What Remains of Us

When Elio Conti rubbed his eyes, the pungent scent of iron caught him off guard.

It caused his mouth to salivate, and then, his stomach turned momentarily. Elio closed his eyes before trying to take a steady breath to stop the queasiness that was trying to make itself heard.

When was the last time he'd eaten? He thought.

Pulling his hand away from his face, Elio turned his head to the side towards the carpeted floor where seven metal boxes were sprawled.

Each opened and empty.

Elio's jaw clench as the finger that had been tapping on the wooden desk in front of him increased its speed.

He touched his phone screen.

03:05 am.

Elio yawned, but he couldn't allow himself to sleep. Not yet. He didn't have much time left. Soon he'd have to be on the train headed to the airport.

For the past few years or so, Elio had been traveling. From one continent to another, town to town, heading here and there. No specific direction in mind, just coming and going. Seeing new people and places brought light to his existence, but dusk began to settle on that chapter of his life.

Elio couldn't help but sigh before he rubbed his eyes once more. Although, this didn't stop the sleepiness from beginning to set in.

On the desk, in front of him, there were a few coins and bills. Nothing amounting to more than $20.

It was all he had left. Only enough to pay for food.

He'd rummaged through his pockets and backpack to find enough money to pay for the room he stayed. He could have tried to use his bank card, but he'd already transferred a large sum to his father, and Elio wasn't sure if he even had enough money to pay his phone bill. If he weren't lucky, he'd have an overdraft.

Picking up one of the bills, Elio began to fiddle with it between his fingers.

A scraping sound resounded in the room. It was soft, yet rough, flimsy, and yet firm. Elio felt as if he could rip it in half and see it fall from between his fingers. Not entirely dissimilar from how money slipped away from him due to tuition, transport, food, and now, with his father.

Elio's heart thudded hard against his chest.

"There are eight tin boxes hidden around Woodside. Each should contain $20,000." The old woman's voice echoed in his mind.

Elio's tapping quickened.

In his last homestay, Elio found himself living under an elderly couple. The husband had been a welder and his wife, a seamstress. They'd lived a mundane life, and even with their lack of significant income and children, the two seemed happy, nonetheless.

The only thing Elio had found strange was the large castle-like house. Too extravagant for the couple who seemed to pride themselves on their frugality.

The evening before leaving, Elio asked the old woman about the house. He didn't think the story would be too interesting, but he needed to satisfy his curiosity.

A wide smile appeared on the woman's face.

Elio felt a sudden chill.

The old woman was the eldest of two siblings, but she'd been disowned because of her choice of spouse. Her brother was the sole inheritor, but just as their father began to fall ill, he left.

She could only assume that their father's strictness had driven the boy away.

"Soon after, he called me home. I took care of him for a few months before his death." She had said wryly. In her hand rested a few papers. They crumbled under the pressure of her fingers, "The family business, the house… Mine."

The woman placed the papers on the table.

"All except for this," She tapped on the papers.

Elio had looked over the papers.

Before grasping what he was looking at, the old woman spoke, drawing Elio's eyes to hers.

"Woodside."

She fixed her horn-rimmed glasses, which had begun to slip off her flat nose before she said, "My father had a daughter in Woodside. He left her nothing but a letter."

Elio studied her face to see if she bore hate for either party, but instead of a dark expression, the woman looked calmly into the distance.

"I had no choice but to deliver the letter, along with some compensation I thought she deserved." The old woman said.

She tapped the papers again to a specific monetary amount. Elio looked at it, and his eyes grew wide, then he looked back towards the old woman's face and met her bright eyes.

She suddenly began to cackle.

With a swift movement, her hand clasped onto her lips tightly. She reminded Elio of a little girl trying her best to keep herself composed after witnessing a person make a fool of themselves.

With her hand still placed squarely on her mouth, she said, "But instead of using it, the little fool decided to hide it!"

Her muffled voice washed over him like a bucket of water pouring onto his face. His hairs stood on ends, and he couldn't help but hold his breath.

Elio believed the old woman's words.

He had believed her so much that he had made his way to Woodside. He even booked the 8th room of the Woodside Inn. Which, according to the old woman, had been the place where her sister had stayed.

However, after Elio had found most of the boxes, his belief in the supposed treasure was beginning to wane.

Even so, the thought of even a single box containing money was enough for Elio to try to find the remaining one.

Elio pulled out his little black notebook and opened it to the place he'd last placed the bound bookmark.

