Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Laughing All the Way to the Bank - Magpie Tales, Tuesday, August 3, 2010



Laughing All the Way to the Bank - Magpie Tales, Tuesday, August 3, 2010



Sarah climbed the stairs of the small farmhouse to her aunt’s bedroom, feeling
incredibly weary. It had been a long day and she felt so alone and bereft. Her aunt
had been her only living relative. She hadn’t been ill a day in her life and, suddenly,
without warning, her heart stopped beating as she slept in the bedroom where she’d
spent every night for the past sixty years. Sarah had gotten the call while she was
making rounds at St. Mark’s Hospital where she was a second year surgery resident.

She arranged to take a week’s leave and went home to make arrangements. Old Mr.
Jeffries, her aunt’s attorney, told her that the old farmhouse, paid in full, and all her aunt’s possessions had been left to her. There was no money, really, other than the small trust
Sarah’s parents had left when they were killed in a car accident when Sarah was ten.

The following morning, dawned bright and sunny and Sarah began to take an
inventory of the house. She would not sell it. She loved its bright cheeriness and the
lovely furnishings and it had been her home for over eighteen years. Tears stung her
eyes as she thought of her aunt, busy in the kitchen, baking wonderful cakes and
cookies and showering her niece with love. It would be a struggle to keep the farmhouse
and to pay the taxes on it but, once she finished her residency, she would be able to
afford it. She wanted to practice in town where her father had been a physician and
the farm was only a short commute. And it would be a wonderful place to raise children,
she thought, touching the diamond on her finger.

Upstairs in the bedroom, she looked at the old white trunk, wondering what was inside.
It was locked. Where was the key? She looked on the dresser and in the drawers,
without success. The lock was old and quite rusted. The trunk itself was of rough
wood, and sat in a corner of the room. Sarah thought that, perhaps, she could use
a screwdriver to break the lock. It was then that she noticed the red velvet ribbon
hanging on a hook inside her aunt’s closet. Dangling at the end of it was an old rusty
key. After several tries, the key turned the lock. Sarah lifted the creaking lid. It
seemed that the trunk held old dressing gowns. She lifted the top one away, then
gave a gasp, grabbing at the other. There before her, were stacks and stacks
of money, twenty dollar bills, tied in packets of five hundred dollars. When she
was finally finished counting, she realized she was two hundred thousand dollars
richer than she was when she started.


I am participating in Willow's Magpie Tales




18 comments:

  1. Love, love then ending of this story, Carmen! You have me wishing for one day I would find a trunk like that :-)

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  2. Ahhhhh, wonderful dream...don't wake me up.

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  3. Somehow I am transported back to my days of Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie here.Perhaps it is the portrayal of innocence so often missing today.

    I loved it.

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  4. And I was growing so attached to the farmhouse - even before the money appeared! Fun magpie!

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  5. Tenderly .. and beautifully written.

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  6. what a way to leave behind a fortune and i also loved your title. Lovely

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  7. wow,
    hope that this dream comes true!
    lovely magpie!

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  8. what a way to leave behind a fortune, i also liked your title. Lovely

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  9. Now there is a dream come true!

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  10. You do spin a fine tale. Happy Summer Day to you.

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  11. what a story! I imagined an old wedding dress in the trunk...but voila! Look at what was found!

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  12. Icy BC -
    I wish all of us could have this kind of happy ending in our lives!!!


    steviewren -
    Too bad it's just fiction. Do these things REALLY happen?


    ninotaziz -
    Nice to see you here - and I'm glad you liked my
    far fetched tale!

    At 65, I've done it! My poetry book - Life's Journey by Carmen Henesy - is out on Amazon!
    ( Poems about the things that have been important to me in my journey through life, some humorous, some sad, some that may have meaning to you as well )
    http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Journey-1-Carmen-Henesy/dp/1451547366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274652997&sr=1-1


    Jennifer -
    You're right, the farmhouse was a nice enough
    gift...and I wonder where Aunt Bessie got $200,000!

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  13. Helen -
    It was fun to do something besides poetry for a change.


    Krunal Palande -
    I guess Aunt Bessie didn't trust banks!!

    At 65, I've done it! My poetry book - Life's Journey by Carmen Henesy - is out on Amazon!
    ( Poems about the things that have been important to me in my journey through life, some humorous, some sad, some that may have meaning to you as well )
    http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Journey-1-Carmen-Henesy/dp/1451547366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274652997&sr=1-1


    Jingle -
    Wishful thinking, this magpie...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!


    secret agent woman -
    I'm the one who never even has ONE number on a lottery ticket. At least, in my magpie, I can change things!


    lakeviewer -
    I know you are enjoying summer in your beautiful part of the world....thanks for stopping by my magpie.


    kathew -
    An old wedding dress would have been a nice find, too...but I'm sure she can buy something nice with her find.

    At 65, I've done it! My poetry book - Life's Journey by Carmen Henesy - is out on Amazon!
    ( Poems about the things that have been important to me in my journey through life, some humorous, some sad, some that may have meaning to you as well )
    http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Journey-1-Carmen-Henesy/dp/1451547366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274652997&sr=1-1

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  14. Haven't we all had this dream!

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  15. let me continue sleeping!

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  16. Anonymous12:59 AM

    Now why doesn't that happen to me? A wonderful, feelgood story. Your blog header is absolutely gorgeous, by the way. The flowers are so lovely!

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