Completing The List

by P.J. Lowry

Lizzy woke up around nine that morning, hopped out of bed and changed in the bathroom before emerging from the trailer. She wasn't surprised to see that Gary was already awake, had a fire going and was cooking breakfast over that fire with confidence. Seems he was used to camping out, and had sausage, bacon and some eggs frying up and ready to be consumed. "Good morning." Lizzy said to him as she walked by and grabbed a soda from the cooler. It was far too warm outside to want to drink anything hot like coffee that early.

  “Good morning.” Gary replied, concentrating on what he was doing. “I hope you don't mind your eggs over easy.”

  “No, that will be fine.” she replied as she sat down in one of the lawn chairs. “The only kind of eggs I don't like is poached.”

  “I'm not a fan of that either. Don't like the texture.” Gary said as he finished what he was doing and filled two plates with chow. In addition to the eggs, bacon and sausage, there was a small helping of potatoes that Gary had fried up earlier before she woke up.

  “Thank you.” Lizzy said as she took her plate. She walked over to one of the lawn chairs and sat down. She took a few bites and showed her appreciation with some hums that passed on her compliments to the chef.

  "So about this book,” Gary said as he was chewing on a sausage. “I was curious about it. You know what book he was talking about, right?”

  “That’s correct and I’ll show it to you when we get to the bookstore later today.” Lizzy answered with a cryptic smile.

  Gary didn’t like being teased, but went with it anyway. “Well, regardless of what book it is, I assume this is a book Hayden wanted to finish by himself?”

  “That is also correct.” Lizzy confirmed.

  “Have you read this book?” Gary then asked.

  “I have.” Lizzy answered.

  “So how are we going to complete this task if you’ve already read it?” he then inquired, eager to know what the plan was. He was one of those meant hat never wanted to take on a task without some kind of plan in place. To Gary failing to plan meant you were planning to fail and failure was not something in his ignorant vocabulary.

  “Well, I was the one who asked Hayden to read the book.” Lizzy replied. “He was supposed to read it for me. Since I’m the one who asked him to read the book, I can’t finish it for him. It has to be read by someone who has never read it before for us to complete this task. Since Hermy is a lifeless, inanimate object, that leaves only one person here who can. ”

  “Great.” Gary said with a note of sarcasm that was about as thin as his the bacon he was eating. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  “It’s not that bad.” Lizzy said as she chuckled.

  “I’m sure that’s what you told Hayden too and he never finished it.” Gary said as he tossed his empty plate into a large bowl that was filled with soapy water. “After you finish up, let’s hit the bookstore and grab a few books.”

  “A few books?” Lizzy said as she cocked an eyebrow. “We only need one.”

  “I’m changing the rules of this task. We’ll need two.”

  “Two books? And why is that?” Lizzy asked.

  “Well, if I’m going to be forced to read something, so are you. I’m going to pick your book and you have to read it just like I have to read the book Hayden was supposed to finish.” Gary seemed very serious about this.

  Lizzy thought about arguing but since he was being a good sport about finishing Hayden’s book, it made sense she had to endure something similar. It only took them a short while to make it to the bookstore she was looking for. It was one of those massive find any kind of book mega store that had been popping up everywhere. That kind of place that has a fancy coffee shops attached to it so that you could get something sweet to drink after you buy your new book, so that way you can sit with a coffee and browse your newly purchased piece of literature. So once in the store, Lizzy and Gary parted and went their separate ways, heading for different sections to choose a book that was likely going to be polar opposites. It didn’t take her long to find the book she was seeking. It was a very old book, but there were numerous newer editions. She had her choice of soft coves, but preferred to pick something of the hardcover variety, to help Gary with his future reading endeavour. She picked a copy that had an impressive nice leather bound exterior and felt that it would be a nice gift for the grunt that was going to hit the trenches within its fine framing. She was very happy with her selection and started to walk back towards the main foyer of the massive store when she spotted Gary heading back the same way. He had also found what he was looking for, as there was a similar looking hardcover book tucked under his arm, and he was grinning from ear to ear. She was curious to what he had selected, but he was keeping that to himself as he moved on to the counter and purchased the book with his own money so she couldn’t see it at the counter. Once they left the store, Lizzy wanted to ask or steal the book from him, but decided against it as they went back to the car. Once inside, she was the first to speak. “So where do we go from here?” she quickly asked once they were in their seats.

