The Widow’s Guest Room

The elderly lady stood in the doorway of the empty guest room, leaning heavily against the doorframe, sighing softly. It had been a month since her last guests. The last guests weren’t the neatest of people, but they were friendly and helpful, if not a bit forgetful at times.

She moved into the room and began to slowly straighten it up for her next guests...whoever and whenever that would be. Though she should’ve cleaned up the room when the guests left, she just needed a break, a long break.

The guest room wasn’t always a guest room. It had once belonged to her only son years ago. She had left it the way it was if he ever visited her and her husband again. But he didn’t visit until her husband/his father had passed away. He ended up selling all of his things except for his first home run baseball that he left behind that now rested on the top tier of a small set of shelves.

It wasn’t until after her son left, that she realized how lonely she was. It was then that she decided to rent out the room for people who needed anywhere from a night to a month for reasonable rates and dinner. The extra income helped.

As she continued to straighten up (changing sheets would come later), she found a small stuffed yellow bunny that had belonged to the last guest's little girl. She smiled as she put it on one of the shelves that the baseball was on. She stopped her chore to look at the shelves and blinked, amazed that they all were filled with some kind of object that the guests had perhaps inadvertently left behind.

Her black eyes rested on a well worn paperback book. Her first guest, a young woman in her twenties who loved romance novels. This book was her favorite. But why leave it behind?

Then her eyes moved to an expensive ballpoint pen with a business logo on it. The businessman always had it in his left shirt pocket, telling her that he got it on the first day with his company as a stock boy, many years back. He now was VP of the company. Again, why forget this pen?

Next to the pen, was a silver compact, a middle aged woman had used constantly. It was well worn but taken care of. She couldn’t recall ever seeing the woman without it, always powdering her nose and cheeks. Why didn’t she take it with her?

Under the compact and the pen was a gold locket. The woman wiped a tear away. The young man who had it was going to propose to his longtime girlfriend, who had wanted a necklace instead of a ring. He had saved every last dime to buy it, doing odd jobs for everyone in town, herself included. And whatever the circumstance was, she said no, breaking the young man’s heart.

Lastly, her eyes rested on a watch. Though it wasn’t a fancy expensive watch, it had meant a great deal to the thirty-something man who had worn it constantly. It had been a gift from his grandfather and he had cherished it. Why forget it? Why leave it behind?

She finally turned away, after reliving all those memories. What she didn’t see, had she continued to look, was a soft glow coming from each item, starting with the baseball and spreading over the other objects.

The elderly woman sighed. Such memories filled her mind and she didn’t feel as lonely anymore. She was about to restart her chore, when the doorbell rang. She frowned as she left the room, closing the door. She was certain that she put the no vacancy sign up, to give herself time to clean the room. She made her way to the front door, opening it.

Her mouth dropped open, seeing her son standing there, along with all her former guests. “Oh, you’re all here to get the things you forgot?” She assumed.

Her son smiled tenderly. “No, Ma,” he began. “We’re all here to see you. I heard about your love and kindness from these strangers and I realized that I was wrong for staying away all those years and you don’t have to be alone anymore.”

The elderly woman smiled despite the tears, inviting everyone in. “But how did you hear from them?” She askEd her son, as she acceptEd heartfelt hugs from each of her former guests.

“Darndest thing, Ma,” he son began. “I received texts from each of them, telling me about you and your warmth, love and kindness within the past six months. At first I thought it was a scam of some kind, but when these people began to show up at my workplace, I’m thinking that maybe there’s some truth to it. Although, none of them knew how they got my number, just that it appeared in their phones and took a chance by texting me.”

The elderly woman listened, then nodded. “Many things, good and bad happen without any concrete reason,” she began. “They just happen when the need arises. Though, I am just surprised as you are but overjoyed to see all of you again.” She smiled at her son and the others. “So, let’s go out on the back deck and tell me what everyone has been up to since I last saw you.”

The elderly woman led everyone though the house towards the back deck.

The guest room’s door slowly opened by itself, a soft glow coming from the room that only the little girl saw. She waited until the adults were out of sight, then went over to the room. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Now she’s not lonely any more.”

The glow coming from the room brightened in a pleased manner as the little yellow bunny appeared.

The little girl took it. “Thank you for keeping it safe,” she whispered, hugging the small stuffed toy. 

The glow brightened more as the little girl’s name was being called. As she skipped through the house, the glow faded as the door slowly shut by itself.