The Discovery of the Missing Pieces
Kristin Lee blocked all noises of the cars that rushed by, the bus loading the next group of people, and continuous beeping of the cars off in the distance. She walked past the bench that was located on the corner in which she would take a right turn. It was another left turn and a few more blocks until Kristin arrived at the coffee shop. The sound of the doorbell rung. 
“Hello, Ms. Lee,” said the clerk at the counter.
“Hi. Usual please,” replied Kristin in a hurried matter.
The clerk was not surprised by her tone for it was often what she sounded like. “I’ll bring it right out,” said the clerk with a sigh.
Kristin sat down at the table where she always ate her breakfast before her busy work day. Kristin checked her phone for messages and was surprised by the lack of messages. She enjoyed those two seconds of freedom and took the time to relax.
“Thank you,” said Kristin as the clerk at the counter brought out the breakfast sandwich, blueberry scone, and a peppermint latte with extra whipped cream. She was enjoying her breakfast when out out of nowhere, a shadow cast itself upon her. Kristin could not look up, for she was terrified of who it might be. Then a piece of paper slowly flew down onto her breakfast.  What is this filthy thing doing on my four dollar blueberry scone? Kristin thought to herself. Before she could look up, the person had disappeared. Kristin took the filthy piece of paper that looked like it once may have been used to play basketball with a wastebasket.
She gave one more quick glance as to who or what the mysterious object was. After giving up, she noticed that the paper contained some information. Kristin was curious as to what it said and began to read.
Ms. L. I know you have been looking for two items that have been lost from your family’s history. I have taken them and now have hidden them throughout the city. I have given you some clues as to where the items may be. The first item you can find is your grandma’s bracelet. The bracelet can be found in any of the subways of New York City. The second item you can find is your great aunt’s diary of when she was in the Holocaust. If these items are not found, these items will be destroyed and you will never see them again. You have twelve hours from now. Good luck, my little friend. Mr. Jones.
Kristin was excited about this news. Her family had been looking for these items back at the farm in the old attic. Kristin’s mother had been extremely sad when she could not find the precious items that had been in her family's history. Her mother had even given up searching for  the items. As soon as Kristin heard the new about the possibilities of recovering the items, she gave her mother a call. After a few moments she heard  a friendly voice on the other line.    
“Hello. Oh, how I have missed my daughter,” said Kristin’s mother.            
“Hi, Mom,” replied Kristin.
“Why are you calling me? You are always busy in the morning,” questioned her mother.
“Remember the time when I was on break during college, and we were looking for some missing items from our family?” questioned Kristin.
“Why yes. Of course I remember!” exclaimed her mother.
“Well, I received this note about a search for these items. A man with the name of Mr. Jones has hidden these items throughout NYC. I have twelve hours to complete this mission; otherwise, he says that they will disappear forever,” said Kristin.
“Go find them then. Why are you calling me if you only have a certain amount of time?”
“Well. The thing is that I have the biggest meeting of my career in a few hours. If I don’t
go my career will be destroyed forever,” said Kristin.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              There was a long pause. Kristin went back to thinking about the mission. How am I supposed to do this in the next twenty-four hours, she thought to herself. If I do not go to the meeting that is in three hours, my chances of being general manager of the company are doomed. Kristin paused for a moment and realized how selfish she was being. The thought of Kristin’s family hurt her because she missed them so much. Kristin wished she could go back to her middle and high school days where she could be with her family living on the “big” farm in the “big” town in South Dakota. She could not hurt her family more than she already had been doing. Kristin processed all this information to herself and realized what was most important in this situation.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” questioned her mother.
“Never mind, Mom, about what I said before. I am going to do this for my family for all of the times that I have been selfish. I have to go now. Bye, Mom.”
Before her mother could reply, Kristin hung up the phone and was off to the nearest subway station. Kristin checked her watch and read seven fifty-nine. She had exactly twenty-four hours from that exact moment. On the way to the subway station, she went past Central Park and many other places where she loved to do her work. Kristin went on the subway that she took from work to her apartment everyday.
“Hello, you are are here early,” said the subway driver.
