The Life of Esther Jameson

Chapter Twenty Six

Once I found the familiar entrance to the park, I found my way to the shack on my own. It had been closed down in recent years, bless its poor soul, and the wooden structure had become moldy and worn down from the past spring rain and other natural elements. I felt like it was only yesterday that I was spying on him from behind that one tree that was happily still standing, where he almost caught me, where I ran away from my problems again, a.k.a., him.

The arrows led to a white box that was in front of the shack, and I took the liberty of opening it. Inside was a larger bouquet of several more roses, along with another note card with a drawing on the front.

18 roses stands for a beauty that last forever, which is what you seem to portray so effortlessly. Even when you're old and all your hair is ugly and gray, I will always think that you're the most beautiful girl out there.

-J

P.S. Go to the place where we studied together.

P.P.S. I'm sorry that my drawing skills suck. You were never this ugly, I promise.

P.P.S. Enjoy your snack.

Jack was never this sappy. Ever. Either Joseph helped him in some way, or Jackson was secretly a time traveler and he went to ask Shakespeare himself to help him write these lines.

Either way, it was still sappy. End comment.

I reached into the bottom of the box and pulled out a small cup of chocolate pudding, one of the items I remember buying the most back when snack shack food was all we ate for almost a couple weeks.

I consumed it in a couple minutes, having taken large, clearly unladylike bites. I made sure to take the roses with me, and continued following the trail of red arrows.

During this time, I was earnestly trying to figure what the purpose of all of this was. If anything, knowing Jackson, it was probably all some big prank that would lead to me being really confused and amused and mad at the time.

Secretly, I thanked Jackson that the spots he chose were all within walking distance of each other. After our time in the woods, I slowly grew more and more displeased about walking long distances.

Luckily, the library was only a few blocks away, and I made sure to be quiet this time as I walked inside. I wasn't sure where to go from there, so I went up to the single desk where the elderly librarian sat while imprinting books with a large red rubber stamp that said, "Overdue".

"Excuse me." I spoke in my most quietly proper voice. The librarian looked up at me from an angle and pushed up his glasses.

"Can I help you?" He spoke with an accent that made me briefly think about an elderly wizard of sorts, like Gandalf or Merlin. It was to tell how old the librarian was; he had obvious wrinkles, but his skin was as clear as a summer's day, and his hair was a worn out black-ish color. Possibly the failed result of hair dying.

"Um, hi." I smiled awkwardly and held up the two cards that I had. "I was told to come here. Did a young dude happen to leave roses here or something like that?"

"Oh. You're her."

"What?" The lack of enthusiasm in his voice threw me off.

"Go to the fantasy section." He sighed, and I realized that he must have been really fed up with his job and then had to deal with a lovestruck teenage boy. Poor guy. "You'll find your flowers there."

"Thanks." I smiled and randomly patted the desk before walking away to the section in the back of the library where Jackson tutored me during my former days in high school.