Tides of Fortune

I don't use italics in any of my stories. Many neurodivergent readers have a difficult time seeing and reading them.

Janky Fluffy

The Beach:

"Jerks who throw puppies into the ocean are the worst kind of scum," Kelvin said.

Faint whimpering that no one else on the beach seemed to hear bothered him. He walked under a velvet rope that divided the wedding party from the rest of the beach.

Kelvin ran past swimmers and snatched the bag out of the water. Nothing was inside but garbage. 

Broken shells cracked under his shoes. He ducked under the rope and stood among dozens of wedding guests.

Kelvin tossed it into a silver trash bin and sat down as the icy waves crashed into his pant legs. He was the only guest not dressed for the beach.

His father turned on the silk lanterns as the clouds overhead darkened.

"Maybe I'm hearing things." Kelvin wished he hadn't left his apartment, but he promised his sister due to a honey fortune cake.

He read the note and stuffed it back into his pocket. Miracles happen for those who show up.

Grandma baked them. He never knew how she hid the notes inside. As a child, they seemed like tiny miracles.

A miracle would have been a date to his sister's wedding. A miracle would've been his grandmother hugging him.

He stood under the lanterns and waited.

No miracle, nothing, but another whimper.

Grandmother left him her cottage, vehicles, cute knick-knacks, baking tools, and little notes. The money was left to a woman he met once, named Lucy. He didn't want anything, he only wanted his grandma.

She volunteered with Lucy at the animal shelter on opposite days from him.

"Are you listening to me?" Uncle Mark approached him, kicking sand. Mark's soft eyes always looked directly into Kelvin's own.

"I didn't see you. I thought I was the only guest wearing a suit." Kelvin collided with a cooler filled with steaks, but he stopped it from toppling.

"Some of us know how to dress." Mark smiled. He was a great uncle, but only seven years older than Kelvin.

"Kelvin, if you want to sell the house. It's not worth much, but I'm willing to pay above the market price. I just want something to remember her by, even if it's just her cookbook or a dishrag."

"I can sell it on my own, but I'm waiting until June to move in."

"I understand, but what about her old truck? It still runs, right? I'll pay for it," Uncle Mark said.

"I'll give you the Golden Viper. I don't need it. But keep your money."

"Thank you. I'll take anything, but we want her recipes. Could you share them with the family?" Mark asked.

"No, I plan to memorialize Grandma by reopening her food truck, and I haven't found the recipes. She didn't keep them in the house." He located the keys and tossed them at his uncle. "The car is parked outside my apartment."

His uncle left.

Kelvin read the fortune from his pocket. And it changed. Kindness will save you.

His grandmother gave him fourteen tins of honey fortune cakes the week before she died. He stuffed them in the freezer and only ate one when he felt sad. He was sad often and planned to eat three cakes after the wedding.