The Gift

Emily

Emily sat quietly in her small room overlooking the orphanage's grounds. She had set her book down and was about to help get the children ready for dinner when a gentle knock came at her door.

"Come in", she cheerfully called.

A young girl entered and gave Emily a letter. She looked at it, placed it on her desk and accompanied the girl to the dining hall. During dinner, she was busy making sure the seven children in her section had washed and had enough to eat. Then she took them outside to play games before getting them ready for bed. Emily tucked each one in and spent a few minutes quietly talking to them before she read another chapter to them. 

After this she strolled the grounds with some of the others who worked at the orphanage before returning to her room, showering, and getting herself ready for bed. It was only then that she remembered the letter. She walked to her desk and sat staring at it, No address just her name and the name of some meaningless person in the upper left-hand corner seeming to state it was from some sort of legal person. She was about to toss it away thinking it was some sort of advertisement. But she stopped halfway to the trashcan and slit open the thin envelope. Inside was a short typed letter with a business looking heading. Opening the envelope she took out the one sheet of typed paper with the heading:

JACKSON & JACKSON ATTORNEY'S AT LAW

Dear Miss Parsons,

We are writing to you on behalf of our client, who wishes at this time to remain anonymous. We are planning to travel to your location to discuss the terms of our client's will. I can say that you are the sole beneficiary of this will. Our address and phone numbers appear at the bottom of this letter and we wait for you to contact us at your earliest convenience. 

Emily read the letter three times. Then sat staring at it as if it were going to burst into flame any second and she would wake up from some weird dream.