Chapter 1

“Lydia, come back here. Come see what I found back here.” The young redhead sighed and made her way into the back room of the small antique shop, and called out.

“Where are you, Heather? I can’t see you.” There was a moment of silence and then a reply.

“I’m in here.” The voice came from inside the wall, and Lydia laughed.

“How did you get in there, Heather?”

“There’s a door, duh.” Lydia began walking up and down the wall, and finally found a door of sorts. It was really more like a hole in the wall, but it lead into a dark, and narrow hallway lined with shelves, covered with little, antique knick-knacks.

“It’s dark in here, Heather.”

“I’m down here, at the dead-end.” Lydia made her way to the end of the hallway, which lead nowhere, and saw that at the end was a faint glowing light and Heather. Heather smiled up at Lydia, and brought her hands up to show off what she had found. Lydia looked down at the small copper box. It was about four by six inches and four inches deep, covered with tiny holes.

“Isn’t it neat, Lydia? I think it’s Indian.” As she shook it gently, in an attempt to convince Lydia that it was a quality buy, a light rattling came from inside of it.

“What’s in it?”

“I don’t know.” Heather opened up the lid and peered inside.

“It looks like a pair of glasses, and some folded up papers. Ooohhh . . bonus items, and the whole thing is only nine dollars. Can’t get much better than that, Lydia.” Both girls smiled and backed out of the hallway, the metal box still clutched in hand.

~

“I’ll be back with pizza, twenty minutes tops, okay Lydia?”

“Sure, bye.” Lydia lay back against the wall of the motel, and peered over to the side. Sitting right beside her on the nightstand was the copper box they had bought earlier. She picked it up and gingerly sat it in her lap.

“Let’s see what you’re hiding, then,” and she opened the box, revealing two items inside. She picked up the first item, an old pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses, and sat it on the comforter beside her legs. She then pulled out the second, a piece of paper folded into a small square.

“Now, what are you?” She unfolded it and glanced over the hurried writing, the faded ink, the yellowed paper, and light tearstains covering the paper. She read over it, struggling over the chicken-scratch letters:

Joshua,
I apologize for everything that I’ve put you through in this past month. I’ve lied to you over and over again, without reserve. I’ve made you believe everything that you’ve wanted to believe, and because of that, I know the pain you must be feeling now. I am a horrible person for deceiving you as I have, so do not follow me. Even if my lies had become the truth, and I did love you for a moment or two, that is over now. I have found someone better. The American, Thomas, will take me back, across the ocean to his home, and I will not dwell on our shared memories, so I plead for you not to, as well.
Goodbye,
James

The ink of the short note was smeared with tears, and Lydia even began to feel a lump in her throat as she read the unkind words of a lover lost forever.

There was suddenly a knock at the door, and Lydia hurriedly folded the note up, placing it back inside of the copper box, along with Joshua’s wire-rimmed glasses.

“Yes?”

“It’s me. I’ve got pizza!” Lydia opened the door. Heather stood there, a smile gracing her face, and a large pizza in her arms. When she looked at Lydia, her face fell.

“What’s wrong, Lydia?” Lydia wiped a hand across her cheeks, and chuckled.

“Nothing. I was just watching the ending to a stupid movie. That’s all.”

“Okay.”

After eating the pizza, Lydia and Heather went to bed. Exhausted, Heather fell asleep almost instantly, but not Lydia.

Lydia stayed up late into the night, holding Heather in her arms, but when she finally did fall asleep, her thoughts were completely occupied by a young man she had never seen before; a young man, wearing wire-rimmed glasses, and speaking with a British accent.

Chapter 2