“Yes, sir. I am. I am actually looking for a bracelet that my grandma owned. I was told it was on one of the subways in New York. So if you see a diamond bracelet with the initials of B.L., please let me know,” said Kristin.
“Well, you know, young lady, there are around four hundred seventy subway stations here in NYC. It is almost impossible, but I will keep my eyes out for it,” the driver told Kristin.
“Thank you, sir,” said Kristin.
The subway was full of people like it always had been on her commute in and out of the city. With a screeching noise, the subway was off. Kristin went through the maze of people. She asked many people to move out of their seats and she looked underneath the seat cushions. Kristin told every person that she went by to look out for a diamond bracelet with the right initials. Kristin hoped that getting the word out that it  would help with her search.
Kristin just about searched every corner of the subway when it came to a halt. She went to the next subway and had no luck. On her way to the next subway, she was reading the note over again, when she bumped into a man who was in a hurry. Kristin’s paper and purse flew to the ground.
“I am so sorry,” he said.
“It is okay,” said Kristin as they both picked up the pieces of paper.
“No, seriously. Is there anything I can do for you?” questioned the man. Just as the man was picking up the filthy piece of paper for Kristin, she noticed something sparkling that he was holding in his hand.
“I am sorry to be rude, but I must ask. What is in your hand?” questioned Kristin.
“I found it in the subway on my commute to work.”
He opened the palm of his hand to reveal a bracelet containing diamonds. Attached to the bracelet was another note.
“Where did you find this?”
“I found it in the subway ”
“May I see it please?”
The strange man handed the bracelet to Kristin. She examined every piece of the bracelet. There it was. The first piece to her puzzle. The bracelet had the initials of her grandmother.
“This is my grandmother's!” exclaimed Kristin.
“Well, technically this is mine because I am the one who found it. I was going to bring it to the jewelers to be cashed in.”
“You can’t do that. This is mine!”
With the bracelet and second note in her hand, Kristin darted away through the crowds of people. The man followed directly behind her, shouting after her. She took many turns and eventually found a staircase that brought her to normal ground. When she went to look behind her, he was not there. With a sigh of relief, Kristin thought, that was close. She saw a bench nearby and decided to take a break. Kristin looked at her watch and four hours of her time had passed by.
Kristin took the bracelet and begun to read the note that was attached to it.
Ms. L. Congrats, you have found the first item. Only two more to go. Your great aunt’s diary can be found in Central Park. Good luck, my little friend. Mr. Jones.
Central Park was seven blocks away. Kristin decided that she would take a taxi so that it would take less time to travel there. She waved her hand for a taxi, and after five minutes, a taxi pulled up alongside her. 
“Good afternoon, sir. Central Park, please,” said Kristin.
“Good afternoon. Nine dollars, please,” said the driver of the taxi.
Kristin went to look in her purse for her money, but could not find it. She looked through her whole purse, and finally realized that she dropped it when she ran into the man in the subway station. All she had was two dollars and a few pennies.
“I will just walk there instead. I do not have enough money. Have a good rest of your day,” said Kristin.
Kristin started to walk to Central Park. There were many people out on the streets as it always was in New York City. About a half hour later, Kristin reached Central Park. She scanned the grasses where people sat on their blankets enjoying their day. After having no luck, she walked the Bow Bridge in Central Park, and checked the ledges or anything that would have contained the diary.
She continued on her mission to find her great aunt’s diary. Kristin followed the path that continued from the bridge and led to a series of benches. She scouted all of the benches and asked many people if they were sitting on a book. Many people had not seen anything that Kristin was looking for. She reached the final bench of the row, and there was her great aunt’s diary that contained historic stories from the Holocaust. The diary on the outside was a faded brown with rounded edges, and the pages on the inside were in perfect shape. She paged through the diary and was astonished by the beautiful writings of her great aunt.
“Wow! This is magnificent,” said Kristin.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” questioned an older woman that was sitting on the same bench as the diary was on.
“Oh, I am so sorry for disturbing you. I was just reading my great aunt’s diary from the Holocaust,” said Kristin.
