VINCENT, A TRINKET BOX, THE TUNNEL ENTRANCE IN CENTRAL PARK

Vincent

by Katie A

He turned the small box over in his hands. He could see its lovely finish even in the dim light of the drainage tunnel entranceway.

Some might not think much of his gift, but he knew Catherine would treasure it.

The box had a Celtic Knot design on the lid. Inside he had placed a red rosebud, an owl feather, some blue crystals he had found on his last trip to the Crystal Cavern, and a braided lock of his hair, tied with blue satin ribbon.

A few moments later…

Catherine did treasure it, and Vincent treasured her thank you.

Just A Box – Part One

by Tunnel Writer

“Come on, the rain stopped. We have to go,” a teenage girl said as she grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her out of the tunnel entrance.

“Wait, Susan, I lost something,” the second girl said as she tried to pull from Susan’s grasp.

“We don’t have time. Our dads are going to kill us.”

The girls took off running for home.

Eighteen-year-old Vincent stepped out of his hiding spot and knelt down. PIcking up a trinket box, he gently caressed the carved name on the top. “Catherine Chandler,” he whispered before putting it back, and walking home.

Just A Box – Part Two

By Tunnel Writer

Vincent went back to the tunnel entrance for three days to check on the trinket box, but the box was still there. On the fourth day he was standing in a shadowed corner when she came running in.

“Where is it?”  Her tears poured down her face as she stumbled upon it.

“There you are,” she whispered as she cradled it.

She quickly broke the necklace around her neck and gently dropped it on the ground.  “A small thank you for protecting my box,” she shouted before rushing out.

Vincent picked it up, noticed the carousel horse charm, and smiled.

Just A Box – 15 Years Later

By Tunnel Writer

Catherine was watching Vincent go through his trunk.

“I know I have that book in here,” he said as he gently took things out.

Her eyes went wide at a carousel horse charm he had laid on the bed.  “Where did you get this?” she asked as she picked up the charm.

Vincent smiled at the memory. “It was a thank you for protecting something.”

“A wooden trinket box? You were there! she exclaimed, her eyes growing even wider.

 He only nodded.

“I felt someone there. That’s why I left it.”

“We were destined to find each other,” Vincent whispered.

Gift

by Paula  

Vincent was finishing arranging things in their chamber. He’d had to make some changes since Catherine joined him, but they were pleasant changes. Their family was soon to grow. He started going through a box of trinkets; these are his keepsakes and each of them had a story.

Suddenly he felt anxiety from Catherine,  then fear, and began to run as fast as he could, guided by the bond. When he reached the drainage tunnel in Central Park, Catherine leaned against the tunnel wall.

“It’s time, Vincent.”

He took her in his arms. “Now it’s time for another miracle, Catherine.”

Vincent

by Rebecca Gibson

He paused to look down a side tunnel, remembering… the music, the silver rain, her silver laugh, her body pressed against him. He sighed.  Then looked again –

There, in the middle of the beam of light from the grate. A little… box? He lifted it gently. A little porcelain box, painted with roses.

Had Catherine left it? For him to find?

He gently lifted the lid. Inside, a lock of hair. Not Catherine’s, though, he could see that at once. He looked around, bewildered, and examined the box again.

Inside the lid, small gilded letters: For Anna, for Always. – John

Vincent

by Nelly

Walking towards the exit of the Central Park Tunnel, Vincent saw an object floating in the drainage tunnel. It was an ancient ceramic trinket box.

Vincent decided to follow the current to discover where it could bring the box. It stopped under an old building.

At the first floor of that building an old woman was standing on the balcony. She saw the trinket box and cried surprisingly.

Vincent gave her the box and discovered that she was a noble woman, and the trinket box was the only and precious memory of her glorious and never forgotten past.

A Special Charm

by JRo

While helping clean, Catherine dusted a trinket box.  

“Vincent, what do you keep in this?”

“When I walk at night, I sometimes find special things. Some become gifts; the others are saved in this box.”

He showed her everything.  Last was a charm bracelet.

She gasped. “This was my mother’s. We lost it in the park.  I can’t believe you found this.” 

He looked at her in wonder.  “I remember when I found this.  I believe I watched you look for it from the drainage tunnel.” 

He put it on her wrist. “I’m glad it has found its way home.”

Kalimba

by Vincent C. Peters

Vincent retrieved the small trinket box which he managed to keep hidden for years in a long abandoned service tunnel beneath the park. He opened the lid and looked down at the Kalimba lovingly wrapped in a red velvet cloth. Looking at it always made him smile.

Everyone knew of his love of music. No one knew he was a musician. He couldn’t play most instruments and his shyness made singing out of the question. This gift from Narcissa was perfectly suited for his unique hands and afforded him the joy of making music like anyone else above or below. 

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

by JoAnn Baca

Something sparkly caught Vincent’s attention in the Central Park drainage tunnel. He brushed some autumn leaves away, exposing a trinket box, an engagement ring inside.

Somebody would be desperate to find it. How to get it back to its rightful owner?

Catherine …

* * *

“It hasn’t been lost long,” she said, smiling.

He nodded. “The metal is still shiny. Could you find the owner?”

Her smile widened. “It’s me! You see, Cullen wants to propose to Rebecca. I offered him Mom’s ring but dropped it somewhere.”

“Your heirloom?”

“Why not?” Her smile grew wicked. “Unless you have a better use for it?!”

Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

by Linda S Barth

Catherine traced her fingertips over the design on the lid of a trinket box. Peacocks, tigers, lotus blossoms, mangos, initials. KS. Perhaps the previous owner?

“Vincent, where did you find this? It’s lovely!”

“Near the tunnel in the park.”

“What’s inside?”  A gentle shake, a soft thump.

“I don’t know. Shall we find out?”

He hooked a claw into the clasp. They reached for a little book, its pages fluttering open, revealing vivid scenes from their steamiest dreams.

“Well, now we know what KS stands for,” he murmured.

“Tonight’s bedtime story?”

They shared a sizzling grin. “Starting with Chapter One…”

Thank You

by Tasha Lawson

The children had found it in a second-hand shop a week after the cave in. They pooled their meager coins, then talked the shopkeeper into accepting the pennies and dimes.

“It’s for her,” they told him shyly that evening, presenting their acquired treasure.

It was a small, hexagonal trinket box, baby blue with a white rose on top. Vincent smiled, promising to bring it to her.

Catherine met him at the Central Park entrance, and she grinned with enthusiasm as she accepted the gift. Inside was a carefully crafted note from the children: Thank you for saving Father and Vincent.