Fortune

It was Zeke Hutton's least favorite part of the day — the morning. He anxiously inhaled and exhaled as he got up from his creaky mattress. Great, I love getting ready for school, Zeke sarcastically thought. The air in his bedroom was crisp and fresh. It was the beginning of September, and the village of Hill-crest was always the gloomiest this month.

Zeke was fond of exercising before school to take out his unleashed anger. He was a tall fourteen year old, who had unreasonable muscles due to the intensity of his workouts. After he finished his workout he would go to the kitchen to look for food. Even though, there was rarely any. “Good Morning honey, make sure to eat at school,” implied his mother— Anne Hutton as she scurried off to work.

His mother was a housekeeper. She could barely afford the rent of their two bedroom apartment. “Bye mom I love you,” Zeke whispered, in an attempt to not awake his father. Zeke's father, Ben Hutton was a deadbeat man who slept and ate all of their food. Zeke had little respect for him and loathed his presence.

Zeke walked to school everyday with the weight of stress hanging on his back. He wanted to help his mother, but was too young to get a job. Deep down he was miserable. Ring! Ring! The school bell rang, while Zeke sprinted to his freshman class. Everyone loved Zeke because of his infectious personality and humor. “Hey guys, good morning,” Zeke confidently announced to his peers. He always entered the classroom with a smile, and his chest held up high. He relished the attention because he rarely got any at home. Zeke was a sharp teenage boy who got straight A’s and never got into trouble. He was always driven to be a good person no matter his unfortunate circumstances. His heart was as big as the moon.

Despite Zeke being popular, everyone knew his situation. Nonetheless, no one ever judged him for it. Zeke’s persona was too bright and charismatic. Except he hid most of his feelings of sorrow. After eight hours, school had finally finished. “Come play video games with us,” effused his friend’s. “ I’m so sorry, but I have to do chores again,” Zeke sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe the weekend then,” his group exclaimed. Zeke nodded his head with a weak grin. I can’t believe I rarely get to hang out with my friend’s because I have to clean up lazy old Ben’s mess, Zeke thought.

After that, he began walking home. He dreaded going back, and he would drag his feet through the dirt. As he got closer to his apartment, he groaned, and kicked rocks with anger. When he arrived he noticed Ben watching television. The kitchen was a total disaster. While rolling his eyes — Zeke proceeded to clean up. I’m only doing this so my mom won’t have too, Zeke thought. “ Make me some soup,” demanded his aimless father. "No, the soup is for my mom, she needs to eat,“ Zeke snapped. “I don’t care! i’m hungry!” Ben replied. Ben continued to voice his demand. Zeke's hands became clammy, and his head began to burn up with rage. Fumes were emerging from his ears. “I said NO, Get a job and make your own soup!” he commanded. Then he tossed the soup into the trash and ran out of his home. Sweat started gushing out of his body as he dashed as far as he could.

Crack! Clash! Boom! Moments later he heard intense thunder. The sky turned extra dull and began spewing out rain. He panicked and attempted to find a hideout. Just then, he took a turn and sporadically noticed an odd looking shop. Zeke moved towards the shop, and opened the squeaky door.

Suddenly, he saw a woman with short black hair, and she was strangely dressed. The lady’s face was mesmerizing, and her eyes were piercing. "Hello, how may i help you?” she softly asked. Zeke nervously swallowed his saliva and said, “I was wondering if i may stay here while the rain calms down. “Sure you can, I'll bring you a chair," the woman kindly replied.

Drip! Drip! Zeke’s clothes were soaked and he was shivering. The woman acknowledged that and brought him a small blanket. She was very gracious. Zeke was scanning the room and realized there were fortune cards, crystals, and candles. His eyes were drawn to the cards for a while. “Since you seem to have had a rough day i could read you your fortune if you’d like,” the woman suggested. “Okay ma'am,“ Zeke muttered.

The lady took out a small black book with the name Moleskine on it. Then she gently grabbed Zeke's hands for a brief moment. After, she quickly began writing in the book with intensity in her eyes. Zeke sat there staring at her in awe. Moments later, he felt warmth on his back. The sun began shining through the store. “ Thank you for letting me stay here ma'am, but i have to walk back home,” Zeke explained. “Wait! Here is this black book, keep it!” the woman blurted. Zeke nonchalantly put it in his backpack and mentally gave it little importance.

