Half of a Treasure Map
The journey to find the other half
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Jenna almost threw the letter away, thinking it was junk mail. It wasn't mailed, merely taped to her door. Something stopped her as she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the folded pieces of paper. One was a letter and the other was a ripped map.
My Dearest Jenna,
You don’t know me, but I know you. I’ve looked over you from afar for most of your life. I’ve included half of a treasure map. If you’re as clever as I know you are, you should have no problem following the clues to lead you to the other half. The hunt will start at the bookstore on 2nd. Good luck.
Yours Always,
A
Frowning, she flipped to the map and looked it over. It wasn’t a typical street map and was clearly hand written. There was a lot of detail though, and she quickly realized it was a map of downtown near the coast.
“I don’t have time for this.” Who is A, and why didn’t he or she provide their full name? It kind of creeped her out that someone had been watching over her, let alone from afar. She knew she needed to get to work, but the mystery surrounding this map was too much to resist. What kind of treasure was A talking about? Looking again at the map, she searched it for the clues mentioned in the letter.
It was easy to find the bookstore, and she read the fine print, “Mystery section, middle top row”.
Jenna rolled her eyes, grabbed her purse and left her apartment. She would call her boss on the way and inform him she’d be a little late.
The bookstore was a ten minute drive away, and she parked her car on the street. There wasn’t a parking sign or meters, so it would probably be OK there for a few minutes. Walking inside the store, she looked for the mystery section and finally saw the sign in the back. Unfortunately, there were two bookcases, but the map didn’t specify which. She looked at the top shelf of the first one but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so she turned to the second. In the center of the books was a little black notebook. It stood out because it was the only book with nothing on the spine. Jenna reached for it and pulled it free. There was no bar code or price tag, so it was clearly left there for her.
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she opened the book to the first page. Taped in the middle was a small key. Nothing was written on the page to give her any clue as to what that key unlocked. She flipped the page and read the one sentence written on the third page.
“Behind the bar in the dumpster.” Her lips curled in disgust. “Eeew, I’m not going through anyone’s trash.”
Again making sure no one was watching her, she slid the little black book into her purse and then consulted the map. There was a bar two streets down on the left from the book store. It had a crude drawing of a dumpster in the alley behind it with an arrow pointing to between the dumpster and the wall. Maybe she didn’t actually have to go rummaging around inside? She certainly hoped not.
Exiting the store, she decided to leave her car and walk to the nearest intersection. When the light changed, she crossed the street and headed for 4th. She had to cross another street and then turn left before the bar came into view. Instead of going inside, Jenna walked along the sidewalk until she saw the alley. At least she was doing this during the day, since there was no way she would walk down a deserted alley at night.
She could see the dumpster from the sidewalk. It was about 100 feet away, and she shivered. This wasn’t the best part of town, but she took a deep breath and entered the alley. She flinched and almost screamed when a door was kicked open, and a man carrying a trash bag came out and tossed the bag into the dumpster. He didn’t even notice her as he spun to walk back inside the bar.
Shuddering, she approached the dumpster and looked behind it, but it was too dark to see. Looking down and noticing the wheels, she leaned against the dumpster and pushed it away from the wall. It wasn’t as easy as she’d been hoping, but she managed to move it a foot. That should be enough.
It was too dark to see much between it and the wall, so she pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight. At first she didn’t see anything but finally noticed the edge of something peeking out from beneath the dumpster. Dropping to her knees, she reached for it and wrapped her fingers around the edges. When she pulled it free and held it with both hands, she realized it was a small lock box. Remembering the key in the notebook, she peeled it off the page and slid it into the lock. It easily turned, and she heard a click.
Jenna held her breath as she lifted the small lid. Inside was a knitted cap. Thinking that couldn’t be all there was, she picked it up and looked beneath and then inside it. The cap was the only thing inside. Replacing the box beneath the dumpster, she stood and examined the cap. It was clearly too big for her, so it must be for a man’s head. It was a drab grey but a nice design and reminded her of the one she lost earlier in the week. The one she now held didn’t look new, and she wondered how it ended up in a lock box beneath a dumpster. It was a chilly morning, so she slipped it on her head and smiled. It was too big, so she rolled up the end so she could see.
