The Last Day

It came to pass upon a very mundane day in late September, I grabbed a mysterious leather bag off a subway train. There were no markings on the outside to say it was theirs or mine, just a plain old beaten dark brown leather satchel. The weather was plain and ordinary with just a little sun creating a tolerable temperature. Little did I realize that day would change my life forever.

I was making my way home from visiting my elderly mother’s apartment uptown. She had made a decent living during her lifetime and her pension allowed her to live comfortably modest. I lived in an older section of town and the commute was a nice quiet twenty minute bus route. I usually filled my time with puzzles or proofreading my students' papers. I worked as a part time professor at the local college and it afforded enough income for me to live while I explored the extensive library and took care of my mother. I also received a small stipend from my mother’s trust which will take over my part time teaching when she passes, bless her heart.

I sat down that fateful day at the rear of the bus, far away from my normal spot near the front. I preferred being at the front to get the best view of the journey and be the closest to the exit. However, there was a convention at the college about agriculture or some such slop and the ‘green thumbs’ were taking over my precious quiet bus time. I squeezed myself into a tight space between a tired woman dressed in business attire and a gentleman who looked just as uncomfortable as me being so close to humanity. I tried to consolidate my things and attempted to block the entire ride from my memory.

After what seemed like years, in reality five minutes, the uncomfortable looking gentleman got off at a rather busy stop and stepped into the unassuming gray of the evening. I scooted over quickly to block another body from sitting down and further assaulting my personal space. The tired woman looked gratefully in my direction before burying her head in her blackberry. I closed my eyes, breathed a huge sigh of relief, and tried to doze off till my stop was announced over the paging system. I gathered my things hurriedly, and bolted out the door to head for home.

As the bus doors swung open, I stumbled out juggling my satchel and groceries for about two blocks before I found a bench-like place to gather my bearings. As I was rearranging bags, I noticed the extra item in my arms. I scratched my head in puzzlement at where on earth I could have picked it up. Ironically, it was EXACTLY like my personal satchel I carried all my student’s paperwork in. I sighed heavily with the realization it must have belonged to the strange restless gentleman who sat so briefly next to me. I resolved to phone the bus company and set up the lost item ticket when I arrived home.

My physical stamina was pushed far beyond normal means by carrying the extra weight those few short blocks. I could feel my arms aching and my forehead begin to sweat. I haphazardly plunked the bags down on my kitchen counter; now grateful they had been made out of concrete. I started putting away the groceries and doing some light cleaning. All the while, I was on the bus depot phone tree looking for the lost and found department. As I was being transferred for the fifth time to ‘someone who can help’, I realized there might be a wallet or business card on the inside. I strolled over to the mystery bag on the counter and unclasped the outside latch.

As I opened the well worn flap, my eyes were met by green colored paper and a peculiar ink smell. The green colored paper was stacked in neat 2 inch piles that were wrapped with mini rubber bands. The smell of fresh ink made my head spin and I let out a loud gasp. There had to be thousands of dollars in this bag! My hand shakily started taking out the tightly wrapped bills. I subconsciously turned off my Bluetooth in the midst of pulling out piles of money. I rechecked my counting three times to make sure; fifty tightly wrapped stacks of hundred dollar bills. How in the name of all holiness did $25,000 end up in MY lap?!

My mind began reeling with the possibilities of where it was supposed to be delivered and if I had somehow been drawn into a delicate position. I peered back in the bag timidly to see if maybe there was some other clue inside. Down at the very bottom tucked away in a fold I saw a little black object laying sideways. Carefully I pulled out a small leather black book with pages that at one time had gold edging. I paced back and forth in front of the unassuming book on my counter before willing myself to open it.

I held my breath and opened the first page. It looked like a list of names with numbers written next to each one. For a brief second my heart leaped with joy thinking it was someone's phone book and this was just some casual trip to the bank to drop off some savings. As my eyes scanned the pages more closely, my heart froze mid leap as realization swept over me. There were dollar amounts listed not phone numbers; a good number of the names had lines drawn through them and were punctuated with a distinct northern star.

My heart sank further as I kept flipping pages and saw more names; some I knew while others I didn’t. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my beloved kitten as she crept towards me. I had barely noticed her; she was in the stalking position and normally I would find this quite humorous. She usually did this when she was watching birds or when we played with her laser pointer. I ignored her thinking she spotted a bird outside the kitchen window behind me and went back to scanning the little black book.

Near the back of the book my finger froze mid page and my body began to quiver. I hardly noticed my kitten two feet away, her body skulking the counter as she prepared to pounce. My eyes kept reading over and over my name written on the page; there was no line drawn just a northern star at the end of the line. I slowly lowered my eyes from the page to my kitten. Her little rear end shaking had pulled me out of my stupor. I suddenly realized she was staring at me, not behind me at the window. As I lowered my head, I noticed a small, red dot directly over my sternum. The last thing I remember was a muted pop that sounded like……………... The End