A Dropped Diary

Plop. Plop. Plop. One of my favorite things to do is just sitting on my favorite bench in Jenkinsville Town Square, reading a big book, right after it rains. I adjusted my neck to get comfortable. Plop. A drop of rain hit my forehead, and started slowly sliding down my face. I reached up and wiped it away. Splash. Someone walked through the puddle in front of me. I looked up, and saw a little leatherbound book. It looked old, worn, and used. Plop. Plop. More rain fell onto me and the book. I sighed, why not pick it up, what’s the worst that could happen? I crouched down and grabbed the book. 

I ran my hand down the spine, it had a name etched into the side. Guinevere. It sat there, so delicately written. I got back up and hurried back to the bench. Plop. Splash. I looked up. A young woman was searching for something frantically. She glanced over at me and it seemed as though she could see right through my bag, the book waiting. She got up and went over to me. 

“Hello ma’am, have you happened to see a small, leatherbound book somewhere around here? I seemed to have lost it.” I shook my head, and she sighed, her head drooping low. As she walked away I thought about how I should've given it to her. But alas, it’s too late now. I got up, and started heading to my car. When I got in, I decided, why not take a little peek at what’s inside of the book. I opened it up, the scent of old paper filling the space. On the first page it said: This diary belongs to Guinevere Stak. Please return immediately if found. 

I continued reading on, it was just little doodles of things like mushrooms and fairies, and also some recipes here and there. Occasionally there would be little updates about her day, like when she saw her ex at her friends birthday party, when an old man spilled coffee on her by accident, or when her boyfriend, Chance, proposed to her. As I got deeper into Guinevere’s diary, I started to feel bad. Maybe I should have just given it to her. She’s probably searching everywhere for it, wondering what low-life is looking through it. I looked up shamefully and realized that it was getting dark out. I had been sitting in the car for almost two hours. On the drive home, I decided I would do whatever it takes to return this diary back to Guinevere. 

I parked the car and got out, grabbing my stuff. It was already 9:00 at night, and I was exhausted, ready to just hop into bed. When I got inside, my cat was waiting for me, she was always there waiting for me. I still remember when I first got her. It was a Monday afternoon, and I had just gotten done with my shift at the cafe, after a long rain. As I was walking over to my bench, there was someone already sitting there, a little old woman with a tiny, fluffy orange cat and a sign that said, “Free Kitten” I decided to go up to her and check out the kitten. 

“Hello, ma’am. I was wondering why you are giving away the kitten,” I said, studying the kitten closer.

“Hello dear, I’m selling this kitten because I can not afford her medical bills anymore. They are just too expensive. You see, she had an infection in her eye, so I had to get that eye removed, and it took a toll on me. That was just the final push I guess, the vet appointments were just too expensive and I just couldn’t pay them anymore,” she said, holding the cat so that the cat was closer to me.

“Oh, let me just pay you. You can keep the cat and the money.”

“No, I must insist, take the cat. You keep your money, I can tell you want that cat. The cat seems to have taken a liking to you too.” The bickering continued for a few minutes before the old lady eventually just walked away, without the cat or the money. I shrugged, I was stuck with a cat now. I looked at her, saw her fluffy orange fur, and decided to name her Miss Marmalade. 

Miss Marmalade came up to me as I was taking off my shoes. She followed me while I walked to my bedroom with the diary. As soon as I sat down, Miss Marmalade jumped up onto my lap and started purring. I pulled out the diary and decided to read more. It’s not like Guinevere knew I was reading it, right? I found an entry written recently, decorated with little flowers and vines here and there.

Dear Diary, I just did something really bad. You know how my boyfriend proposed to me? Well, I said yes, obviously and we have been preparing and planning for two months now. I was really excited. But then I saw her, Chance was with another girl. They were laughing and holding hands, I was disgusted. The worst part? This was all happening while they were just casually walking down the street. I barfed right there. So, I was getting married yesterday…but I ran away at the altar. He looked heartbroken, but I knew he was just faking, he definitely knew what I knew. I’m so glad that we don’t live together because then everything would have been ten times more complicated. Thanks for letting me vent - Guinevere

Wow, so that’s why she was looking for it, she didn’t want anyone finding out about what she did, even if it wasn't that bad. I needed to return this to Guinevere now, as soon as possible. I grabbed the diary, and even though it was 1am in the morning, I ran outside to find her and return it. I knew I could do it. 

Beep Beep, the car turned on. It was foggy out, and I could barely see, but I was determined to get this back to Guinevere. I pulled out of the driveway and into the road. Wow, it was really foggy out, like really foggy. I looked up to check the rearview mirror, everything was good, but when I looked back down, I saw headlights. Crash! Beep! Sirens. Everything went dark. 

Wow, I could see again. Someone who looked like a doctor looked at me. 

“John! Chance! Katy! She’s awake!” People came rushing through the door.

Some girl with blonde hair looked at me and said, “Oh my gosh! Thank god you’re awake!”

Another guy came up to me and said, “Hey Guinevere, I know we ended on the wrong foot, but I am truly glad that you're awake.” Wait, did he just call me Guinevere?!