Nobody Is Allowed near Old Lady's Trinket Box, Grandson Sees It and Slams It Open — Story of the Day

A boy sneaks into his grandmother's room and throws her old trinket box on the ground when he's unable to open it. What he discovers inside freezes his mother in place.

"Elizabeth! What the hell are you doing here? How many times have I told you not to enter my room in my absence!" Mrs. Gallagher yelled at her daughter as she returned to her room one evening.

"I'm sorry, mom," Elizabeth apologized as she quickly hid the trinket box behind her. "I was just passing by and noticed the door was open, so I came inside to see if everything was okay."

"Oh, is it?" Mrs. Gallagher raised a brow. "Then why are you hiding that box in your hand? I can clearly see it in the mirror behind you. So don't lie to me."

"Oh, nothing like that, mom," Elizabeth said, handing her the box back. "I just saw it and was curious..."

"Listen to me clearly, honey," Mrs. Gallagher spoke firmly. "If I've told you not to touch anything in my room, I expect you to obey it; otherwise, don't forget that you'll have to take 20 rounds in the garden in the afternoon. Are you okay with that? Running around in the scorching heat?"

"I get it, mom; I won't do it again; I'm sorry," Elizabeth said quietly as she exited the room.

When Mrs. Gallagher's husband, Tom Gallagher, vanished under mysterious circumstances, she was pregnant with Elizabeth. He'd gone on a business trip to Scotland, promising her that he'd be back soon and be there for her delivery, but Mrs. Gallagher received a call from his office one day informing her that Tom had simply disappeared.

She tried everything she could to track down her husband, from classified ads to posters to police reports, and even traveled to Scotland in search of him, but it was all in vain. Mrs. Gallagher gave up hope when Tom was not found, and she decided she would never speak about him again, even to his daughter.

When little Elizabeth was born, Mrs. Gallagher made sure her daughter never missed out on anything and provided her with everything. If Elizabeth wanted something, she got it! However, just like everyone else, Mrs. Gallagher had strictly told Elizabeth not to enter her room ever in her absence.

Elizabeth was obedient as a child and followed her mother's orders, but as she grew older, she became more rebellious and obsessed with figuring out why her mother had forbidden her from touching the old silver trinket box in her room.

One day, when she successfully sneaked into her room and finally got hold of it, her mother warned her not to repeat it and threw her out of the room. After that, Elizabeth never tried to cross the line. But a few years later, when Elizabeth became a mother and gave birth to Eric, there was another soul who was intrigued to learn why Mrs. Gallagher never let anyone touch the trinket box.

One day, Mrs. Gallagher fainted abruptly during dinner, and everyone was worried about her, trying to stir her up and calling the doctor, but Little Eric kept his eye on Mrs. Gallagher's room.

When he noticed nobody around him was paying attention, he slowly walked up the stairs that led to Mrs. Gallagher's room and went straight to the drawer where he'd seen her keep the trinket box. He slid the drawer open slowly, trying not to make a noise, and discovered the box inside.

He sat on the edge of the bed, trying to open it, but the box wouldn't budge at all. He opened the drawer again, thinking his grandmother had hidden the key inside it, but after several minutes of searching didn't help him find it, he threw the box on the ground in anger. It cracked open.

The sound made by the box wasn't loud enough to pique anyone's attention, but when Elizabeth noticed her son was missing from the dining hall, she knew exactly where he was. I'm hoping Eric didn't get his hands on Mom's trinket box! She'll be furious! She rushed upstairs, but it was too late by then.

The box was on the floor, open, and several photographs that had fallen out of it were scattered around it.

"Eric, honey! What have you done?" Elizabeth cried at the sight of the broken box. "Mom will be so furious!"

"I'm sorry, mom, but the box wasn't opening. Please don't tell Grandma I broke it," he pleaded.

Elizabeth sat down on the ground, agitated by her son's behavior, and started collecting the contents of the box when her eyes fell on the photographs. The majority of them portrayed a couple, and Elizabeth quickly recognized her mother as the smiling, cheerful woman in them. Is that man my father? she wondered as she turned the photo in her hand over, revealing an inscription on the back that read Tom Gallagher.

I guess this is finally my chance to get to know him. If he's still alive, I want to ask him what went so wrong that mom never spoke to me about him.

While Mrs. Gallengher was in the hospital that night, Elizabeth began her search for her father. She dug through her mother's cabinets and discovered a few documents that proved Tom was her biological father. Then she went through the letters she'd found, noticing that the most recent one her mother had received had an address in Scotland.

Elizabeth called and informed her Scottish friend Martha, whose husband worked as a police officer, about the address. It turned out that the location housed one of her father's businesses, which had closed down a few years before. "I'm sending you the remaining things I found, Martha; please help me. This might be my last chance to find my dad. Mom never spoke to me about him, and I never asked because I didn't want to hurt her."

"Don't worry; I'll do everything in my power to assist you. I'm hoping we'll find out about it soon since Harry works for the police department."

"Thank you so much, Martha! I owe you one!" Elizabeth said and hung up.

A few weeks passed. Elizabeth kept waiting for Martha's call with information about her dad. When she didn't hear from her after a while, she gave up hope of ever finding him. But one day, while sitting by her mother's bedside, her phone rang, and Martha's name flashed on the screen.

"Elizabeth, we found your father! He's in a nursing home in one of Scotland's more remote towns. I'm texting you the address right now!"

"What?" Elizabeth sprung in delight, startling her mother. "What happened, honey?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, mom, but I have a huge surprise for you! When you get discharged next weekend, I'll tell you everything," she said, hugging Mrs. Gallagher.

The next weekend, when Mrs. Gallagher reached home after getting discharged, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Tom at home. All these years had changed his appearance too, with wrinkles occupying the majority of his face and his smile being replaced by a mournful expression, but he was still Tom, her handsome and charming husband.

Before her mother was discharged from the hospital, Elizabeth had asked Martha to fly with Tom home from Scotland. Thankfully, there were no problems getting Tom out of the nursing home because Martha's husband had connections, and all it took was pulling a few strings to get Tom out.

However, he had no recollection of his past, including his wife and daughter. Inquiry at the nursing home revealed Tom was found outside the nursing home one morning, bleeding profusely. The owner had been kind enough to take him in and get him treated, but no one knew how he ended up there.

Unbothered by whether Tom recognized her or not, Mrs. Gallagher was glad that Tom returned home, and she hugged him. He, obviously, didn't recognize her, but as she hugged him, his eyes welled up. Perhaps only for a brief moment, but he could sense that his wife was hugging him and crying.

What can we learn from the story?

• God works in mysterious ways. Mrs. Gallagher could have not even imagined that she would meet her husband again, but it happened one day.
• Never give up hope. If Mrs. Gallagher hadn't given up hope, she could have found Tom earlier, and their family would have reunited sooner.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a store clerk who kicked out a little boy who wanted to buy a doll for his dying mother.

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