The obvious

I awoke early to work on my new book before the kids woke-up for school. I enjoyed watching the sun rise, pink over the field from my bay window. I made myself a cup of tea and opened my computer. I logged into my email in hopes of finding a literary agent interested in my work and not another rejection letter. I knew rejection letters were part of the business, but I could use some good news. Finding the right agent and publishing house would take a while. That's when I saw it.

I couldn’t believe it. This was so much better. I received an email from Vocal saying I won their short story contest. I had never entered a contest before and this one came with a prize of $20,000. I almost didn’t believe it. I was afraid if I said it outloud I’d jinx it. I made breakfast and got the kids off to school. The whole time my mind was whirling.

What would I do with the money? I could put it in the bank. I knew I could use the money, but it didn’t seem right. I could use it to fix-up my house, paint, and buy those new pots and pans I’ve been needing. Somehow, that didn’t seem right either. After about an hour of sitting in my chair dumbfounded I figured it out. I was going to use half the money to self publish my books. I had a voice and it needed to be heard. I could finally afford to get it edited, formatted, and my pictures drawn. I couldn’t wait to hold my book in my hand. To go into schools as an author and help kids want to read.

I decided not to tell anyone. I didn’t need a lecture about spending my new found money responsibly. I didn’t want to. I wanted to share it. I pulled out my little black book. It was filled with names and organizations of everyone who had ever helped my family and I. It was full of organizations who helped us with Christmas and food when I couldn’t do it on my own.

Once my winnings came in, I took half out in cash. I spent the day at my favorite charity sorting and hanging clothes. When it was time for me to leave, I left two white envelopes on the floor behind the counter. They each had a note inside with $1,000 cash. One read Christmas and the other said, Help. I hoped they didn’t realize it was from me. The next day I left $1,000 in three churches mailbox along with a note that read:

To help those in need. Thank you

I opened my black book and began crossing off names. I had $5,000 left and things were about to get personal. I had a neighbor once, she was a single mom of three kids. Even though she didn’t have much money, she took in two other children from her family. When she was working I left a white envelope containing $1,000 and a note with her name on it saying: A Gift. I left a similar envelope for another friend who was currently out of work due to a crazy virus shutting down her job.

That left me with $3,000. I used to live in low-income housing. The kind of brick apartments where kids were outside running around in the streets. I knew a lot of their parents worked hard and still had problems making ends meet. I took $2,000 and went grocery shopping. I had the maintenance workers help deliver bags of food to the houses. I didn’t want people to know where it came from. I decided to send the last bit of money to my children's school. I knew they helped children in need of shoes, coats, and clothes. I loved using my career to be able to help other people.