Forgotten Treasures - Finding The Box

Category: Short Stories | Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:52 am

Wednesday was Jenny's day off. She worked as a receptionist at a local gym from 8 am to 2 pm and then every other Saturday from 8 am to 12 pm. The money wasn't great, but it helped pay for the boys to attend Christian school. The hours worked well for her because she had time to take them to school in the morning and then pick them up in the afternoon.

As she dropped the kids off and turned toward home her mind had a chance to shift out of high gear for the first time in days. She thought about her husband and how much she missed him. She thought about her boys and how quickly they were growing up. Then, for some reason, the image of the old woman at the yard sale came to mind. It was then that she remembered the box that had been riding around in her trunk since Saturday. She found herself suddenly interested in what was inside of it. She knew about the things that had been on the table, but what about the other items that she didn't get a chance to look at? She decided to check out the box as soon as she got home.

She carried it inside and placed it on the kitchen table. There on top was the old popcorn maker. She picked it up, examining the discolored, yellow, plastic lid and noticed that the electric cord did not have a plug on it. "That goes in the trash", she said out loud.

Next, she pulled out the pack of stationary paper and found an old, faded, sale tag on the front that read $1.00. She removed a piece of the paper out of the fragile plastic wrapping and found that she actually liked it. It was light blue with a pleasant looking picture of a country road winding through the hills. There were trees along the road with birds flying all through the air. Across the bottom was the saying THE ROAD TO A FRIEND'S HOUSE IS NEVER LONG. She placed the piece of paper back in the package and set it aside to save.

Next were the two small, porcelain looking birds. She picked them up looking for some kind of mark to indicate where they were made. One had the letter I and the other had the letter U on the bottom, but the letters looked to be hand written in black marker. There were no other visible marks, but she liked the way they looked so she decided to keep them too.

Then she found the silverware and kitchen utensils. She immediately set the silverware aside to save, thinking about how hers somehow seemed to magically disappear (where did all the forks and spoons go anyway?). The utensils reminded her of things she used to see in her grandmother's kitchen. There was a potato masher, a hand mixer and a couple of other things that she wasn't quite sure of. They were put in the pile of things to keep as well.

At the bottom of the cardboard box she was delighted to find a blue and white crocheted blanket. She pulled it out and opened up. It was beautifully made and was just the right size for covering up. It would make a perfect blanket for lounging in front of the television on a cool evening.

Jenny looked back in the cardboard moving box and saw one more thing. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that it was a jewelry box. She removed it from the moving box and sat it on the table to have a closer look. It was made out of a beautiful, light colored wood and there were two small gold handles on the sides. It had two drawers in the front which also had gold handles that matched the ones on the sides. On top of the box was a gold, heart-shaped piece of metal that bore the initials SJD in fancy script lettering.

She couldn't help but get excited about what could be inside. She placed her hands on the lid and ran her fingers around the ornate golden pieces that had been meticulously attached to the upper corners of the wooden box. She felt like a pirate about to open up a buried treasure and stared at the jewelry box for a second or two, trying to imagine what might be inside. Then, she slowly raised the lid.

Last edited: Sun Jun 08, 2014 2:58 am

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eileen wrote on Fri Jun 06, 2014 10:06 am:

..... and found....what? I'm now waiting in impatient anticipation for the next chapter.

eclecticgarden wrote on Fri Jun 06, 2014 10:14 am:

You're so kind Eileen. This story actually came about a few years ago when my mother-in-law brought us a jewelry box that someone had given her. Most of what I describe inside the box in the story was what we actually found when we opened it up.

Jewell wrote on Fri Jun 06, 2014 1:32 pm:

You need to post more than once a day. Anticipation......

You are a good story tell ire with knowing right where to put in the life commercials ;D

Donna S wrote on Fri Jun 06, 2014 2:45 pm:

I'll be back.

eclecticgarden wrote on Fri Jun 06, 2014 2:52 pm:

Thanks Jewell. I wrote this story a number of years ago so in the morning I read over each part and correct/change as necessary before posting. I've always been more clear headed in the morning, so I'd rather just keep posting once a day. If I didn't have to go to work I could do it more than once a day, but unfortunately I'm still a slave in the workforce.