 a.m. “What a weird dream,” she thought. It was the type of dream that made no sense, but yet it did, in an odd sort of way."
     "Let’s see," she thought. “The children and I are building a beautiful sand castle on the beach. The sun is shining and the children are laughing. There is a man helping us…. I cannot see his face. I ask him if I knew him and…. he doesn't say anything. The sand castle is almost complete. Without warning, an unusually large wave splashes over the creation, and it is gone… I feel my feet sinking in the sand as the wave recedes… I am sinking deeper and deeper. I cannot seem to get my feet to move. I turn to look for help"…

     

     Amanda reached and opened the diary with which she was familiar. She then reached to the next diary, opened it and expected the two books to have a connection.
      “What?” She said aloud after she had opened diary number two…

   

     The waves rolled gently onto the beach. Each broke slightly closer than the previous one. Amanda and Olivia Kate teased the water with their toes and laughed as the waves splashed higher up their shins. They were enjoying an unusually quiet early morning stroll as their bare feet left prints in the sand.  
      Amanda was caught completely off guard when Olivia Kate started in a reflective tone. “Grandmother… yesterday, while you were running last minute errands, I looked at the piece of furniture you bought. You say it doesn’t fit, but I think it looks fine… Grandmother, is there any special reason you chose to buy it?”
      Amanda sensed, although the question was normal, the inflection of the voice was peculiar. She looked up at her granddaughter and noticed the remnants of a small tear trickling down her face. She knew right then Olivia Kate might have done more than just glance at the Secretary.
      Along with her looks, Olivia Katherine had also inherited an inquisitive mind prone to becoming hopelessly romantic – a noble trait passed on from Amanda’s grandmother. 
      "Grandmother, I hope you don’t mind, but I took a look at the things I saw in the drawer. Were those books and the folder there when you bought the piece of furniture?

           

     She gave little thought to a car as it moved slowly down the street – nothing unusual at all for her neighborhood. She was lost in the usual morning thoughts and now, some that were haunting, and failed to notice the driver had turned around and on his way back up the street had stopped at the end of her driveway. He hesitated for several moments and then slowly pulled into her driveway proper. 
     A puzzled Amanda thought he might have seen her standing on her porch and was going to ask her for directions. The young man exited his car and slowly walked toward her. 
     “Ma’am, would you know, by chance, where I might find a Ms. Amanda Elliott?” 

     

     “Ma’am, I don’t want the furniture back. You can have it. I left some things in a drawer I was supposed to save. I hope you didn’t throw them away if they were still in there. The lady at the store said they didn’t take anything out of the furniture, so I figured whoever bought it must have seen ‘em.”
     Amanda’s bottom lip began to quiver slightly. For the moment, she wanted to cry. She felt as though her breath had been stolen away. How could John possibly know the real reason for Amanda’s purchase?

     Before giving John the items, Amanda Elliott had walked to the Secretary, opened the drawer, and had taken the books and folders in hand. She was careful not to leave any of her notes in the books or to include them in the exchange. She saw a plastic bag nearby and gently placed the articles in it. She sighed so it was not visible to John. She turned, walked to where John was standing, and reluctantly gave the bag to him.  

         

     “I went to the old house… and she was so happy to see me. I read… Why did this just pop into my head?” a puzzled Amanda Elliott questioned her memory and senses. “I have no idea what this is about. Did I make any notes on this?” Amanda gets up from her chair to look for anything she might find to confirm the thought which had just grabbed her attention.

     In her youth, she had endured the wrath of a thousand storms though not yet on the turbulent seas. Our meeting took place during a particularly overwhelming disturbance in which the waves splashed heavily in her face… she could be likened to the figurehead on a ship’s bow… she had weathered a thousand storms before… the scars were there… but, her core was sound with the empathy of a benevolent soul… at times, she was a contradiction of what I have just stated, but she always anchored back to goodness… now, she deserved a safe harbor... safe from the storms she had endured in a lifetime of wandering… she was happy sunshine… 

     Amanda Elliott not only finds herself involved in an emotional  mystery (actually several) she feels she must resolve, but, while deeply involved with the new found issues, a long unresolved situation from her own subconscious begins to resurface.... 

     

Check back for updates ...