BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE

Someday I'll learn to stop, when I've had enough Brogan's whiskey to get rid of the pain and not get drunk. I finally found my ringing phone and answered it "This is Steven" I managed to say through mouth full of glue. "Mr Michaels? This is Keith from Omaze. We had a call scheduled for now". How in the hell could I have forgotten about this call? I had won a 2017 Tesla model S and $20,000 cash in the Omaze.com contest benefiting the Make A Wish foundation. After making arrangements with Keith about where to deposit funds into my checking account as where and when I could get my new car at Denver Tesla, I returned Jacks call. Jack at Capital Hill Books had a highly unusual book that he just knew I would want. While being a decent history author (I'm no Shelby Foote) does pay the bills, it just barely pays the bills and my bibilophile habit.

I arrived at the store about thirty minutes later and Jack handed me a black leather notebook with a gold embossed title that read "BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE" I opened it up to find page after page of blank, lined notebook paper. "What? Am I supposed to write my knowledge for future generations? I already do that with my books. He laughed "No I wanted you to see it before I explained things so you wouldn't think this was some kind of magic trick. I have no use for this book, it kinda scares me, to be honest and I cannot divulge how or where I got it. I assure you it's real and not stolen. There are a few rules: you can ask any question about the present and past, never the future and you cannot use it for monetary gain. Which means you can't use as a short cut for your next novel. Go ahead, hold the book and ask a question." "What started WWI?" I asked aloud and when I opened the notebook I found page after page about the causes of WWI, not just about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. As a matter of fact it was almost a plagiarized copy of my book regarding WWI. The asking price of $10,000 was a bit steep much in the same way a 90% road grade is steep and like that road grade, I had to take my skateboard on it so I'm buying the book just to see how wild the ride will be. To someone that is poor/rich this was too good to pass. I raced home to show my boyfriend, Ian the book. He was just as amazed by it as I was "This is some Monkey Paw creepy shit without the reprecussions" he said. I couldn't have used better descriptors.

Of course Ian and I just had to ask the book a few questions and if you must know. JFK, RFK and Marilyn Monroe were all assassinated because of their knowledge and their threat to release that knowledge about UFO's. The United States did land on the moon and Neil Armstrong did meet with an alien delegation.

After talking to Ian for a week, we decided that I would now devote my life to finding missing people. You may have heard of my success rate of 100% accuracy in finding missing people. I, of course don't charge for the service I render (keeping in line with the rules of the book) I do have a foundation I created that pays me about what I was making as an author.

When I first hung out my "shingle" nobody thought I was real until Ashley came in, I was here final hope to find her 14 year old daughter, Valerie, who had been missing since she was 12. I asked the book where Valerie was and the book gave me an address in Portland, OR. Of course the Portland police were very skeptical of my claim, but they did an investigation and found Valerie alive but not safe. I will not go into the hellish details of what she endured those two years. Today, 6 years later there is not a law enforcement agency on the planet that does not listen to me. I tell everyone that I'm psychic rather than expose my book.

Today I decided to ask the book a question about the future.

Ian here to continue the story. Steven asked the book "When will I die?" When he opened the book it simply read "NOW" Right in front of me, Steven fell to floor, dead, of a heart attack. I lost my love of 30 years because he asked the wrong question "No Monkey Paw side-effect, my butt"I am continuing my husbands work. Steven was a wonderful, caring man with a huge heart that utimately betrayed him. After buying the book, he donated his Miata to 877KARS4KIDS and used the rest of his winnings to start the non-profit Missing Persons Locator Foundation that the board later renamed "The Steven Michaels Memorial Foundation to locate the missing.

Valerie, Steven's first "find graduated with a degree in finance and she currently the CFO of the foiundation, she is also the only other person that know about the book. Upon my death, which I won't hurry along by asking "the question" Valerie will take possession of the book. Steven and I didn't have kids so hopefully she will keep the foundation going. The choice is hers, but I have no doubt that she will continue the legacy not only has her personal experience in being rescued but the tears of joy when other families are reunited will of course influence her decision.

We have had a few cases that the book has made clear that the missing person is safe and not lost, in those cases we tell the family only that. In the cases of missing children and at-risk individuals the family and authorities are given full and complete information.

The foundation receives thousands a month and whatever money is not needed or used is donated to other charities that Steven donated to.

As I said, Steven had a huge heart, Before the book, when we would walk down the street there wasn't a homeless person that didn't get at least a $20.00 from him. When we first started the foundation and needed help remodelinga vacant office building, there were people lined up around the block to help. Steven always quoted a John Wesley quote:Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.

He lived by those words and we all can, you don't need a magical black notebook, but it sure would help