Black Cat Weekly #45

Chapter 6

byPeeking around the corner to see her grandmother opening the refrigerator door, Julie realized how much she loved visiting her “Gram,” especially on Easter mornings.“What are you doing, Gram?”

The tall, slim woman looked up with a smile as she placed a Styrofoam carton on a top rack.“Oh, just putting away some eggs I didn’t dye for today’s community egg hunt.”

A retired high school math teacher, Julie’s grandmother volunteered for community events throughout the year, but the egg hunt was her favorite.

As long as she could remember, Julie had loved egg hunts too, but the ones she had at her grandmother’s on Easter were unique. Gram’s only grandchild, Julie, enjoyed a special place in her grandmother’s heart, and every Easter Gram dreamed up a “hunt” in which she hid a beautiful porcelain egg passed down in her family and supplied Julie with clues to its location. The hollow egg always contained a note describing a special Easter gift for Julie.

“O.K., Gram,” Julie said excitedly, “where are the clues?”

Gram pointed to a slip of paper on the kitchen table.“This year’s hunt is challenging, but I have confidence in you.”

Julie scooped up the paper and read the hand-printed message:

THIS YEAR’S GIFT IS THE COOLEST EVER.

THIS YEAR’S GIFT IS THE COOLEST EVER.Having lived through the ’60s, “cool” was Gram’s favorite adjective, whether she was describing the latest casserole or an exercise program she had seen in a late-night infomercial.

“Gram,” said a perplexed Julie, “what could be cooler than last year’s tickets to the Adele concert or those dinner reservations at Chez Dominic?”

Her grandmother winked.“I guess you’ll just have to find the egg.”

The previous week Gram had lamented the “uncool” nature of digital music when compared to her prized collection of vinyl albums. When Julie raced to the entertainment center that housed a shelf containing such classics as The Beatles “White Album” and “Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits,” however, the porcelain egg was nowhere to be found.

Undeterred, Julie headed for her grandmother’s bedroom. The self-proclaimed “Coolest Grandmother in town,” Gram loved flitting around the mall in one of her tie-dyed sundresses or vintage concert t-shirts. Julie could imagine the egg nestled somewhere in a drawer between the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. She tried to shuffle though the shirts without making a mess, but the results were the same—no egg.

“I don’t want to hurry you, dear,” called her grandmother from the living room, “but we have to be at the park soon. I just love watching the children’s faces as they uncover the hidden eggs. They’re always so excited.”

She’d be excited, too, thought Julie, if she could figure out the cryptic clue.“The coolest gift yet.”During her years as a teacher, Gram had traveled extensively, and Julie had always enjoyed her accounts of the “cool” places she had visited and the “cool” people she had met.

The next place she looked was the shelf next to the TV that housed Gram’s photo albums. Perhaps the egg was secreted behind that collection. No luck again.

At the point of frustration, Julie had one last thought. The coolest of cool for Gram had always been her small collection of first editions.

As Julie’s fingers swept over a couple of the treasured volumes, she heard Gram say, “As my favorite detective, Poe’s Dupin, was fond of pointing out, `Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the thing that puts you at fault.’”

A light suddenly clicked in Julie’s head as she headed for the kitchen.“Gram, I think I’ve ‘cracked’ the clue.”

Julie realized that she had missed the simplicity of her grandmother’s clue.“Coolest” referred to temperature, and, sure enough, Julie found the porcelain egg in the carton Gram was placing in the fridge as she arrived. When Julie read the slip inside the egg, she thought the gift was “cool” in another way:Gram gave her the antique sapphire ring she had long admired.