Elio found himself turning the pages of his notebook with a sigh. As he flipped past many pages of drawings and notes, he saw familiar sketches of people and landmarks. They were anything that had caught his eyes on his travels.

The sight of them made Elio's heart swell.

The lined pages of the little black notebook drew Elio's eyes within it. It beckoned him to him. They were trying to consume him in those most precious memories.

Elio found himself rubbing his eyes. This action stopped his tears from crossing the threshold. At that moment, the page he'd been holding down with his thumb slowly turned.

There, Elio saw a page with only a single phrase written on it. It was both circled and underlined.

Pay off debt, continue—

Elio shut the little black notebook before he pushed himself onto his feet.

His fingers clasped tightly on the supple surface of the notebook. Then, with a sullen look, he found himself standing in front of his backpack. He shoved the notebook in it, making sure to fix its positioning so that it didn’t damage the paper. He pinned the bag against the leg of the wobbly desk, which began to brush against the mini-fridge beside it.

Elio suddenly heard a rustle.

Unconsciously, Elio paused for a moment. His eyes then darted to the place where he'd heard the sound.

Elio crawled towards the crack in between the mini-fridge and the little table. There, Elio found a white paper was poking out from between the cracks.

Elio wasted no time pulling the paper out, and once he did, he found himself holding a small white envelope.

Examining it, Elio turned it around, then back to the front. It wasn't old or new. Elio had no real way to date the thing. He just looked at it. The words "to who it may concern" had been written messily in a doctor-like chicken scratch on the back.

Feeling it for a bit, Elio felt as if there was barely anything inside. Out of curiosity, he opened it, and inside there was a key.

Elio turned the envelope upside down and allowed the small key to fall into the palm of his hand. Elio examined it for a moment, and then he looked back at the envelope. He opened it and looked if there was a note of sorts, but there was nothing else inside except for writing on the envelope's interior.

Being alone in the room, Elio began to read it out loud. "Tin box bellow bed."

Elio's face scrunched up a bit. He placed the key back in the envelope, laid it on the desk, and then, he got on all fours and peered into the bottom of his bed. There, near the middle of the bed, he found a box.

Elio scoffed as a wry smile tugged at the corners of his already raised lips.

It was like hiding money under the mattress. The person who hid these should have known the risks, right? Elio couldn't help but question their decision.

The other boxes were empty, but the woman's sister had hidden them in much craftier places.

Elio couldn't help but think that it too would be empty because of the box's hiding place. If someone could steal a bank card and pin and crack a safe, it was evident that a small tin box under a bed could be pried open.

His doubts grew in him, but still, without much thought, Elio found himself putting his arm under the bed. His fingers were reaching into the darkness.

Elio's muscles tensed as he pushed himself closer towards the object of his desires. His face was pressing against the bed's box spring.

Elio could almost visualize himself touching it in his mind, and as soon as he brushed the cold metal, he flinched. Despite this first aversion, Elio still grasped for the leather handle on the side. Once he had it in between his palm, he jerked it towards him.

With the treasure now in the palms of his hands, Elio's fingertips warmed. He wanted to pry it open with his bare hands, but instead, Elio grasped for the envelope. He opened it and let the key fall into his palm once more. He then proceeded to open the box.

It opened without any problem, but when Elio found himself about to open the box, he paused.

His heart thumped hard in his ear. The world around him faded into the background. In this world, there was only him and the box.

Elio's body felt heavy for a moment as he analyzed the box, but then, like ripping off a Band-Aid, Elio pulled pushed the lid open, and with a slight screech, the thing left open, revealing what he'd hoped. Elio wasted no second. Like a child, he poured its contents on the floor and began to fiddle around with the bills.

He counted them sagely, making sure not to make a single mistake.

It was all there.

Elio exhaled, triggering a domino effect. His chest and shoulders sank before his eyes began to blur. Elio batted his eyelashes, trying to chase the sudden sleepiness away, but there was nothing he could do.

Elio's eyes shut without a struggle.

Before giving in completely, Elio gripped the bills, which remained in his palm.

The thought of the noon alarm he had set remained on Elio's mind. In little to no time, he'd find himself on the train to the small brown house where his father lived, on the street that he'd spent his childhood days playing. 

Elio knew that he'd be there for a while, but he'd be back on the road again soon. In his dreams, the thought did not slip into the darkness. It warmed him and brought him tranquility. 

What remained on Elio’s mind was a single thought. It was how he would love to draw that house and that street when he got there.