My Desert Haven (BOYXBOY)

Chapter 28

I stared at the five items spread out over the coffee table, which Luke had removed from the box for me. I felt too afraid to touch them, which I understood was ridiculous, but true nonetheless. I hadn’t had any idea what to expect when I opened my birthday present, but I could honestly say that I hadn’t imagined what I did get. I guess in part, I’d thought it would be another letter, and maybe an item that had meant a lot to my mother. But, there was no letter.

In that wrapped shoebox, my mother had neatly placed a dark, leather binder that had been a tight fit. The second, and easiest item to miss, had been a long, bluebird feather. Then, there was another book. It was smaller, and about the size of my hand with a hard cover and a faded picture of a unicorn on the front. The fourth item was a small, square CD case. I’d almost laughed out loud when I saw it because I recognized it to be mine. I wondered if she’d finally returned all the explicit music she’d confiscated from me over the years. And the fifth item was a cardboard jewelry box, scotch tape sealing it closed.

"Do you wanna be alone?" Luke asked quietly, and I turned my attention towards him, shaking my head.

"No, that’s okay; I said I’d open it with you, remember?"

"Yeah, but..."

"It’s okay, Luke," I insisted. "I just didn’t know what to expect, that’s all."

"Alright--so do you wanna look through some of this stuff?" he asked, and I nodded, before gesturing towards the binder.

"What about that?" I asked. Luke looked at me, probably waiting for me to reach for the binder, but when I just sat there staring at it expectantly, he picked it up and inspected it. I frowned at the confused expression that came over his features.

"It’s locked," he announced, holding it out for me.

I hesitated for another moment before I reached out and took it from him, my hands exploring the smooth texture of the color, and suddenly I felt a little resentment about the fact that Luke had taken them out of the box, even if I’d asked him to. The last person who had touched these items had been my mother, and for a moment it almost felt as if I’d missed out on a chance of getting a little closer to her by having Luke touch the items first. That was ridiculous, too. I made the thought go away and focused on the lock, which was preventing me from seeing the contents of the book.

"Why is it locked?" I asked blankly, as if Luke was actually supposed to have the answer.

"I don’t know; maybe there’s a key or something we missed."

Luke lifted the shoebox from the floor to check, but I was already placing the binder back on the table so I could lift up the feather, wondering what it was all about. It had hardly tickled the tips of my fingers before I was placing it back on the table and reaching for the second book.

"No key in here," Luke announced, sounding disappointed as he leaned towards me, watching as I flipped open the second book to a random page, tilting my head when I set eyes on a sloppy drawing that looked sort of like a dog, and noticed the handwriting that I’d expect a second grader to have on the opposite page. ‘I’m going to ask Mom if I can have a dog for my birthday. I like Sara Linki’s dog. Sara’s dog hates her.’

Luke must have read it, because he softly chuckled beside me, and even I found myself smiling as I continued to flip through the pages, each one marked with messy artwork and handwriting, all expressing wishes.