We’d been digging for a while. My dream hadn’t given a precise location for the box, just a general one, so we'd had to try a few different locations. There were about six new holes in the dirt under the area near the back porch steps.
It wasn’t like my dream had drawn me a map. If it had that would have been much more helpful, but all I’d envision was the space under the house near the back steps.
I scooted over and held the light closer, and with only one hand, while helping Daniel dig with the other. In my head, I pretended it was fresh, clean sand rather than old, wet dirt that could be full of all manner of bugs and spiders.
Eww.
We worked in silence for a while, the two of us moving load after load of sand away from our target. After another five minutes, Daniel shifted position. “It’s a sizable box,” he said. “I have to get underneath it.”
"Underneath it? You mean dig further down?" I asked, confused.
"No, just get to the one end so I can pull it out." That made a lot more sense.
It only took him another minute in this position, and a metal box finally popped up and out of the ground. He grabbed it and began working his way toward the exit. Shimmy, pull, shimmy, pull, until he was able to back all the way out of the crawl space.
I followed gingerly, trying not to blind Daniel as I used the light to make sure I didn’t move over or squish any of the creepy-crawlies I kept imagining. Luckily for my sanity, they all seemed to be in my head and we escaped the crawl space largely unharmed. I sent a silent thank you to all the bugs for staying out of our way and not terrifying me the way they could have.
Once I was out I pushed up so I could stand, and realized how filthy we were. Some of the dirt came off easily, but I definitely needed a change of clothes and my shoes were caked with mud. Urgh. I knew I should have taken the time to dig for my crappy pair of sneakers. Now these were probably ruined.
As much as I wanted to open that boxright now, first I had to change. I knew I hadn't seen any bugs but I couldn't shake the sensation of being dirty and possibly having bugs on me as a result. Nope. Couldn't handle it. “I’ll be right back,” I muttered.
“Actually, before I clean up, I’m going to run to my place and get the box under my house.”
"Do you need help?" I asked, feeling bad abandoning Daniel to find his own box.
It was like he could see how much I was itching to get clean again because he just shook his head and waved me off as he said, "You go change and clean up. I'll be back soon."
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to wait for you to get back.”
Chuckling, like he knew how much it would take for me to wait for him to return, Daniel left and I hurried upstairs. A quick glance in the mirror showed a big smear of mud in my hair.
Dang.
So, I had to shower again, meaning by the time I got out, Beth, Deva, Henry, and Alice had arrived. Still no Daniel yet though. I'd tried to take a quick shower. Honest. It just took more effort to get caked in mud out of my hair than I thought, and then to feel clean again afterward.
“Hey,” I called into the kitchen as I toweled my hair. The box sat, ignored, on the coffee table. It called to me, seemingly almost literally, though of course that was just in my head. My hands itched to pull at the top to try and open it.
Deva walked out with a pink box that had to contain goodies, and handed it right over. I pulled out a big chocolate donut and took a huge bite while I stared at the box. “I want to open it,” I said around the donut.
Deva chuckled. “What’s stopping you?”
Everyone sat as I explained, and Beth handed me freshly brewed coffee. The aroma seemed to call to my very soul as I took a deep breath. “You’re a bunch of saints.” I took a scalding sip, not caring that I burnt my tongue a bit, then carried on. “Well, we had this dream at the exact same time. My parents told me this box was here and Daniel’s ex wife told him his was under their house. It seems appropriate that we open them at the same…” I trailed off when I heard the distant sound of a car door. “Oh, he’s back.” I had to fight the urge to jump up from my seat and go to the front door to wait like an anxious puppy. I could wait calmly with my coffee like a sensible person.
Sure enough, a minute later, Daniel came hurrying through the door with his hair still wet. “Sorry it took so long,” he said breathlessly. “I took a quick shower after traipsing around under the houses.”
“It’s okay.” Beth got up so Daniel could join me on the couch and went to get him a cup of coffee, which I was grateful for since I was exhausted from this morning and I hadn't even been the one doing the digging. My hip and back were more than a little irritated from the position I'd been stuck in this morning. He put his box beside mine and accepted a coffee from Beth and donuts from Deva.
“Shall we?” I asked Daniel once he had a mouthful of deep fried goodness and a swig of caffeine.
“Just be ready,” Deva said with a smile. “I’m having someone drop off lunch for us in a few minutes.”
“Yay!” I grinned.
We lifted the lids on the metal boxes at the same time. They both squeaked and squealed in unison and made a sucking sound when they finally released as though they had been hermetically sealed or something. We all leaned forward to see the contents. I was honestly surprised the boxes had opened so easily and hadn't been locked or something. I mean sure, the age and elements made them difficult to open but if someone had known where these were then once they got the box they would have easily been able to open them. Once I saw what was inside the seal that we seemed to break made more sense. It had to have been some kind of magic or spell. Paper buried in a metal box wouldn't have survived the years otherwise, and the contents still looked like they were in pretty good shape.
“Journals?” Deva asked. “Is that it?” Her brow was furrowed as she looked at the contents, and I was sure she was wondering the same thing I was, why would my parents and Daniel's wife go to such lengths to protect and hide some journals.
Daniel and I grabbed the journals, a handful at a time and handed them out to our friends. Everyone dug in. Belatedly, I looked around and furrowed my brow. I’d been so focused on the box I hadn’t realized Carol wasn’t right along with us here. “Where’s Carol?”
