The Magic Notebook

A small miracle, a hidden plan, and the first step toward seeing his son again.

On a sunny winter day, during one of his intuitive walks through the little town where he was born, Adam’s feet simply turned right and stopped.

He was caught up in his thoughts at the moment, so it took him a few seconds before he started taking in his surroundings once again. As his vision refocused, he noticed an old mansion with a huge for sale sign on it. The messy yard was home to some lovely old trees and an unkept wall covered in ivy.

“This place would be gorgeous if someone took care of it.“ Adam thought, believing himself alone for a moment.
As his eyes took in the sight, he could feel a question forming in his mind, the answer came before the question was even articulated.
”I brought you here because it’s important for you to know such a house for yourself is completely possible.”
”I’d like it, but it vaguely reminds me of the penthouse where I ended up drinking ash water.”
”It’s about a dream Adam, I’m trying to help you build your dream… Anyway our next step is visiting a library.”
”Hmm, haven’t been to one in a while now, I look forward to seeing what’s there.”

Once there, the moment he took a step inside he became dizzy and stuck in a weird sort of indecision. Floating through the store, his feet seemed to know where to go by themselves, his eyes and awareness catching up eventually. His attention eventually came to a Naruto notebook, which he picked up on a whim.

Further looking through, he found himself staring at an agenda that looked curiousily much like a grimoire.

“That’s what we’re here for. Since we’re here, look around, maybe you’ll find something else that’s interesting.“

Looking through the various wares the store had to offer, his eyes landed a few boardgames, then a teddy bear, then a set of rubber balls, then a toy car.

Pausing unknowingly at it, he started breathing heavily. A thought so strong it caused him to tear up made its way to the top. With the gravity of a churchbell ringing in his head it came.

“I need to see my son.”

Pausing for a moment,
“I miss him.
But in this state,
I still don’t think that I can see them.“

Ever vigilant, Jasmine chimed in,
”You’re almost ready for it, there’s just a little preparation needed once we get home.”

With newfound excitement and ambition at Jasmine’s vote of confidence, Adam fumbled around the library for almost an hour attempting to find a gift that seemed to fit the ocasion. In the end, the best he could do was a miniature bowling set, he thought it would do them both good to play with it. Something simply told him it was the right thing to pick.

Exhausted, his next mission on his mind, he wasn’t even sure when he ended up in the living room. Barely touching the couch… he was already in another trance. His head touched a pillow and with his eyes closed, another vision came to him.

A train cabin, the sun shining through the window, a woman facing him, it was Jasmine, this time facing him on the seat in front.

“I’m taking you to see your son.“

This time he could clearly see her face, she was beautiful. He could see her sense his shock at how young she seemed.

“This isn’t an invitation to understimate me Adam, if you could look any way you wanted, wouldn’t you prefer being young and beautiful?“
”I find that men look best in their 40s, I might want a straighter back… to be stronger, maybe still have my hair but I wouldn’t go for younger. Maybe look like someone in their 40s but feel like the good part of my 20s.”

They both laughed, and as the trip began to fade she gave him one last instruction.

“When you get up, take the notebook and make a plan, you’ll need to take notes as you make your way there.“

As was his style, he immediately got to work.

He had the habbit of using an agenda in the past for his work, all his best ideas in the past were cooked up in a doodle or schematics he never used again. He used to take meticulous notes of the tasks he needed to figure out. His engineering projects often required this kind of approach to bring out his creative side. But as the years passed, the tools became better, he became corporate, notes, drawings and doodles gave way to diagrams and highlighted screenshots. He hadn’t used a notebook in over 5 years.

He took some time to sniff the agenda and find a good pen around the house, and as he was searching, he started becoming frustrated…

“That thing’s too big, I can’t take notes outside with it. How could I have not thought about that?!“

Maybe it was the trance, maybe it was the day, or the emotional tension building at the thought of seeing his son for the first time since leaving home. By the time he reached his future grimoire, he was already fuming in frustration at himself for not having realised this.

Sitting at his desk pen in front, agenda as well, with his thoughts inching towards despair and hopelessness. Jasmine from the chair intervened.

“Have you tried shaking it.“

The broody fog that was brewing was blasted away with a burst of laughter.

“Sounds too stupid to work.“, Adam said.

Looking at the agenda, it became irrezistible. He picked it up then vigurousily shook it anyway.

To his amazement, a smaller, thinner notepad fell out of the thick A4 sized Agenda.

“That’s a miracle.“ Adam said staring dumbfounded at the perfect tool he had just in front of him.

“Thank you, I might be too young for you, but I’m good at this kind of thing.”

After a moment of laughter, the frustration that had clouded his mind only minutes ago was completely gone. It seemed distant now. Childish.

With the brand-new notebook in his hands, Adam gave her his most honest:

“Thank you.”

There was still hope.