The Little Black Book

Daniel clutched his jacket as the wind picked up and he stuffed his hands angrily into his pockets as he made his way towards the train station 4 blocks down. It was 9pm when he left the store, just before closing. The walk was therapy on days like this, he could take some time to cool off. It was one of those days when his boss Mark decided it was a good day to make life miserable for Daniel. As he walked, Daniel saw a group of five men spill out of one of the buildings a few feet ahead. A few of them looked menacing and were engaged in a serious conversation. Instinctively, Daniel looked around for a way to avoid the group and his eyes darted towards a dimly lit alleyway a few feet away. He darted into the alley hoping that it was a shortcut. There was one light hanging from one of the buildings in the corridor. As he walked, he noticed that the alley turned left towards the main road; he breathed a short sigh of relief but bumped into one of the standing trash cans littering the area. The bump pushed him to step, trip and fall on the asphalt. Pain shot through his arm where he landed and as he looked around he saw what tripped him. A small black bag lay near his feet. It was slightly open and from what Daniel could tell there was money inside. Daniel picked up the bag and pulled the zipper an inch wider and sure enough there was money. Daniel’s heart leaped into his chest. This was a bag of money! A random bag of money laying here in an alley and he found it! Without thinking twice, Daniel quickly zipped up the bag and swung it over his back. He straightened his back and hurried out but the entire time his mind was giddy with excitement. As he stepped out onto the main street he looked to the left towards 50th street and saw that two of the men from the group were still talking. Daniel turned and pretended to calmly walk down the street he swung the bag in front of his chest to hide it in case one of the men might have recognized it. He walked briskly to the station, caught his train and made his way home.

Once inside Daniel flipped all of the locks, even the deadbolt. He couldn’t wait to look in the bag. He threw it down onto his dining room table and ripped the zipper open. The money spilled out. It was all in $50’s and $100’s as he turned the bag over and dumped the money out all over the table. A small black book spilled out with the last wad of cash. Daniel looked at it. It appeared to be a leather bound book. Daniel sat down and began to count in total, $20,000 in cash. Daniel was elated. He mulled over what to do. Of course it was obvious, he could now pay off some of his credit card debts for good or buy a new car. He turned to look for the small black book and found it on the floor. Somehow he had knocked it down. He hoped to find some clues about who owned the money. As he opened it to his surprise the message read: Hello Daniel, this bag and its contents were reserved just for you as an opportunity of great fortune or a portent of your ultimate destruction. Choose wisely what you will do with the contents of this bag. Using the contents for unworthy pursuits will result in misfortune but using it for a deserving cause will unlock doors of great fortune and prosperity. Had he read that right? Was this real? Did someone really leave $20,000 in cash just for him?! He looked back at the book and reread the page line by line. He had never even walked through that alley way before so how?! Perplexed Daniel took a breath and thought about the instructions. Use the money for a deserving cause? "Well I’m deserving", Daniel muttered. "I’m very deserving," he declared to himself. . "I’ve been busting my ass for years dealing with asshole bosses and struggling with debt. I’m at least a month late on rent and I’m struggling so screw you book I needed this!" Daniel piled the money back into the bag and hid it near his closet door. He decided to use the money on himself. Since he found it, he should use it. Daniel went to work in a good mood the next morning, thinking of the $20,000 he had found.

As Daniel walked into the storeroom to retrieve the carts he saw Alexia, the new storeroom clerk with tears welling in her eyes. "Is everything ok? You look down." He asked. Alexia wiped her eyes, tears glistened as they reflected off her dark brown skin. Alexa motioned for him to come closer. "Did you see the email from Miranda?" She asked, “No what happened?” Daniel replied. Alexia pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here read this” she said. The paper was a copy of the email sent by Miranda. It was sent to her coworkers in HR and they forwarded to every employee. In it, Miranda told a story of how she had fallen down a flight of steps while visiting her parents. She was taken to the hospital via ambulance and while there she discovered that she had a brain tumor the size of a marble growing in her cerebellum. According to the doctors, the brain tumor will continue to cause problems with her balance and coordination and she reports that she is currently unable to stand without falling over. This tumor has the potential to be fatal if it continues to grow and her only salvation is a costly surgery that requires a $13,000 deductible payment before they can begin. In the letter, she states that she has no funds saved up to pay for this and was barely making it on her salary with her three young children. She pleaded for anyone to help her by raising money to pay for her surgery. She wants to get back to work taking care of her children and is afraid that they will be left with her mother who is extremely physically and verbally abusive. As a single mother with no one else to help she is terrified for her children’s livelihood and is calling out to anyone willing to help. After reading the email, Daniel sighed deeply, “Wow that’s tough” He looked up and saw Alexia still crying, “Are you going to help her?” He asked, as much as he felt for Miranda he was still unsure if he could help her. He did however have his own problems to deal with. Alexia nodded her head in response, “I will try. See, Look there’s the place where you can go to donate.” She pointed to a spot at the bottom of the email. Daniel nodded and took the paper, folded it and placed it in his back pocket. Miranda’s story was harsh and painful.

