What’s In Your Pocket?

Dan and Sue were rummaging around in the attic of their home. Dust floated in the air all around them and they coughed gleefully as they searched for last years boxes of winter gear. It was their date night and they had decided to go out to the local pub together. It was the one day each month that they had to themselves as work took either Dan or Sue away from home for days.

“Ah ha! I win.” Dan shouted happily. Sue clapped her hands together. Then caught the smaller box Dan threw her way. Then they closed up the attic and went downstairs to the kitchen. The light was much better there despite the darkness of the day outside. Besides they had left their hot chocolate to cool before going to look for their winter gear.

Sue pulled her old faded orange winter coat out. Her eyes gleaming with delight as she recollected her days last year just before putting her coat away. Dan pulled out his relatively new but torn blue coat. They put them on to see if they still fit. Standing next to the kitchen table they both looked at each other with their coats on. Yup. They still fit.

Then they sat down to sip their hot chocolate. Sue reached into her left jacket pocket and found something. She brought it out and put it on the table between them. It was a $50 dollar bill. “Wow. I think I know how we can spend that tonight.” Sue said happily. Dan looked into Sue’s eyes. She shone when she was like this. Despite their age she still moved a part of him that he could not explain or name. But he knew he loved her more than anything because of it. He knew she was going to buy rounds at the local bar tonight.

Sue broke Dan out of his thoughts. “Your turn. What’s in your pocket?” Dan reached down into his left coat pocket. It was a piece of paper. He brought it out and put it on the table between them. They both stared at it curious what it was and why it was in Dan’s pocket. “Open it.” Sue urged Dan. With a sense of dread Dan reached for the paper and opened it.

It turned out to be a letter. Then they suddenly recognised it. In shock they both reeled back from the letter. Their happy expressions gone in an instant and pain was clearly visible on their faces. “Oh my God, Dan, it’s your mother.” She was visibly weeping now. Dan knew why. Dan’s mother and Sue had become close friends. But last year, his mother had passed away. A great source of comfort for both Sue and Dan was now gone. It was a struggle to continue on without her. She was the last of their family. And they both knew it was inevitable that she would not be there one day. But those thoughts never crossed their minds while she was alive.

“Oh God Dan, how have we been able to continue without her? I didn’t think it was possible. It was like our life had come to an end.” Dan held her hands warmly, firmly. “I’m just as surprised as you. I think we can safely say we continued because she supported and guided us when we needed it most.” Sue nodded in agreement. “It’s like she has become a part of both of us. I see her in you sometimes. I sense her in me. It makes me happy to know she is still amongst us.” Sue and Dan smile through their tears. They take another sip of hot chocolate to clear their emotions. Then Sue reaches into her right pocket.

Her hand searches deep into the corners of her pocket. Then with what seems like a struggle she pulls something out of her pocket that doesn’t seem to want to come out. It clings to the inside of her pocket and Sue turns her pocket inside out as she keeps pulling the item out. It turns out to be a bit of lint. She seems happy to have taken it out of her pocket. And as she puts it on the table next to the letter and the $50 dollar bill a twinkle of light flashes from it.

Both Dan and Sue’s face turn white as a ghost. Their jaws hang as they both stare in silence at the seemingly ordinary bit of lint. And it is ordinary except for a tiny piece of glitter. Gold colored glitter. Visibly shaking now they absent mindedly reach for each others arms for support. Sitting across from each other at the table their gaunt expressions turn to frowns of pain and agony.

Dan speaks first, “That’s hers isn’t it.” Sue nods her head sadly. “It’s the glitter from her dress.” Dan chokes back an outburst and just barely manages to keep his composure. Speaking shakily, “After all these years, it's the only thing we have left to remind us of her?” Sue nods again, “It’s been in my pocket all this time. How could we forget her Dan?” He looks into her eyes and can’t find the words to answer her. Guilt and shame fill them both. Sue stares back into Dan’s eyes. “Do you think she still…” Dan gets angry, “Stop it. You know if we could we would…” Sue cuts him off expressing some of her own anger. “It’s just so confusing and it happened so quickly.”

They stopped talking and let go of each other. Both in their own thoughts and sipping more hot chocolate. Then Dan reached into his right hand coat pocket. Sue watched him reach into his pocket. This time it was something more substantial. Not paper, or lint. It was a six sided die. Dan rolled it onto the table between them. It bumped across the table and landed next to the piece of lint. When it stopped the number two was clearly visible. The number was etched into the die with white paint. It contrasted sharply with the bright red color of the body of the plastic die.

Both Sue and Dan looked at the object in bewilderment. Then slowly an awareness came over them both. But then they looked at each other. “What is this?” Dan asked Sue. She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know where you got that from Dan, but I saw one in a dream last night. And that number came up.”

Dan almost fell off his chair. “I had a dream like that too! But I thought it was only a dream? I don’t know how this got in my pocket.”

Sue was thinking “You mean maybe it wasn’t a dream?” Dan scoffed, “That’s impossible! That was one crazy dream.” Sue seemed to agree, “Mine was pretty wild too.” Dan looked at her, “What do you mean? What do you remember?” Sue looked at him, “It’s funny because normally I don’t remember my dreams but this one was pretty vivid.” And she went on to describe a story which could only be described as science fiction and fantasy. And at the end of the story she explained, “That die was the last part of the dream. I rolled a two and was transported to this far away land. Then I woke up.”

Dan looked at her in amazement. “My dream was in some far advanced culture far into the future.” And he went on to describe another science fiction fantasy. “At the end I too rolled the die and ended up with a two. Then I woke up next to you.”

They both looked at each other with a bewildered expression now. “Do I even know you? Maybe I’ve only known you since this morning?” Sue quickly cut in, “That’s not possible. I have all these memories of you. Of our life together. I have all these deep feelings for you.” Dan spoke, “Sue, what if we aren’t supposed to be here? What if this is another life?” Sue broke in, “You mean like this is the dream and we just need to wake up?” Dan nodded, “Yeah. But how do we wake up?”

Sue looked at the die again, “You rolled a two again. It is the same number in the dream. Maybe if you roll another number?” Dan looked relieved, “Good idea.” He picks up the die and rolls another two. He rolls it two more times. And each time comes up with a two. Sue impatiently grabs the die and rolls it. A two shows up. She angrily picks it up and throws it across the room against the wall. It clatters and drops to the floor. When it finally stops moving a two faces up. Sue swears.

Dan has an idea. He picks up the die and uses the tip of his butter knife to scrape away the white paint in the two. Then he hands it back to Sue. She takes it and grins. Holds it in her hands and blows on it. Then shouts dramatically, “Come on … give me a three!” And she tosses the die back across the room to land on the table. A three is clearly visible.

Dan and Sue wake up together from a crazy dream. Their daughter runs into the room and bounces on the bed. “Mommy! Daddy! It’s my birthday today!” She happily jumps up and down on the bed in her favorite dress with the gold glitter. Sue and Dan look at each other. A warmth flows through them that can’t compare to a cup of hot chocolate. Sue jumps out of bed to start breakfast. Dan grabs little Becky and tickles her and then chases her back to the kitchen. She screams with delight. And they all eat breakfast together.