  “I was thinking of going out for lunch.” Gary answered. “After that we should find a nice park and read our books for a few hours and then head back.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Lizzy concurred. She was a bit hungry, and she could try to pry the details of his book selection over a good lunch. Turns out Gary was very good at keeping intel to himself, likely from his years of military training to take great pressure without breaking for the enemy. She wasn’t an adversary, but she tried her best to use her charm and wit to get something out of him, but to no avail. After their meal was done, they both took a short stroll to a park that was only a few blocks away. Once they were there, it was time to break out the books and make an exchange.

  She was very excited to see what kind of book Gary had selected for her, but was just as excited to give him his assigned reading. She reached into the bag and took out the leather bound novel and passed it go Gary. “There you go. I hope you like it.” She handed over the bag and watched as he opened it and removed the leather bound copy. She could tell by the semi-scowl that came upon his face that he did recognize the book, and she found the look he had on his face very fascinating. It was the same that Hayden had on his face when he first got his own copy.

  Hayden looked at the book he was given and then looked back at her with a slight grimace in his face. “Are you serious?”

  She looked back at him, shocked he was serious. “Of course I am. You said I could pick out any book I wanted for you to read and I picked this one.”

  “I was hoping you’d pick something remotely decent.” Hayden replied. “I haven’t read anything by this person. I’m not sure how many books she’s written.”

  “Well she also wrote a book called ‘Little Men’.” Lizzy retorted.

  “And little else from what I’ve heard about this author.” Hayden shot back.

  Lizzy gave him a cold stare. “You promised not to make a fuss about this.”

  “I know, I did.” Hayden confirmed, “but I didn’t realize the book you were going to choose was going to be over a century old.”

  ‘Hey, this is one of my favourite books. I want you to read it.” Lizzy looked at him with her brown eyes that she knew he could not resist.

  “If this book sucks, you will have to read four of my choice. Okay?” he said with a grin.

  “All right, that’s a deal.” Lizzy agreed, “But I’m not worried cause I know you’re going to love it!” she was confident but could tell by the look on Hayden’s face that he wasn’t so sure about that. But for that day at least, he was a man of his word. He sat down in his big green chair and started to read the book. He read a few chapters that day but it was apparent to Lizzy that because it was on the list, he never got around to reading it all. He put it away a short time later and never got back to it, much to her disappointment.

  Gary didn’t immediately read his book when they got back to
camp, but instead started to collect wood for a campfire so that he could cook something for dinner. Once his ‘chow’ was on and cooking, he took the book out and began to read the first chapter. He grinned over at Lizzy a few times when he caught her looking at him reading, and she smiled back before returning to her own book. The book that Gary had chosen for her was not fiction, but rather historical. It was the memoir of a general who served as a grunt during the Second World War and the Korean War. He eventually rose to the ranks during the war n Vietnam and was a considerable voice in the high ranks until his retirement a few decades years later. She did recognize the author, as he was a frequent consultant on new channels whenever they wanted to speak to someone who had a clue to what goes on during combat. She had no idea why he wanted her to read this book, and sometimes assumed that he did it to pick something that was a polar opposite of what was bound to pick. Gary had to assume there was a reason why Hayden didn’t finish reading the book and he was right on the money with that assumption. So she had her own book to sludge through but had no choice. Gary was reading a tough one for her and she promised to do the same to complete this portion of the list. Lizzy read through the first few chapters rather quickly as they didn’t have much to do with the military just yet. The writer was talking about life on his family farm, how he was raised and what anguish it caused his parents when he became one of thousands of young men his age to enlist and volunteer to fight the war. Like many before him, he had lied about his age and was a year under but the core didn’t care. They needed the numbers and were ready to sign up anyone who was healthy and could hold up a gun. The also book discussed some of the most , which gave Lizzy a moment to sit back and absorb the truly huge moments of her nation’s history that not only influenced their future but that of the world. She looked back at Gary who was reading his book, only taking breaks to check on their supper. “Why this book?”