For the rest of the shift, Daniel was deep in thought. Miranda’s horrible circumstances danced in his head and he began to feel depressed. He wanted to help Miranda but then a thought popped up. He recalled the story of a woman who would feign illness to get money and sympathy from friends and associates. Money she used for her own purposes. He asked himself, Could she be lying? Is it even possible for someone’s luck to be that bad?! Although he did like Miranda in HR he did not know her well enough to just give her money off of the strength of her testimony. Others might buy into her story but it just seemed too incredible to Daniel. He couldn’t imagine how it must feel to have a brain tumor be the reason kids will have to live with abusive parents. Daniel just couldn’t believe her story! Then he remembered the book “Using the contents for unworthy pursuits will result in misfortune but using it for a deserving cause will unlock doors of great fortune and prosperity.” Daniel thought for a moment and something occurred to him. Regardless of whether or not Miranda is telling the truth if he used the money for a good cause it would result in great fortune for him wouldn’t it? The fact that the black book identified him by name was enough to convince Daniel there was some supernatural power behind it and possibly the money. He decided to take a chance on faith and made up his mind to help her out. Leaving work, he decided to take the contents of the bag with him and visit Miranda at the hospital, his plan was to put the books words to the test. When he got home,

Daniel threw down his things and picked up the little black book and opened it to the first page. “Where did this come from?” as he read his name in the statement he felt something warm move from the book to his hands and spread all over his body. Suddenly he felt compelled to spend the money and had a strong urge to find Miranda and anyone else in need and give them the contents of the bag. As the warm feeling spread, something glowed from within the book and the book suddenly slammed shut. Startled Daniel threw the book back into the bag and stood up from the chair. He looked in stunned amazement. He knew there was something special about that book. Nonetheless, there was no way he would walk the streets of the city with $20,000 cash at 8:30PM so he decided he would take his chances in the morning and visit Miranda at the hospital. He pulled out the email from his back pocket and circled the name of the hospital “Mercy Hall Medical Center”. The next day, Daniel packed the bag and the book and left out to go to the hospital. He hailed a cab and was soon on his way. Daniel had no idea how he would explain any of what was happening to Miranda but he felt compelled to give her all of the contents of the bag. At the hospital he checked in and asked for her room. Room 423, he took the elevator up and as he approached her room a sense of dread suddenly fell over him. He remembered, he had debts and was behind on his rent by a few hundred dollars although Miranda’s situation is horrible he couldn’t neglect his own needs for the money. He stopped just outside her room. A part of him wanted to leave and use the money for himself but something nagged him to continue and have faith. Before he could think further a nurse exited the room and smiled at him. “Hi, you want to go in?” Not thinking Daniel stepped into the room. He explained the situation to Miranda and through tears Miranda accepted the money but Daniel kept the book. He wanted to know what would happen and just as he turned to leave the CEO of the store bumped into Daniel on his way. “oops sorry sir!” Daniel stammered, Miranda called out “Oh hi Mr. Watson, that’s Daniel the one I was telling you about” Daniel stopped and turned. The man looked at him and smiled “Ah yes” well since you’re on your way out here is my card I need you to come to my office on Monday morning I’ve been meaning to give you a promotion. I think you have a ton of potential and could use an opportunity to shine.” Daniel was stunned, “Thank you sir, no problem sir!” He turned to Miranda and breathelessly exclaimed “thank you so much!” and left the hospital filled with joy and tears.