Lost Property

It had always seemed to Anne Mary, that who or what gave out luck had been having a bad day when she entered the world. That, or she must have broken several mirrors and was reaping the consequences all at one time.

Just on this sunny Tuesday, she had tripped and ripped her tights on the way to an important interview, walked under a ladder and had paint dropped on her (granted, that may have been her fault) and lost her favourite black notebook while commiserating with Sally while they were having lunch.

And then it began to pour. Anne Mary was dodging her way through the crowded streets, trying to remember where she had last seen her notebook, when she knocked into an elderly man. Spilling apologies from her lips, she tried to help him up, her hands slipping on his wet coat.

"Now, now, young lady, what has you in such a rush?" queried the man once she had him back on his feet.

Anne Mary told him what had happened, and, noticing that his umbrella had broken in the fall, gave him her own. Thanking her, the elderly man wished her luck.

Anne Mary continued on her way, occasionally asking if anyone had seen a little black notebook lying around anywhere. With each denial, her despair grew, but she continued on.

She went to the park, hoping that despite the horrid weather her notebook was somewhere there. Anne Mary checked each bench, under every pavilion and at each of the barbecue areas, asking everyone she saw whether they had seen her book.

"I'm sorry, but no," said a bedraggled man hidden in the back of a pavilion with a ratty blanket on his lap. Anne Mary sighed, and gave him some money for something warm to eat.

"Have you tried the lost and found?" asked a young mother, struggling to push her pram through the mud. Anne Mary thanked her for the advice, and offered to help her with the pram.

After helping the mother back to the footpath, Anne Mary set off to find the lost and found. With her luck, not only would it be in the last place she thought to look, but it would also be closed by the time she got there!

For once though, fortune smiled on Anne Mary. She made it to the lost and found just before it closed, and the sole worker was happy to let her look.

In the lost and found was not just one, or two black notebooks. Instead, there were seven!

Anne Mary quickly opened each, searching for hers with a fervour. It was in the third book that she found exactly what she had been looking for.

She had found the notebook that her mother had left for her. The one with the last words her mother had ever put to paper in it. Thanking the worker, she offered to help him close up for the night, and on being waved off with a smile, thanked him again.

Anne Mary nearly skipped down the footpath, overcome with joy at having the notebook back. She jumped in every puddle, called out hello's to everyone she saw, and gleamed with happiness.

Finding a small restaurant open near home, she sat to eat and read her mother's words when she found a small slit in the lining of the back cover. In it was a note:

'My Anne Mary,

I write this knowing that soon I shall leave this world for the next, and find my heart burdened that I can do little for you or with you in my remaining time here. We have never had much, and I fear that it is our fault that you have such bad luck.

I will admit to doing something a little bit foolish in my old age. I bought a lottery ticket, hoping that I would be able to help you in some way through your life. My Sunshine Girl, even with your bad luck you always made your father and I smile, and I can only hope that my folly will be able to do the same for you.

I doubt I will be able to check it. I grow weary more often now, and feel that I will soon join your father.

Love

Mum'

Anne Mary broke down in tears, hacking sobs and heaving cries moving her body. Pulling the note out a little further, she found the ticket and a small smile lightened her face. Her mother's last present was full of surprises.

It was the next afternoon before Anne Mary was able to get to the lottery office to check the ticket. Knowing her luck, she expected that it was a dud - a donation to the lottery office and nothing more.

As the ticket was checked she heard mumbling from the clerk. He kept going as he went down the ticket, before asking for the note and her ID.

Giving them to him, Anne Mary began to hope. Surely he wouldn't need her ID if it was a dud. Maybe there was something there?

"Congratulations miss," said the clerk, "you've had a win of $20,000. A cheque will be issued to you for the full amount."

Anne Mary sat there, eyes wide and face paling. She'd never won anything in her life! To be told that the lottery ticket her mother left her won $20,000 was a shock, and she could scarcely believe it.

She left the lottery office in a daze, ID and cheque secure in her purse as she considered her change in fortune. And then, she stopped suddenly as she came to a crossing.

What would she do with that much money!?