Strings Attached

I glide my finger across the A-B fiction books stacked against each other on tall, long shelves in the New York Public Library by Bryant Park. I'm not looking for a particular book, but instead I'm procrastinating on my English thesis paper. As much as I love literature and fiction, this thesis paper is like dragging nails across a chalkboard. I stop at a black leather book with nothing written on the spine, no title or author. It's peculiar and has piqued my curiosity. I pick the book off the shelf. To my surprise, nothing is written on the cover or the back of the book. Flipping through the pages, I wonder if someone left the book by mistake as there is nothing written on the inside. That is until I got near the end of the book. I read the only page with a handwritten note:

"If you're reading this, you have a choice. To keep reading and play the game or close the book and continue with your life."

I stop reading and look up, smiling. I knew I didn't want to keep working on my thesis, and the game sounded way more appealing right now. I decide to continue reading the note on the page.

"So, you've decided to start to play the game. Before you start, you must not share the details of this game with anyone. You must not show this notebook to anyone. After you are done reading the note, you must place this book back on the shelf.

Now, go to the front desk and retrieve a leather brown bag. Do not open the bag until you are in a safe place."

I obediently shut the book and place it back on the shelf. I slowly walk back to the table where I left my belongings while carefully scanning the room. I didn't know what I was looking for, perhaps some sign that this wasn't some joke. Making haste, I shove my laptop and notebooks into my bag and quickly ran down to the front desk.

I lean on the counter and smile at the receptionist. "Hi!"

The receptionist peers at me over her circular Warby Parker glasses. "How can I help you?" She huffs.

I didn't really know what to say. "Uh…leather bag?"

"What?" The receptionist asks, smacking her gum in her teeth.

"I'm here to pick up a brown leather bag," I say more confidently this time.

"Ohhhh." She moves her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "So, this is for you?" She brings out a leather brown duffel bag and plops it on the counter. As I smile and reach to take it, she slams her hand down on the bag – startling me. "Just know that this isn't a baggage claim facility. We're not technically supposed to hold onto unidentified bags."

Feeling my cheeks flush red, I nod vigorously and take the bag. It's a lot heavier than I expected, but I didn't want to open it until I returned to my dorm. I speed walk to take the B train downtown to my dorm in Greenwich Hall. With every minute passing, the bag seemed to be getting heavier and heavier. I finally made it up to my dorm and rushed into my room before my roommates could come out and see me.

Wasting no more time, I open up the zipper to the bag and look inside. Immediately I take a step back. Indeed, I had to be hallucinating. I put my hand in the bag, feel around, and squeal. The bag contains stacks of money that I'd never even fathom I'd come across. I start taking out the money stacks one by one until all that was left in the bag was a note.

"You have just received $20,000. Now you have a choice to either keep it for yourself only or drop it off back at the library for someone else who's in greater need."

Wow, I look at the money on my bed, already dreaming of the different ways to use it. To minimize my debts, pay off some student loans, alleviate my financial burdens. Then I think back to the note. There's always going to be someone worse off than me, but that doesn't mean my struggles are invalid. I decide to keep the money and use it for myself.

******

It's been a week since I deposited the money in my bank account. I'm up to speed on my loan payments, and I've been able to eat real food. I've even splurged a little on myself by buying new clothes, going out clubbing, and treating my roommates and me to a trip upstate. I still sometimes wonder who could've left the money in the library. I wish I could thank them because I've been able to turn my life around quite a bit.

"Mona!" I hear my roommate call me from the kitchen. I venture out of my room to see why. She's waving an envelope at me. "You have mail."

"Thanks," I say as I take the envelope. There's no return address on it. As I'm opening the envelope, a shiver runs down my spine. Inside there's a note that says, "You must now return the full amount you received back to the library…" My heart is pounding a million miles a minute. I try to swallow, but my throat is super dry, and it was getting hard to breathe. How was I supposed to return the $20,000 that I've used? I keep reading, "You have one year to return this money, or you have a choice to go back in time and never receive the money." I sit down on my bed, trying to comprehend the note. One year was not enough time to save up $20,000 with all the payments I'm making. It's not like I'm going to be an investment banker – I'm an English major, for god's sake! Knowing I couldn't possibly pay back the $20,000, I knew the decision I had to make. I close my eyes and repeat my decision.

"Miss? Miss!"

I feel someone shaking my shoulder. "Whaaat?" I say, groggy with dried drool caked on the side of my mouth. I look up to see the receptionist.

"It's the closing hour; please leave the library." She gives me a judgmental look.

I look around and realize I'm the only one in the library. How did I get here? "Yes, sorry!" I quickly begin gathering my items when I find a pink post-it note under my laptop. "Thanks for playing the game." I crumple up the note out of frustration, wondering if there would've been a different outcome if I passed the money onto someone else. This game was a waste of my time, I still have to finish my thesis, and I'm poor. But then again, there is no such thing as free money.