Oh, what a lucky man

Oblivious to the events that were about to unfold today, Travis Winkler strolled down the street on his way to catch the bus. He was in a great mood. Which wasn’t unusual, Travis was always in a good mood, but today was special, he just didn't realize how truly special it was about to become. He was on his way to his third job interview, not many people are lucky enough to have an opportunity for three interviews in one day, he thought to himself. He was a lucky man.

He was of average height and stature but he gave the illusion of being a taller man. Dressed in a nice set of casual black slacks accompanied with a crisp grey dress shirt and finished off with a burgundy and black vest. He cut a nice image; his daughter had chosen the outfit. The only thing that stood out on Travis was his unruly hair, which was now more grey than dark, he never could do anything with it. It gave him the appearance of an eccentric. Which he knew, he was not.

The bus was a few minutes late, which was ok, because it gave him a chance to talk to the people waiting at the stop. He always found time to pass along a compliment, or discuss world views with a youth, their outlook was so refreshing.

When the bus pulled up, as per usual Travis waited till everyone was on before himself. Stepping into the bus, he paid his fare, gave a smile and a nod to the driver and looked for a seat. It was very crowded today, in fact there was no seat available, so he grabbed onto the pole. Which was fine with him, as standing while on a moving vehicle helped strengthen his core, or so he was told. Before the bus pulled away a teenager beside him called out to the driver to ‘hold up’. The young man stood up quickly and prepared to head out the door, Travis thought how lucky he was to get a seat. As he was about to sit down, he noticed on the newly vacant seat, a black book that appeared to have been left behind by the teen. He quickly picked up the book, walked toward the exit and called out. “Excuse me young sir, you left this on the seat.”

Travis smiled, the stranger looked at him with a bewildered look and asked “Left what?”

Equally bewildered, Travis held the book up in his left hand, and replied “This black book, it looks rather nice, I'm sure you wouldn’t want to leave it behind.”

“Dude” said the younger man “I don’t see any book, so I guess whatever you think you have, it’s yours.” and with that, he exited the bus. Puzzled, Travis turned to the bus driver and asked if he should leave the book with him, in case the owner returned. Shaking his head, the driver proceeded to pull away and said without looking at Travis “Mister, please go and sit down.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Travis walked back to his seat, lifting the book for all to see, he inquired “Does this book belong to anyone here?”

Everyone remained silent, Travis noticed the strange looks he got from the passengers, and oddly enough the person who would have been sitting next to him, choose to stand instead. A seat to himself on a full bus, that was rather nice.

Travis inspected the book, looking for a name and contact number, he would be sure to return it to the owner. It really was a beautiful note book, soft black leather jacket, with a matching ribbon marker attached. However, he noticed there was nothing written on any of the pages, they were all blank.

He did like the way the book felt in his hands, there was something comforting about it. Travis continued checking all the pages one by one. When he got to page seven a strange thing happened, the once empty page suddenly produced writing, right in front of him. It was as if someone was writing on the page while he looked at it. Words began to form in beautifully hand printed script.

He began to read:

Congratulations Travis,

Travis partially shut the book, ‘Congratulations Travis?’ Ok, that’s odd, he thought. Opening the book once more, he continued to read.

Before you stop and put the book down, we agree, this may appear odd. We also urge you to continue reading. Please know that this is real, it is not a hoax, nor a scam or illegal. You are not losing your mind. We have chosen you, for reasons of our own.

Are you calm?

Travis looked up from the book, considering the question. Weird, but yeah, he felt calm, he nodded to the air, and looked back at the book.

Excellent, then brace yourself, for you are about to receive twenty thousand dollars, tax Free. No questions asked, no forms to fill out. You are not required to do anything but enjoy the gift and live your life as usual.

You need only write your name on the bottom of this page to complete the deal, notice we did not say contract. Once you complete this act, the money will automatically be placed in your bank account, the book will disappear. We will say farewell and wish you all the best, have a great day.

Thank you,

P.S.

You have till midnight tonight to sign; The offer will then become null and void.

Travis slowly closed the book, marking the page with the ribbon. He sat there in silence for a full minute. ‘Well, that was certainly strange' he thought to himself. Wondering what to make of this bizarre occurrence, ‘What to do, what to do’ he pondered. Glancing around the bus he looked to see if there was perhaps a camera crew ready to pop out and reveal the prank. No one looked at him, their faces were blank and expressionless.

