As Diane reached for the bag Chris shouts at her to stop, and halting in mid step she looks at him in stunned disbelief. Composing herself she demands to know why. "Just exactly what did you get up to whilst I was out this evening?" Chris repeats what he had said earlier about the dream and the Leprechaun. "So, what you’re saying is that in that dirty smelly bag lies a fortune in gold coins" " That is exactly what I’m telling you" Chris replies "Although to be honest with you I’ve not opened it so for all I know it could be full of stones" "Well in that case" Diane says to him "I suggest we open it to find out"
With that she picks up the bag and carries it over to the coffee table and putting it down she released the leather strap holding it closed. As she started to pull the top open the bag let out a long high pitched screech that caused Diane to put her hands over her ears and fall backwards hitting the floor heavily. Concerned Chris rushes to her side and falls to the floor beside her. "Diane, what happened are you ok?" Looking up at him with wide frightened eyes she whispered "Didn’t you hear it?" "Hear what?" he asks. "The scream that came from the bag as I opened it, that’s what made me fall back. I’ve never experienced anything like that before, my ears are still ringing" "No" he answered "I didn’t hear a thing, here let me help you up" He led her over to the sofa where he sat her down and then went off to the kitchen to get her something to drink. Shaking her head in the hope of clearing the ringing sound Diane looked over at the bag. She was loath to believe what Chris had said to her but now she had tried to open it she was starting to think it could be true. She stared at the bag and wondered what it was that made it scream like that. Maybe it can only be opened by the person who had won it, she would speak to Chris when he came back in. At that moment he came back into the room carrying a glass of Brandy, which he handed to her still with concern showing in his eyes. "Chris I’ve been thinking whilst you were gone that maybe the bag can only be opened by yourself, after all you were the one it was given to, either that or we get rid of it as quickly as possible" She looked at him waiting for him to say something but he turned and walked over to the bag. He hesitated as he reached out his hand and looked at Diane who smiled and silently urged him on. Gently he touched the bag, so far so good he thought to himself and with more confidence pulled on the edges, but suddenly there it was, a long high pitched screech just as Diane had described. Seeing him pull back quickly Diane knew he had heard the same sound and rushed to his side. "What do we do now?" she asked him. "I really don’t know, maybe the bag has been cursed in some way, perhaps the Leprechaun is playing some kind of sad joke on me and I’ll never be able to open it" he replied. Walking back to the sofa Diane sat down and said " I think it’s been a long night for both of us and perhaps we should leave it for now and go to bed, maybe it will all make a bit more sense in the morning. Chris sat down beside her and picked up her hand pulling her towards him. "You do believe me don’t you?" he asked her. "Well, I didn’t at first but now I’ve tried opening it then yes, I do" she looked at him as she spoke and then said "I’m tired I’m going to bed" and she got up and left the room. For a few long moments Chris sat looking at the bag thinking how to get it to reveal its secret. As he sat there silently cursing the bag he suddenly became aware of a low sound nearby. Straining his ears he thought he could hear someone singing. No, he said to himself, I think I need to go to bed. I’ve obviously had too much excitement for one evening and turning out the lights he went out of the room shutting the door behind him.
That night Diane lay awake in bed thinking of the bag downstairs in the lounge. If this was real and not some kind of joke it could be the answer to the problems currently facing the Foundation. The Foundation was a program set up by Diane and some of her closest friends and ran entirely by volunteers helping disabled people learn new skills enabling them to live more independently. At the moment they were renting a building but the rent was due to go up and soon they would be homeless. If the bag was full of coins maybe they could use it to buy their own property.
On this thought she silently slipped out of bed and grabbing her gown she left the room and quietly went down the stairs to the lounge. Without switching on the lights she walked over to the bag and stood looking down at it. Suddenly, she realized she could hear the most beautiful singing voice, quietly at first then gradually becoming louder until she could hear the words. She stood transfixed listening to the words and then it stopped. Waiting for a few moments she turned and left the room to make herself a hot drink. As she walked back in she heard it again and quickly grabbing a piece of paper and a pen she started to write down the words. Again the singing stopped as quickly as it had began but as Diane looked down at what she had written she suddenly smiled. Folding the piece of paper into her pocket she finished her drink and went back up the stairs to bed.
Waking in the morning Chris looked over to where Diane slept and frowned as he saw the bed empty. He realized she must have gone downstairs to get the boys ready for school and so went for a shower. As he walked into the kitchen he saw Diane sat at the table making up the boys lunch boxes. Hubie was hurriedly finishing some last minute homework and Michael was sat with his nose in a book. Rosanna was nowhere to be seen as usual and Chris looked at this pleasant scene of domesticity and smiled. Diane looked up then and seeing Chris standing there smiling asked him if he was ok. "Fine"he replied "In fact never better" At that moment Hubie suddenly shot out of his chair grabbed his lunch and bag and shot out of the door shouting bye as he went. "Why is that boy always in such a rush to get out of here?" Chris remarked as he heard the front door slam behind the mini tornado that had just left. "Oh I don’t know" Diane replied "You know how it is with boys, he probably has to meet one of his many friends for a kick around before school begins, I’m sure you were the same at his age"
As soon as Michael had left for school Chris finally sat down for a long awaited cup of coffee. Diane was clearing up after the boys and as she worked she was humming a very familiar tune. Looking up Chris said to her "Have you been listening to one of Rosannas CD’s lately only I recognize that tune?" "You should do" Diane replied "After all you were the one who wrote it" Listening closely Chris realized she was humming the tune to "Talk to me".
Perhaps it was played on the radio this morning but then he noticed it wasn’t switched on but couldn’t help wondering why Diane was humming that particular song after all it wasn’t a recent one. "Diane" he asked "You very rarely sing any of my songs so why the obsession with this one this morning?" Coming to sit next to him she looked at him with a big smile on her face and said "I have solved the problem to the bag but I have to tell you that unfortunately you have to do the same and all I can say is that the clue is in the song" With that she got up and left the room to get dressed for work leaving Chris sat at the table wondering how one of his own songs could possibly help him to open a dirty old bag......
