Where I once slept, you’ll find a path to what matters most
The looping script, written in a journal, led her here. Twelve days since her grandmother’s death and three days since Clare found it taped under a bedside drawer.
Legacy’s key awaits,
where the nation’s wealth began
In front of the ornate Victorian building, she glanced down at her watch. Ten minutes until the vault closed. Her hands dug into her bag, fumbling for the key, and rushed inside.
Clare focused on the counter tucked away at the rear of the room. She weaved through chatting customers. “I’m here to access my locked box,” she said.
The woman behind the counter nodded. “This way, please.”
Their footsteps echoed off stone floors while traversing the wide corridor to the vault. Her eyes widened, taking in the large marble pillars marking the entranceway, echoing her grandmother’s words.
Beyond pillars of stone,
in drawers of steel layered row by row
Her hands trembled when she turned the key, and the small sturdy metal box flipped open to reveal a jumble of papers stuffed inside. Clare reached in and lifted out a twine-bound bundle. A faded snapshot slipped out, fluttering to the cool metal surface of a nearby table. The sorrowful eyes of her grandmother, cradling an infant, peered back—Clare at six months. A frail voice, raspy with age, drifted around her along with the last lines of the poem.
Sits treasures left,
cradled by fragments of stories once told.
Her tear-filled gaze turned to the collection of recipes torn from cookbooks, old photos, and a yellowed page that peeked out from between the string. With tingling fingers, she untied the layers of paperwork until revealing it—the deed to the family farm.
Louisa Prince is a self-proclaimed late bloomer, living in Melbourne, Australia whose writing often focuses on family and health. Committed to honing her skills, she is an active member of The Society of Women Writers Victoria and Writing Victoria. Her work is forthcoming in Certain Age Magazine, appeared in CafeLit Magazine, New Plains Review, was longlisted for SWWV’s Margaret Hazard Short Story Award. Website HERE
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