What to do? Really, there was only one thing to do. He began a frantic search for a pen. He couldn’t find one, no pen in his pockets, no pen in his carrying case, just his resumes and the note his wife wrote him, she had always enjoyed leaving little letters for him to find, they were special to him. He must have left his pen at the last interview. Travis peaked in the book, on page seven, the writing was still there. The offer still appeared valid.

Glancing at his watch, one o’clock in the afternoon, he would be riding the bus for another fifteen minutes before arriving at his stop, it gave him time to think. Twenty Thousand dollars, that would be welcomed right now.

Thinking to himself, how lucky was it, that he should be here on this bus at this time in this moment? Since he was laid off, four months ago, from his job. A job he was at for twenty-six enjoyable years, admittedly he felt a little disheartened at first. He understood, it was business, and after all he was sixty years old, no company wants older employees. They didn’t say it was due to his age, but the only people who were ‘restructured ' as they called it, were oddly all around the same age as himself. In a way it was quite fortuitous that he was out looking for a job, if it wasn’t for that he wouldn’t have been here.

Travis sat there, reflecting on his life and all the things that seemed to go his way. Remembering the time he was mauled by a dog while jogging in the park. If it wasn’t for that he would never had met his wife, the nurse who took care of him. Sure, he still walked with a bit of a limp, but that was a small price to pay for twenty-nine beautiful years of marriage.

When his son was born, they were told he had a serious heart defect and to expect the worse. But luckily there was a surgeon on duty that day, who just happened to be one of the few capable of performing the operation. If not for that, they may have lost their son before they had a chance to know him. Both he and his wife realized, other people may not have been as fortunate.

Travis chuckled to himself, remembering the mishap that occurred with the vehicle they purchased to go on their first family trip. The transmission seized as they were driving down the highway at top speed, one moment they were rolling along, the next moment – BANG- they came to almost a dead stop. Luckily though, the semi-trailer behind them managed to swerve around them, as did the other cars on the road. An Angel was watching over everyone that day.

Travis’s eyes misted up and a tear rolled down his cheek, thinking back, six years ago, the day his wife was diagnosed with cancer. That was a dark time. However, they truly believed she could fight it, and thankfully they lived in a time where procedures and a cure were possible. The treatments drained their bank account but had given them almost another five years together. Travis, held her note and Smiled.

The bus arrived at his destination, after making sure everyone that needed to, got off first. You never knew if there was an elderly person who needed assistance. Travis smiled and thanked the driver, and stepped off the bus. His foot crunched down on something as he took his first step, looking down he saw a pen lying on the sidewalk. How lucky was that, he bent down and picked it up, as he stood, he saw in front of him a young man, probably in his early thirties, holding a sign written on a piece of cardboard.

He had his head hung down, not making eye contact with anyone. The sign read:

Father of two- Down on his luck:

looking for a Job, Not a handout:

Will work for food:

Thank you for your consideration:

Travis looked at the young man, he was clean but judging from his clothes he definitely had some bad luck. He reached into his pocket to give him some money, even though he wasn’t asking for it. Unfortunately, he only had a little over three dollars in change, perhaps the young fellow could get himself a coffee and bagel. He quietly approached and offered him the money.

“Thank you, sir, but that’s not necessary.” said the young father.

“Please accept this, it isn't much, but it may help.” Insisted Travis

The man smiled and replied "Thanks", as Travis was turning to leave, the man said “That’s a cool book you have there.”

Travis held up the black book, and asked “You can see this?”

Setting the sign down he laughed and replied “Yeah man, the little black book, it's cool, there is something about it.” Travis held out his hand and introduced himself.

The man with the sign, shook his hand and replied “I’m Terrance, nice to meet you, sir.”

“Any luck with Job offers?” Asked Travis.

With a smile and shake of his head Terrance replied “Not so far.”

Pausing for only a moment, Travis slowly handed the book to Terrance, “I believe you should have this, son.”

The young man appeared confused by the offer, but accepted the gift, expressing his thanks to the older gentlemen for his act of unexpected kindness.

Turning to head down the street, Travis smiled, turned back and tossed Terrance the pen he found, “I highly recommend you turn to page seven.”

Thinking to himself, he knew it was the right thing to do. The way he figured, the next interview may go well and he would be offered a job. Maybe purchase a lottery ticket, or perhaps he would find another black book, after all he was a lucky man.