A Blessing or a Curse

If there were a way to inherit the life savings of any person in return for their name and their life, would you take it?

Guilt, depression, and resentment were permanent residents in Astra’s mind. Her lifestyle was one of luxury, shouldn’t she be happy? Yet the voices would always remind her of what she had done. She knew the book had caused this fate, but would its destruction reverse its effects? Unlikely. Her mind would remain clouded in misery for life, and she knew it. With one last name in the book, her unfortunate existence was cut short and her misery, ended.

Astra Mclean.

It was never long before the book was rediscovered. Some recognised the names inside, others were clueless. When a book listing names of recent mysterious deaths appears, the temptation to add a new name is almost irresistible. But even more irresistible is stopping once the riches that are attributed to that name arrive. Hearing of their death does little to hinder the tempting call of wealth. Yet as always, the guilt arrives. Not always at first, but soon after the reality settles in the guilt and pain rush through like a tsunami. The final name of the book is always that of the holder.

Stanley Hanson though himself to be a kind and generous man, though he had little to give. His first thought was to hand the book in to authorities. This could clearly be evidence in the mystery case of his father’s death.

Terry Hanson .

Stanley couldn’t retrieve his attention from the last name in the book being that of his lost father. Barely able to pull himself from the little black book, he tested the significance of the book for himself adding one more name. As it goes with the little black book, this was just the first name Stanley Hanson would add. With elation Stanley found himself coming into three-thousand dollars’ worth of riches within the week. The high of victory found Stanley scratching name after name into the little black book. Some were those of people he once knew, others were random guesses of names that could be. Each one brough luck and prosperity to Stanley, who prior, could hardly put food on his table each night. From three-thousand dollars to five thousand. Twelve thousand dollars to eighteen thousand.

After weeks of keeping his little black book a secret from all, Stanley offered a portion of his winnings to his sister, Blaire, who was not receiving the same fortune from life. This was unsurprising to Blaire as she always knew Stanley to be a generous man. What did take Blaire by surprise, however, was the source of this money. Upon prompting Blaire discovered Stanley’s little black book and the siblings discussed how the mechanics of the book operated. They concluded that the named person and the holder of the book would receive a split fortune by some mysterious, unknown force. With this in mind, Blaire encouraged Stanley to write her own name.

Blaire Hanson .

Before sunset, Blaire was declared dead and the money that Stanley had gifted her, plus a small amount of other savings made its way to Stanley. $20,000 was more than Stanley could have hoped for however now he knew the price. The lives of so many and the life of his own sister. The guilt doubled by the hour and soon, Stanley was unable to think of anything else. The local charities made him a hero after the money was donated but Stanley would never see himself in that light. There was little light left in his life after all he had been through and the emotions that haunted his every step. And once more, the book took a victim of its own.

Stanley Hanson .

How easy, to overlook a small object at an often bloody and disturbing crime scene. How easy, to miss the little black book perched on the table, tossed on the bed, or placed in a bookshelf. As its effectivity grows, it become harder to miss. How can one miss the little black book in the hand of a victim, under a lifeless body or just centre meters from a pool of blood? Once authorities discovered the names, the news of the threat was quick to spread. Knowledge of the little black book to become widespread and with this enlightenment came fear. This world-wide panic caused the utilisation of aliases and numbers for identification to become popular. With this, the little black book became grossly ineffective and eventually it returned to the uselessness from whence it came.