The Hotel: A Short Story Read online

just an oversight of his grandmother’s. After all, 1929 was a long time ago. And things are often misplaced and forgotten...

  Joshua again attempted to speak and touch Jeremiah, put nothing, it was no use. So he determined that the only thing he could do, since he couldn’t seem to wake from this nightmare, was to observe every little thing that went on. Perhaps that would lead to an answer or at least a return to his own time. One thing was certain, when, or rather at this rate, if, he could return, he was handing this project over to Steven. He wanted no part of this place...

  First, Joshua needed to determine what his grandfather and step-grandfather had been arguing about, and since he couldn’t ask, he decided he had no choice but to read Jeremiah’s journal.

  “I know not if this journal shall find you, Lena my love. I can only pray that it does fall into your hands, so that you can one day know the truth.”

  Was this a suicide note? Had the stock market collapsed, and was Joshua about to see his own grandfather jump to his death?

  “I have loved you from the moment that I met you. I knew that Craig loved you also. He has never said anything, but I can tell just by the way he looks at you. I gave him ample opportunities to court you, and he never even tried, so I stepped in to reveal my love for you. Craig is my partner, but I am trying to dissolve the partnership. I feel that we should go our separate ways, especially in light of the misfortune that has befallen so many of our colleagues, as well as ourselves. And in this I have told Craig that you and I will be moving away. I feel that it is the only way. But I have met with terrible resistance. It seems that Craig even though he cannot admit his obsession with you. Yes I believe it is an obsession, otherwise, why has he never told you of his love?

  As I am writing this, hoping and praying that I see you before this reaches your hands, but in case something happens and I never see you again, I want you to know that I love you more than life itself...”

  This was no suicide note. This was a message to Lena... What could it mean though? If Jeremiah did not kill himself... Then... No Joshua couldn’t not fathom the idea, but it was becoming very clear...

  As Jeremiah continued writing in his journal a knock came at the door. Joshua, naturally terrified at where and when he was, jumped sky high at the noise. Realizing that it was probably just the porter with the scotch that his grandfather had ordered, he calmed down. Jeremiah put his journal away, but not in the normal drawer where paper and pens where kept, but in a small hole in the wall behind the bed...

  Jeremiah went to the door, not really knowing who to expect, the porter or the return of his very enraged partner. When he turned the knob and opened the door Craig flew in with the force of a hurricane. Knocking Jeremiah to the floor, obviously startled and yet, knowing that this day would one day come.

  “She was mine, and you came along and stole her from me...” Craig whispered as he grabbed Jeremiah from the floor. Craig was a large man of at least 6’ 4 in his youth, and even in his older days he was still at least 6’ or better, having lost very little of his size with age as many people do. Jeremiah on the other hand was an average man of 5’7 and perhaps 140 pounds. There was no way that he could fight this behemoth. He tried to reason with him...

  “Craig, calm down. Please. There is no need to get violent. You’ve known Lena your entire life and you have never even given her a hint that you loved her. I did what was best for her. She couldn’t wait forever for you to get your nerve up to talk to her. Besides, I love her too. Lena deserves that love. Whether it is from me or you, she deserves everything that can be given her, and haven’t I done that?” Jeremiah continued to speak softly trying to calm Craig down as he was dragged to the window...

  “No, you can never give her the love that I can, I see that now. It took you to make me see that I am the only one that can take care of her...” This did not even sound like the man that Joshua knew as his grandfather. It looked like him, but the personality was so different... But there was no denying that this man holding Jeremiah Foster tightly and opening the window was the kind gentle grandfather that Joshua had known and loved...

  Within moments, Jeremiah was falling to his death, not by choice as everyone had assumed. The assumption was made because so many, including Jeremiah, had lost everything and could not think of living, committed suicide that autumn. Joshua standing there screaming not being able to do anything, not being heard.

  Joshua sunk to the ground crying again as Craig silently left the room, and the hotel by the back way and down the street to a meeting that he had already arranged, just in case he needed an alibi...

  The room began to spin again and the same terror that racked him before he awoke in 1929 filled him. Again Joshua passed out. This time he awakened to an empty run down room. Still incoherent, he stumbled to his feet. After a few minutes of obtaining his bearings, and rubbing his tear stained face and exhausted eyes, he looked around.

  “Ok, I don’t know what just happened. And I am fairly certain that I do not want to know... But it happened for either 1 of 2 reasons. One, I am completely nuts and have lost it. Two, the truth needed to be revealed...” Joshua looked over the room to where the bed had once sat. As always, he carried with him a few tools to test construction soundness with. He searched for a hollow sound at the approximate place where he had, or thought he had seen his grandfather, hide his journal.

  He found it in no time and began to chip away at the drywall that had been patched decades ago...

  Joshua reached into and up the hole and grasped old brittle leather and began to carefully pull it free...

  “My God, I can’t believe this... It really happened...” Joshua opened the journal and found the inscriptions made by his grandfather so long ago, as he read what he had watched not minutes before being written, the door unlocked and swung open with a cold air....

  Thanks for reading this little short story I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know what you think about it.by leaving a review at the site you downloaded the story

  or

  You can email me at [email protected] or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leslie-M-Joyner-Author/126301907388778

  You can also check my website at https://lesliemjoyner.weebly.com/