A birthday surprise

A very special place

Jason's pov

She dozes off on the ride down there, probably from staying awake all night. I've got a shovel in the back. I wonder where she came up with a million dollars. I hit a bump which wakes her up. "Sorry darlin' hit a pothole." I say. She shrugs. "It's fine." She says. "OK, pull up over there. It's a long and very bumpy driveway." She says. I nod and make the turn. She wasn't kidding. I about blew a tire! She gets out of my truck and grabs the shovel. I can see she's trying not to cry. I turn off my truck and just sit there for a while, thinking. She taps on the window. I blush and get out. She seems to know where she's going so I just follow her, my hands in my pockets. We reach an old rusty tractor. She glances back at me with a sad smile. "Believe it or not, this used to be green." She says. She touches the wheel. "So much memories on this tractor." She whispers, closing her eyes. I pull her from the trance and we continue walking. The kudzu has completely consumed everything. We reach an old stone wall, covered in vines. The place where the door once sat is now a gaping hole. Something is telling me we shouldn't go in there. She's about to but I grab her hand. "Somethin' doesn't feel right about this hun." I say. She looks at me confused. "Why?" She asks, peering in the opening. It's kinda dark since the kudzu is blocking the sun from getting through overhead. "I don't know. I've just got a bad feeling." I say, pulling her back. "This is where it's buried. This is where me and mom would go to get away from our lives. She pulls her hand free and walks in. I follow her reluctantly. "Be careful, there's a giant hole where a sink hole opened up in here years ago." She warns. I pull out my phone and shine it around. I spot the hole in the far corner and my fiancé standing by a bench. Vines entangled the ancient piece of furniture along with everything else in here. Her hands are shaking as one grips the shovel and the other rests on the bench. "I shed many tears here." She whispers. She sits down and closes her eyes.

Miranda's pov

~flashback~

I ran to the old bench and slung my backpack on the ground. My binder fell out and the horrible things the girls wrote on there made me want to scream. I shoved it back in and took out the only thing that mattered. My granddad's locket. I put it around my neck then chucked the backpack and its contents in the hole. I stretched out on the bench and fell asleep when I came to, my mother was sitting beside me. I smile and lay my head in her lap. She rubs my hair. She knows not to ask. I fall back to sleep.

~flashback over~

"Baby girl, you're crying." He says, concerned. "It ain't nothin' but a memory." I say, wiping my eyes. I lay my head on his shoulder. "This is my sanctuary. I came here when ever something bad happened."

Jason's pov

"Hell I slept in here for two days after my grandpa died. No one knew where I was but mama and she knew to leave me be." She says, standing up. She grips the shovel and stabs it into the earth. "Honey let me do that." I say, walking over to her. She shakes her head. "I have to." She says, digging. And heaving dirt. I put my hand on the shovel. "No you don't." I say. She drops the shovel and falls to her knees in tears. I kneel down beside her and wrap my arms around her. "This place is sacred ground. There ain't a single blade of grass that hasn't had a tear on it." She chokes out. She looks me in the eyes and hands me the shovel. "It'll all be over soon." I whisper. "Ooh, don't say that, you're making' me think of some gory slasher movie!" She says, shivering. I smile and stand up to dig. "Hold on before you start." She says, also standing up. She rests her hands on my chest and kisses me passionately. I drop the shovel and pull her close. After our kiss, she sits on the bench, her feet curled up under her, watching me. I stab the earth and start digging. Not too long later, I'm sweating buckets. I wipe my forehead with my shirt sleeve. It's gotten really dark so she shines her phone on the hole I'm working on. I hit something hard and wooden sounding. We lock eyes and I drop the shovel and push dirt away with my hands. I pull it out. It's really old, dating back to the 1920s. "Let's wait until morning to open it." She says. "Okay." She turns the phone off and sits back on the bench. I sit beside her. "We just gonna sleep in here I reckon." She nods and grabs my hand. She rests against my chest and puts my arm on her stomach. I kiss her head and we both fall asleep.

*the next day*

I wake up in the woods. Then I remember everything that happened last night. She's still asleep against my chest. "I'm surprised it's in such good condition after being buried for who knows how long. She turns over and wakes up. "Hey babe." I say, kissing her lips. "Let's crack this open." She says. I nod and we walk over to the trunk. I pull out the crowbar and pry the top off. The letter wasn't lying. It was full of cash and a few other things. She bursts into tears and picks up a gold watch. She stares at it for the longest time. I'm shocked to see it still works and it looks brand new. She tells me to hold out my wrist so I do and she puts it on my wrist. Why does she want me to keep it? And how is it still working? My mind is boggled. She pulls out an old book. She opens it and it's a photo album. How are the pictures not faded? Everything looks brand new. "When do you think this thing was buried?" I ask. "A long time ago." She whispers. "How is this watch still running then?" I gape staring intently at it. "There's always been something special about this place. It's as if while you're here time stands still." She says, picking up a tea pot. "Hey go get the bag to put the money in." She says. I nod and walk out the doorway. Instantly I notice something that's different, the watch has stopped moving and the gold has suddenly become older and dirty. My jaw drops. I shake my hand a little but it stays the same. I walk back in and it's good as new again. This is bizarre. "Hey, Miranda you might wanna check this out." I say. She looks up. "What is it?" She asks. I wave her over and she walks over carrying the photo album. "Watch this." I say, walking out the door. The watch stops ticking again and it looks old again. Her eyes go wide in shock. "Earlier when you said time stands still in there, I think it really does." I say, walking back in. It becomes new again. She grabs my wrist, staring at the watch in total disbelief. "Jason! Do you know what this means?!" She cries, smiling. "No what?" I ask. "If we never leave, we'll live forever!" She exclaims. "Baby, we can't stay here forever!" I gasp. She sighs and stares at the ground. "You're right." She says. "It will always be my special place and other than mom you're the only person who knows about it." I smile and hug her tight. "This is our special place and I love that it's just ours." I say. I grab the bag and we bag the money and new looking but very old treasures. We walk hand in hand back to his truck. The watch old and tarnished again, the ticking stopped. I'm never taking this watch off.