Dearest Cierra,
We regret to inform you that your parents have passed due to unexpected complications to their health. Enclosed in this envelope is their will and a sum of money which they have requested beforehand to be sealed with the will written on the second piece of parchment. Your mother and father were kind people and benefited from their generosity more than you were allowed to acknowledge. Please keep in mind that this was for your protection.
Reading the note over and over again, that first line sinks into my heart like a lead anchor in the Atlantic Ocean. It's heavy, it's cold, and it's definitely unexpected. For a couple of eighty-somethings, my parents were in picture perfect health. They've also raised me to frugal and not waste money. Now slightly curious, I pick up the discarded off-white envelope with the silver colored writing and peak into it. There is indeed a sum of cash inside, big enough to be solely responsible for the unseeming bulge in the thick pocket. I pull it out and toss it onto my bed, not interested in something as fickle as money. Once my index finger grazes what must be the will, I feel something bite the padding of my digit and sharply remove it with a yelp. My finger is bleeding, not a lot though, as I bend down to pick up the envelope that I have rather unceremoniously dropped to the beige carpet.
More money falls out of it as I do so, which honestly makes me question how much dough my family really has.
Carefully sliding my fingers inside, I withdraw the will and unfold it.
Not only am I bequeathed pretty much the entire state of Virginia, but I also get to spend a month traveling the world. It's always been a dream of mine, particularly Europe and Africa. My parents wouldn't ever shut up about the savannah, though my reasoning for wanting to see Africa so bad was to help feed the children. Now that I'm richer than Bill Gates, Steven Jobs, and Warren Buffet all combined? Looks like I can afford to send Emeril Lagasse there and have him cook gourmet meals for them daily for the rest of eternity and still have a boatload left over for other things! Which is exactly what I'll do, after I plan a double funeral.
"Happy birthday, Cierra... You're now Batman's twin sister," I mutter to myself, rolling onto my side and turning off my lamp.
Tomorrow is going to be a looooooooooooooooooong day.
VOUS LISEZ
Three Nights
FantasyThree weeks ago, there was no way to tell Cierra Konks from any other woman. However, that was before her secretly zillionaire parents kicked the bucket and gave her a load of cash. In their will, Mister and Misses Konks have instructed Cierra to go...
