Fortune Note

My friend Sina won’t stop asking me how I got so much money to pay off my debts. I have always ignored her questions because I didn’t know how to tell her my story. I honestly don't think Sina or anyone would believe me if I shared how I came about the money. They’ll probably think I'm crazy or lying. But as crazy as it may sound, I am now ready to share my story with the world.

My name is Hope, and I had just moved back home with my mom to help her out around the house. I was trying to save money because things have only gone downhill for me ever since I moved out. My mom is everything I have left in the world and the only person left to cheer me on. She was diagnosed with stage III lung cancer last year and has been living by herself. Sadly, I noticed her health deteriorating since I moved back home with her. Her medicine was so expensive that she could barely afford them anymore. She was always trying to make a bottle last one month. I felt terrible about her situation but there was nothing I could do. I cried every night and felt totally useless. My whole life was a mess.

One morning, I thought of little things I could do to make her happy. I finally settled on asking her what she would love the most in the world, and she said she wanted a nice garden in the big backyard behind our house. So I went to the local gardening store to pick out her favorite plants and flowers. I started working on the backyard immediately because I wasn’t sure how long she had left to live. I started by digging up many holes to plant the seeds and flowers. Suddenly, I struck something. It was a small brown wooden box buried in my Mom's backyard.

I grew up in this house, and we’ve never buried anything in the backyard. I pulled the box out and saw some writing carved on its top. It says, “Open me for good luck”. “This has to be a joke”, I thought to myself. I told my Mom about this mystery box, but she knew nothing of it. I was so confused. I continued planting the flowers and later took the box to my room to figure out how to open it. I saw a keyhole on its side, but there was no key in sight. “This box is useless”, I thought to myself again. Later that night, I retired to bed thinking about my mom’s condition and all the debts I needed to pay. I soon fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find myself covered in a blanket and found a strange key lying on my desk. I ran to my mom to ask her about the blanket and the strange key. She told me she covered me up in the night because I was cold, and she saw the key lying beside me. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and returned to my room. “Could this be the key to the box? Does it really have some good luck for me?” I said to myself. To my surprise, the key opened the box, and in it I found a little black book neatly wrapped in a patterned sheet made of wool. I frantically looked through the pages of the book to find them all blank with the exception of the back cover which had rules written on it.

Rule 1: You must keep this book at all times.

Rule 2: Whatever you write in this book will come true.

Rule 3: You must only write the things you need in this book or it won’t happen.

Rule 4: You must use this book on full moons and new moons only, and never on the days of solar eclipse or other moon phases!

Rule 4: If you lose this book, you’ll forget everything.

A lot of crazy thoughts ran through my mind as I read these rules. I was frightened and curious at the same time. This can’t be real! My mom soon walked in to ask if I was ready to make breakfast. I left my room and joined her in the kitchen. Later that day, I worked on the backyard and watered the flowers. My mom was very happy with the new look of her backyard. She came to join me in the backyard and gave me a big hug. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she thanked me for making her dreams come true. I gave her a long kiss in her forehead and told her I would always make her happy.

By afternoon, I had already tilled the soil on the other side of the backyard that I couldn’t finish the day before. I was sweating profusely in the hot sun, and my face and hands were dirty. I knew I had to stop right there and take a long cold bath. I left the backyard and went to straight to the bathroom. While in the bathroom, a lot of weird thoughts ran through my mind. “This black book is strange and wild. I should probably throw it away. Or I could just try it out and see what happens” I murmured to myself. My mum soon walked into my room to break my chain of thoughts. She had come to call me for lunch but left when she heard that I was in the bathroom.

I got out of the bathroom and dressed up. I sat on my bed thinking of what to do next. Then a thought came to me. “Hope, why don’t you just write in the book that you need a check for $20,000?” I sighed and brought the box out from underneath my bed. I finally decided to write in the book that I need a check for $20,000. Then I waited for a couple minutes waiting to see if something will happen, but nothing happened. I went to join my mum in the kitchen feeling very disappointed. Later that night, I went to bed early with the thought that I was going to throw the box away the next morning.

It was the next morning, and I needed to shop some groceries for my mom. I rushed to her room to get her shopping list and found her drinking some water. I was just about to say good morning when she told me someone had left me a mail. I wondered why I would get a mail that early. The mail had an envelope which said, “Good fortune”. I opened it and found a check for $20,000. I gasped and almost choked on my eggs. I shouted out so loud that my mom was very confused. I ran up, gave her a kiss, and dashed off to my room to get dressed. I grabbed my mystery book before going to the bank. On my way to the bank, a million thoughts ran through my mind. “Could this be real?” I kept asking myself. I got to the bank, deposited my check, and immediately went to buy my mom's medicine. Then I went to pay off all my debts. What a huge relief!

I got back home and my mom was very confused when she saw that I got her medicine. She looked at me completely puzzled. She asked me where I got the money to buy her medicine, and I told her about the mail. I could see the deep excitement in her eyes as she held my arms and gave me a tight hug. Ever since then, my mom’s health has improved gradually. She now spends every morning at her new garden, watering the flowers and weeding their beds. It’s crazy how $20,000 can make such a big difference. I have now paid my debts, and I'll never go back to being in debt again! To this day, I keep my little mystery black book with me wherever I go. I even named her Rose. Who knows maybe I'll write in her again!