Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

9am on a Wednesday, just off the high street. It was just any other day, nothing out of the ordinary. Sarah was getting ready for another shift at the supermarket. Another day of doing the same job, doing the same activities. She was tiring of this, stuck in a dead-end job. She leaves the house and takes the bus into town driving the same route, passing the same shops and houses every day along the way. Nothing really stands out during the daily journey although there is one particular book store that Sarah thought looked a little peculiar. Along the way, the journey stutters with stops and starts due to the traffic of rush hour. The bus coincidently stops outside the bookshop. Its murky and mysterious exterior is a stark contrast to the brightly lit, colourful high street on which it's located. It seems to be very off-putting to any visitor, almost like they don’t want any guests. After a short wait, the bus pulls away again as the traffic begins to clear up. In the corner of her eye, Sarah sees an advert in the window of the bookshop. She tried to read it quickly but it was too late, the shop was now out of sight.

Sarah arrives at work and begins her day of stacking shelves. She finds herself constantly thinking about the strange little book store and the advert in the window. She decides that after work she will take the journey home in a different way to usual to find out what the advert in the window really is. Just to scratch the itch.

Later on, when the working day is over, Sarah grabs her coat and leaves the supermarket to head over to the bus stop. After waiting for what seems an eternity, the bus arrives with a packed cabin, there are no seats left. It looks as though Sarah has no choice but to stand in the doorway of the bus and hold on. The bus pulls away and the journey home begins. The bus is so full that it would be more comfortable to walk the journey back home. More and more people pile onto the bus the further the journey goes on, the limits of the bus being stretched. As Sarah notices that the bus is now approaching the high street, she makes the decision to alight at the next stop and walk the rest of the journey home. This means she can finally put to rest what had been playing on her mind all day. She reaches out and requests for the bus to stop. The bus begins to slow and pulls into the bus stop that is just beyond the bookshop. As the bus passed the store, Sarah spotted that the advert is advertising a fire sale. This was all she caught on the passing. It might not be as exciting as she thought it would be but Sarah still decided to head over to the shop anyway.

The advert, which perfectly matches the ambiance of the bookshop, is written across multiple sticky notes, all lined up together over a section of the window stating ‘Fire Sale - Closing, everything must go. Come in, you never know what you might find’. It seems quite off-putting but this doesn't bother Sarah. After all, she had time to kill and had another day of tedious shelf stacking approaching so wanted to fill the rest of the day with a little excitement. She entered the store only to find that the place had almost already been entirely cleaned out, except for a solitary book that sat in the middle of a huge solid oak table with a spotlight beaming over it. A more unnerving factor about the shop is the fact that there is no bookkeeper or any sign of a staff member being around for quite some time. Sarah felt uneasy but held her nerve. Next to the book is another note reading ‘Dear customer, please take this book to a good home, free of charge’. Sarah hesitated, suspicious that this could all be a setup. All of a sudden, she grabbed the book, scrambled out of the shop in a great panic and sprinted home like she never had before.

Sarah rushed through the door and threw her things to the ground. Full of excitement and mystery, she set the book down on the solid oak table and took a moment. So many unanswered questions, why was the book totally alone? It looked like it was the only item in the shop for quite some time. Why had nobody else taken the book? Surely there must have been at least one other customer in the shop before her? Why was the book under a spotlight? Every element seemed more peculiar the more she thought about it.

The book small and as black as night but is as thick as the countertop. It was covered with dust, easy to see that it hadn’t been used in some time. Sarah blows the dust away to reveal that it's plastered with scratches as if it was a spell book. The removal of the dust also revealed an emblem with Latin engraved on its leather covering – Carpe Diem.

She opened the book, the first few pages were blank but Sarah thought nothing of it. The next few pages, also vacant. Sarah was perplexed. The further she flicks through the book, the more evident it becomes that it's empty. The book seems entirely pointless. Sarah keeps flicking through the pages, from the next blank page to the next, hoping to find anything at all, until, about three quarters into the slab-like book, she finds a solitary sentence written by hand in spindly writing, like a spider had crawled out of an inkpot and skulked across the page – ‘Return me’ the note read. This must be a joke Sarah thought, someone was messing with her. She tossed the book to the side without a second thought. That was the end of that. Sarah got on with her usual evening activities and prepared her things ready for another day at work tomorrow.

It's getting late. Sarah prepares to get ready for bed. The next day was a delivery shift meaning it would be an early start to the day. The book was still on her mind, not quite as prominent as earlier on, never less, it was still lurking. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The longer the night went on, the more she thought about it. Sarah realised that she was not to get any sleep that night.

With no sign of falling asleep, Sarah arose from her bed and simply decided she would get ready for work a little sooner than she would otherwise and walk to work to get some fresh air. Sarah gathered her things and left the house just as the day was dawning. The air was still, it was a cold crisp morning. The sound of birdsong was about, gently awakening the rest of the neighbourhood. Something felt different, like it was going to be a good day. Sarah put her headphones in and skipped to work. She was in a good mood.

Turning on the high street, the bookshop came into vision. Sarah noticed that it was illuminated, a lot more than usual anyway. As she approached the shop, she saw a new notice in the window stating ‘To whom this may concern - Please return the book behind the counter’, nothing else, just a polite notice asking for a simple return. There was more to this story than Sarah expected. She had time to kill as she left the house early.

She entered the shop, the interior was how she remembered. Again, there was not a soul around inside the store. Feeling anxious, she walked over to the counter where another note lay waiting. This was the note she was waiting for, was this fate? Will this change everything? Sarah grasped the note in both hands and read it aloud as she could not believe what was reading – ‘Thank you for returning my book. Awaiting for you is your prize. Place the book into either of the two slots you see in front of you, releasing a key. The key will fit one of two chests under the counter, of which, one contains one hundred – thousand pounds. The contents of the other is naught. Good luck.’

Sarah was in disbelief, could this really be happening, a fifty–fifty chance of becoming instantly rich. She takes a moment, picks up the book and tentatively places it in one of the two slots. She had made her decision, the book falls with a bang and a few seconds later, a key falls out the bottom slot. The moment has arrived. She trembles and collects the key. Awaiting behind the counter, the two chests.

Full of excitement, Sarah realises she can finally get out of the job she has despised for so long. She eyes up the chests. Both of them look identical but the key only fits one. Both are gleaming gold in colour with a silver trim, they look like something straight off of a pirate ship. Sarah approaches the closer of the chests first to see if the key matches. She places the key inside the lock, it fits. She pauses and tries to turn it but it does not turn. It must be the other chest. She removes the key and lines up the second. Her heart is pounding, this is the moment. Rags or riches, fate to be decided momentarily. Again, she places the key into the second lock and mumbles to herself, almost prayer-like. She turns the key and the sound of the locking mechanism tumbles. The chest is open. Shaking, she places both hands on the lid. Destiny awaits.

1st March 2021 Sam Gaskell