  Gary looked like he wanted to keep it a secret, but decided not to keep her in suspense concerning his motives. “Read the dedication at the front.”

  She quickly flipped to the front of the book and looked for the book’s dedication. There at the beginning was a small message: To my grandson Gary. May your adventure in the core be as memorable and as safe as my own. She looked back up at Gary, “This man is your grandfather?”

  “On my mother’s side.” Gary answered. “When I was kicked out of school and had nowhere to go, he was the one that helped me out. I looked up to him a great deal throughout my childhood. When I was tossed out, he pulled some strings to get me accepted to a private military school to finish out my graduate year. After a year at that school, I decided to go into the military and the rest is history.”

  “Wow,” Lizzy said as she picked the book back up. She had originally assumed that Gary had chosen this specific book based on his background, but to him it was far more personal. The hero of the story was a close member of his circle. She went back to the book with a new enthusiasm, eager to learn more about the man that meant so much to him. After they ate some of the chow he had cooking, Gary was a real trooper himself as he picked up his own book and continued to read through it. What was supposed to be only a short camp out for the ball game turned into a one week stay as they both spent the better part of that week relaxing and reading their respective books.

  Gary stood up, closed his book and groaned. “That’s it for me. I’m finished.”

  “You’re giving up?” Lizzy whined, not sure what was going on.

  “Of course not.” Gary answered, “When the book says The End, I get the impression that my work is done.” He tossed the book on top of the cooler and then started to walk around. “I’ll be the first to admit, it was better than I thought it was going to be. The ending was a bit of a shocker, but I can see why some people have a hard time getting through it. It’s the kind of book you expect to read when you go to college, which is a little tougher to understand than some books you’d read today.”

  “Well, that is where I read it first.” Lizzy confessed. “I did go to college for a few years before dropping out.”

  “Did you ever think of going back?” Gary quickly asked. “Right now would be the right time since you have the funds to make it all happen.”

  “I never really thought about it.” Lizzy honestly answered. “I’ve just been so centered on finishing this list that I never thought of what I was going to do after it was done.”

  “You should,” Gary said back to her. “Cause this list is almost done. I’d hate to see you at the end of it and fall into a pit of despair because there’s nothing left to do.”

  “I’m not that feeble.” Lizzy said. “I can keep myself busy. This list has been more than about just doing something for Hayden.”

  “All right, that’s good to hear.” Gary replied as he went to the cooler to grab a beer. “Do you want one?” he quickly asked.

  “No thanks, I’ve been starting to stay away from that for a while now.” Lizzy replied as she went back to her book. She had been very hesitant to drink anything since she found out about Hayden and her brother’s alcoholism. It made her think about her own habits and while she didn’t think she had a problem, Lizzy had thought it was best to stop for a while to evaluate it a short time later. Lizzy was interested in reading the book Gary had given him, but the revelation about the author being Gary’s grandfather made her want to keep reading until there was nothing left. Through his own grandfathers words, she got an understanding of what it was like to be a solider, and it must have been his example that Gary used when following in the old man’s footsteps.

  Regardless of when she would put down this book was irrelevant as Gary had completed the task. He had done so by enduring a book that Hayden himself had tried to take on before his passing. She started to regret picking such a complex book that was tough on even the best of readers. She merely wanted Hayden to learn a little more about her by finding out what kind of reader she was. In the end Lizzy found out more herself as Gary gave her the perspective to understand what Hayden had been going through. She kept reading but occasionally glanced at Gary as he worked hard to keep the camp fire going and do other camping chores. Soon their task would be over and they would move on. She didn’t know if she could ask for Gary to help her further, but thought it would be something to combat the next morning after time to think it over.