The teenage boy started walking back to his apartment. In an instant, his eyes widened while witnessing a car swerve. Bang! Crash! The vehicle lost control on the wet road and hit a pothole. Zeke darted to the scene and bravely pulled the man out to safety. Zeke's muscles swelled up, and his veins were exploding out of his body. Zeke called 911 immediately as he was barely catching his breath. Five minutes went by and red flashing lights began to beam on his face. The loud sirens blasted in his ears. The ambulance rushed to the man and scurried off to the hospital. After, Zeke’s adrenaline started fading and his energy went back to zero. The police began to question Zeke about details of the crash. After that was covered they noticed Zeke dozing off.

“Good job son, you just saved a life, let’s take you home now," the policeman praised. “Thank you, I'm just exhausted," Zeke grinned. Finally, after a long drive Zeke arrived home and went straight to bed. The next morning, he was abruptly woken up from the ringing of his phone. It was a call from an unknown woman. Her voice was snobbish and soft. “Hello, is this Zeke Hutton?” she asked. “Y-es, who’s this ?" he stuttered. “My name is Amy and I am Mr. Daniel Wayne’s assistant. I Investigated the accident he was in and you helped him. Is that correct?" she asked. “ Yes I did ma’m," he answered. “He has very few injuries thanks to you, and he would like to meet you in person to express his gratitude," Amy enunciated. “Sure ma'am," Zeke mumbled and he hung up the phone.

Another despairing week went by in Zeke’s life. Little did he know, everything was going to change for him drastically. He got a call right before school. It was Amy, Mr. Wayne’s assistant. She gave him directions to the office and pleaded for him to visit Mr. Wayne. What do I have to lose, he thought. He walked to the man's office on that same Tuesday afternoon. Finally, he arrived after an hour of walking with distress. The pearly white building with exotic cars parked in front of it caught his sight. He opened the polished glass door and saw a gigantic waterfall in the office. He was absolutely amazed.

A tall woman was standing next to the waterfall. She was exquisitely dressed, with her shiny brown curls falling over her shoulder. “ Welcome, I’m Amy, Nice to meet you in person Zeke, This is Mr. Wayne’s Real estate office, Please follow me this way,” she said with a smile. She led him to a huge room with glossy white walls. A man was behind a luxurious golden desk. “ Hello young man, I suppose you are Zeke? ” he asked. “ Y-es sir that’s my name “ Zeke stuttered. “You saved my life son, I cannot thank you enough for your bravery. I owe you everything. What is something that you desire the most this very instant?“ Daniel Wayne asked. “I- don't know sir, I wouldn't want to ask you for anything,“ Zeke hesitated. Knowing that all he needed was money to help his mother.

“Well son, I know it could be hard to ask for something of value, so for now I will give you a twenty thousand dollar check,“ Mr. Wayne confidently proclaimed, as he reached for his suitcase. Zeke's jaw dropped to the floor, and his hands started shaking. A million tears joyously sprang from his face. His cheeks were throbbing from smiling too much. He was experiencing an extreme level of joy.

Minutes later he gathered himself and expressed his gratefulness to Mr. Wayne. “Sir you have no idea how much this helps my mom, thank you very much," Zeke preached. Daniel Wayne's eyes became teary and he called a taxi to take Zeke home. “I will keep in touch with you young man, stay fierce and humble, thank you very much," Mr. Wayne asserted as he hugged Zeke.”Goodbye sir, I must've had good fortune to come across this miracle,” Zeke added. Zeke's body was paralyzed with shock in the taxi as he held the check in his hands.

This time was different, for the first time in years he didn’t dread going back home. Zeke felt super ecstatic to help his mom. His heart could almost jump out of his chest. He arrived at his apartment and ran to his room, while exhaling out all his worries and stress. Then he was seeking a place to store the check and opened his backpack. He saw the small black book from the fortune teller. Zeke hadn’t touched it since he received it.

Just then he opened it and saw a list, he promptly read number one. "Receive a great sum of money for saving a life,“ is firstly written. His eyes opened wide, and his mouth began to open slowly as he read the remainder of the list. Gasp! He sat quietly on the corner of his bed stunned. What else could have been listed on the small black Moleskine book?