Quickly leaving the alley, she sighed her relief to be standing back on the sidewalk. She consulted the map again and then opened the notebook to the next page. “Go to the park to make sense of the words on the left.”
Reading the sentence again, she frowned. “That makes no sense. What words on the left?”
She studied the map, easily finding the park. It was only a few blocks from the bar, close to the coast. It’s where the map was ripped, so the park was missing a chunk. She finally noticed the fine print running along the tear. At first glance she’d thought they were trees or bushes, but she finally recognized the tiny letters. The words made no sense, so clearly the rest was written on the missing piece.
Having no choice but to go to the park, she walked back to where she parked her car and then drove in that direction. Her phone chimed, and her car read the text from her boss.
"When will you get here?"
She didn't want to text while driving so would wait until she parked. A few minutes later she found a parking spot and turned off her car. Picking up her phone, she quickly sent the text, promising that her family emergency wouldn’t take much longer. At least she hoped this little scavenger hunt would be over soon.
Getting out of her car, she walked into the park. A few landmarks were included on the map, so she mentally checked them off as she passed by. She headed for the carousel, which was ripped in half on the map with an arrow pointing to it. It was still early, so there were only a few people in the park. It didn't look like anyone was on the carousel, and it wasn’t running. She climbed up, hoping it wasn’t too big a deal for her to be on it when it was closed.
It took her a moment to see the man sitting on one of the benches between the horses. Her eyes widened to see him wearing her missing cap. It was clearly too small for him and looked rather silly. He must have heard her and lifted his gaze. She gasped as a sense of familiarity swept through her. She didn’t know him but felt like she should.
“Well, hello.” He smiled warmly at her. “Is that my cap?”
She nodded, pulling it from her head. “Yes, and I think you’re wearing mine.”
He stood and approached her. She backed up and watched as he took the cap from his head and held it out for her. Slowly reaching out, she took it from him and held out the one she found in the lock box. “Where did you find it?”
Pointing over his shoulder, he chuckled. “I’ve been on a very strange scavenger hunt and found it—“
She cut him off, “In a lock box?”
He nodded. “How did you know that?”
“That’s where I found yours. Do you have a map too?”
His eyes widened as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he handed to her. Jenna unfolded it as she stepped closer to another bench. She placed his map next to hers and fit them together. The words on the left matched his words on the right, and they both leaned forward to read it together.
“To reunite two people wrongly torn apart. Look for fortune between the gold horses.”
Knowing they were surrounded by colorful horses, she looked up and searched for gold among the reds, blues and greens. Finally spotting gold, she raced over to it, but there wasn’t another of the same color.
“Over here.” She looked behind her to see the man standing on the far side of the carousel. She made her way over to see another bench between two gold horses. They shared an uncertain glance before dropping to their knees to look beneath the bench. There was a locked case that required two keys.
“But I wasn’t given another key.” Could it be the same key as the lock box? Luckily, she’d kept it when she put the box back under the dumpster. She pulled it out and slid it into one of the locks. It wouldn’t turn, so she tried the other one. This time it turned, and she heard a click.
She turned expectantly to the man. “Did you keep yours?”
He held it up with a smile, before reaching beside her to slip it in the remaining lock. When that clicked, they opened the case and looked inside. It was full of one hundred dollar bills.
“They can’t be real.” Jenna sputtered in shock. She finally turned to face him. “Who are you?”
“My name is Jake, and it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.
“Jenna, same here.” She slowly slid her hand into his and sucked in her breath as an electric shock coursed up her arm and warmed her heart. She couldn’t understand what just happened. How could she know Jake but not know him? “Do you know who sent us the maps?”
He shook his head. “No idea. Do you know why you seem so familiar to me? The map says we were wrongly torn apart. What does that mean?”
Not knowing what else to do, she laughed. “I have no idea.”
They never figured out who sent them the maps or why that person left them a fortune. They also never understood how they seemed to know each other, but they did, and they fell head over heels in love. With the help of that money, they started a wonderful new life…together.
About the Creator
Jude Liebermann
I love creating stories and have been doing it for most of my life. To learn more about me and my writing, please visit judesplace.com.
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