Little Black Noteboo(20)k

Waking up today felt like literally pulling teeth. Dreading the walk to work I pulled open my bedside drawer to drop my retainer into its protective case. Fumbling around, it seemed like there were more items in the drawer than when I went to bed. Pulling myself up on my side I wrenched the drawer fully open to find a little black notebook? 20k was embossed on the cover in slightly worn silver writing and font I did not recognize. I dropped my retainer into its case and slithered back into bed, opening the notebook to the first page.

Skimming the first page I saw what seemed to be ledger items. Some looked hurriedly jotted down, others were written in the most eloquent hand. Items ranged from a few pennies to a few hundred dollars. The largest item on the first page looked to be a home? Weird. I skimmed a few more pages, the items got more familiar, as did the apparent costs of each item. Date ranges were anywhere from a couple weeks to a few years. At the top of each page was a range of dates. I flipped to the back of the book quickly, as I could feel time slipping away from me. Work was calling. I found several blank pages. Odd. I couldn’t shake the feeling I had just read through the lives of several people. I threw the book into my backpack, jumped into my work uniform and headed out the door. I knew I had just enough money in my account to get my morning coffee and donut and the cravings were real.

Ten minutes later I found myself waiting in line at my favorite shop. I ordered my coffee and donut, but when the cashier told me the price and I handed over my card, it was .25 higher than normal. I was not going to have enough in my account to cover that.

“Excuse me? Why is the price so much higher today?” I quickly asked as my card was slid.

“Corporate changes. All coffee went up .25 to cover cup costs,” the cashier stated, giving me back my card and receipt.

“My card went through?” I asked stupidly, knowing there was no way I had the balance in my account. The cashier just stared at me. I took my order and walked out.

I pulled out my phone to check my bank balance as I walked the few remaining blocks to work. I was mystified as to the transaction. I punched in my credentials and waited for my balance to load. Suddenly the display read 19,999.75. Huh? My stomach dropped and I looked up to see I had arrived at work. I had no time to call my bank until lunch. I nervously walked in and started my shift.

Hours grinded by, and somehow I made it to lunch. I ran outside with my bank already on the line. I relayed my information to the teller and told her my issue. I was only on hold for a very short amount of time before she came back on the line.

“You have won a lottery. 20,000 was deposited into your account this morning at 7:19 am. Congratulations,” she said in a deadpan voice. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“I didn’t enter any lottery?” I asked nervously.

“These things happen,” she said. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” I said no and hung up the phone, excited and nervous. I didn’t usually get lunch while I worked, and this was the first time in a long time I was going to be able to eat! I set off to my chosen lunch spot fairly happy with the turn of events.

Three weeks went by, and I used my windfall to pay off a few overdue bills, to treat myself to lunch, and to buy a few items of clothing that I had been wanting and needing. It was amazing how fast money could be spent, I was already down to my last 8,500 and I had my eye on a new to me used car. It was going to take all of the rest of the 20,000 lottery money, but I knew it was worth it to secure my future. Walking into the dealership I had never felt so proud and happy. I set my backpack on my lap, signed a few pieces of paper and handed over my bank card.

“This will just take me a few minutes to process. I will be right back, sit tight!” said the cheery car salesman, getting up and walking over to their credit card processing machine.

I decided to take the time to rifle through my backpack. I hadn’t been using it as much since I got the 20k and I was NOT going to keep using it now that I had a car! I had thrown trash from fast food inside it at one point, and there was an apple I had forgotten about. No big deal. Then my hand brushed against the notebook.

A chill ran down my spine as soon as I realized I had not thought to keep going through the book like I had originally intended. I glanced up at the car salesman punching some numbers into the card machine, preparing to slide my bank card. I opened the book, and went straight to the last page, which felt strangely warm. The page looked new, and the date range began three weeks ago, with no end date like the other pages. Frantically I scanned the page. The first ledger item was .25 at my favorite coffee shop. Names, dates, and item amounts came flooding into my mind, overwhelming me as I read down the page. The last item amount was the credit check for the very car I was buying at this moment. Time seemed to slow down as my head shot up to see my card sliding out of the machine, and the salesman pushing accept at the same time. My eyes slammed back onto the page to see, in my very own best handwriting, the ledger item “car. $8,500. Daisi Automotive” The date range at the top made a slight singeing sound as today's date was etched onto the paper with a crackling sound.

“Here’s your receipt! And the keys to your new car!” the salesman exclaimed to the empty room. “Huh?! That's weird. *sniff sniff* They were just sitting right here, and the cars all paid for? Where have they shot off to? What the hell is that smell? ” He walked back into his office, and sat down, feeling perplexed. He opened his desk drawer to grab a pen and his hand brushed against an unfamiliar notebook…..