“Well I must see this beautiful work that you say is of your great aunt’s,” replied the older woman. Kristin handed her the diary. The lady slowly went page by page as if she was looking for something specific. She stopped at one page and pointed to two words. Kristin looked at the two words up close and it read “Eleanor Jones.”
“Who is Eleanor Jones?” questioned Kristin.
“That’s me! I was best friends with your great aunt back in the concentration camps. She always wrote at the end of each day. She was a wonderful woman.”
“This is crazy! What a small world! Well, Mrs. Jones, I must get going. I have to bring this diary and other items to this one person, otherwise he will destroy them.”
“You know, young lady, I was hoping to take this diary home with me. I miss your great aunt so much. After we were released from the concentration camps, we went our separate ways and never saw each other again.”
“Well, I have to show this person first, otherwise he will destroy them. I also have to talk to my mom about what she wants to do with it, but maybe I can meet up with you sometime and you can look at it again.”
“That should be okay, but promise me that I will be able to see you and this book again.”
“I promise. Have a good rest of your day,” said Kristin.
Kristin started to run off, but realized she did not know where to go next. She flipped through every page looking for any note or piece of evidence that would lead her to the next item. Kristin went through the diary multiple times and no note was not found. She traced her path back to where the woman was seated.
“Have you seen a note or anything that would lead me to my next destination?” asked Kristin.
“Why do you need a note guiding you where to go next?” questioned the old lady.
“Well, I do not know where to go next. The other item had a note attached to it, but this one does not”
“Oh, yes. My husband, Mr. Jones, sent me here with this diary. I am your ‘note.’ He told me to pretend that I have never seen the diary before, and also to guide you to your next place. You must be Ms. Lee. It is very nice to meet you.”
Mrs. Jones went to put out her hand and shook Kristin’s hand. In an unconfident voice she replied, “It is nice to meet you. Please, call me Kristin. Why must your husband be so cruel?”
“He is not being cruel. Mr. Jones found these items a while back. He has been wanting to give them to you for a long time, but he could not locate the owner. Mr. Jones finally found the owner, which is you. He puts a time limit on it because he wants to get rid of these items as soon as possible. We are trying to sell our apartment, and we need to eliminate as many items that are not necessary.”
The whole time that Kristin was searching for the historic items, she thought the man was being cruel. All along, he was trying to help her out, and wanted to give her back the items that were hidden in his basement somewhere.
“So, where do we go next?” asked Kristin.
“Just around the next corner and a few blocks down. I will be bringing you to my apartment to show Mr. Jones the items.”
“Yes! That would be awesome.”
“I know. Isn’t it wonderful to know that you are so close to completing the mission and solving the pieces of the puzzle?”
“Oh, yes it is. I cannot wait!”
“The only problem is that we only have ten minutes to reach my apartment to be in time for Mr. Jones. It is usually a fifteen minute walk, so we better start running.”
Kristin and Mrs. Jones started jogging to her apartment. They were about halfway when they was four minutes left before Kristin’s twelve hours were used up. Mrs. Jones started to sprint. Kristin thought, I have never seen an older lady run that fast before.
Kristin and Mrs. Jones arrived at the apartment. A friendly, old gentleman’s voice called out for them as they opened the door.
“Hello, Kevin. We are here,” said Mrs. Jones when she walked in the door.
“Hello, come on in. I have been waiting for your arrival,” Mr. Jones replied.
“Hello, sir. You must be Mr. Jones. I am Kristin Lee,” said Kristin as she shook Mr. Jones hand.
“Thank you for coming. Have you brought your items?” asked Mr. Jones.
“Of course! Here they are,” said Kristin. Kristin handed him her grandmother’s bracelet and great aunt’s diary. He eyed both of the items carefully and was pleased with what he saw.
“These are the right pieces to the puzzle, Ms. Lee. You have completed your mission and you can take these items home with you.”
These were the words that Kristin wanted to hear. She let out a sigh of relief for she was looking forward to having exciting new for her mother. Kristin called up her mom and told her about the news. This experience changed her life for the better. She forgot about her job in New York and the money that she made. Kristin figured out the pieces of the puzzle that she was missing in her life. The next day, she packed her bags and headed home for her family.