When You Wish Upon A Little Black Book

It was a typical summer night in the small town of Clinton, North Carolina. Sharon Marshall had just finished her shift at Sampson Regional Medical Center. She had been employed there for five years as a housekeeper. She was exhausted from pushing the cleaning cart up and down the long corridors of the hospital, cleaning empty rooms, making up beds, cleaning toilets, and sending soiled sheets to the laundry room. She longed to quit this job. As much as she worked, and even though the pay was good, she knew that one day she wanted to obtain something better like winning the lottery. If she was to win the Mega Millions or the Powerball, she knew that she was going to say goodbye to Sampson Regional. She whispered under her breath just how tired she was as she plumped down into the front seat of her beat down 2002 Jeep Liberty. She had bought it from a neighbor as is and the phrase “as is” meant that she could not drive anywhere outside of Sampson County, she had to press on the gas slowly without causing the jeep to jerk profusely by pressing it too quickly, and she could not go over the speed of 60. She looked at the gas gauge and saw that it close to empty. She did not have the money to put more gas in and she knew that she needed gas for the rest of the week. She shook her head as she cranked her jeep and pulled out of the parking lot. Finding herself stressing over the possibilities of not having the money for gas, she drove home in silence.

After arriving home, she made herself a cup of chamomile tea to help her relax and rest. It was much needed because her stress level was through the roof. She had not been home for twenty minutes when she heard someone knocking on her door. It was late. Who would be coming to her house this late at night, and who would come to her home without calling first? She peeked out of the curtain that covered the small diamond-shaped window that was in the middle of her front door. To her surprise, no one was there. It was a bit weird to hear the loud knocking and not see anyone at the door. It was a bit creepy. She stepped away from the door and stared at it for a few seconds before deciding to walk back into the kitchen. However, there was another knock on the door. “Who is it,” she asked. The person on the other end said nothing, but Sharon could hear them drop something in front of the door and leaving quickly. To be safe, she grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen and slowly opened the door. To her surprise, she noticed someone getting into a long white limousine and it speeds off into the night. It did not take long for her to look down at her front door and notice a little black book that was full of blank pages. She looked at the back of the little black book and noticed an inscription written in small gold letters. The inscription said, “To whomever, this book is given, the pages are cleared. Write what your heart desires in this book and it will come true. Once you have filled the little black book with everything you desire, find someone else worthy of it and give it to them.” Sharon laughed a bit at how silly it sounded. But just for the heck of it, she wrote that she wished to become a multimillionaire. As soon as she wrote her first desire, she put the little black book down and went to bed. The next morning, feeling a little skeptical about what she wrote in the little black book, Sharon decided to check her bank account. She was quite sure that the same remaining $2.57 was still be posted into her checking account. She dialed the bank number and put in all her bank information. The automated voice on the other end read out her balance. “Your checking account balance is $45,679,352.57.” She could not believe what she was hearing. Was this correct? She hit the star key twice to hear the balance once more. There was no change in the amount. Maybe this was a mistake on the bank’s end. She knew that she could not go to work with this on her mind. She called out of work and made her way to the bank. She arrived at the bank and asked to speak to the bank manager. He was more than happy to help her. She informed him what the automated voice message had reported concerning the balance in her checking account. “Is this correct? Did the bank make any mistakes and put this into my account accidentally,” she asked? The bank manager keyed in her banking information, saw the amount, and then did more looking to see if the bank had made a mistake. He shook his head, “The bank has made no mistakes, Miss Marshall. This is really your account balance. Congratulations!” In total shock, she walked out of the bank and made her way to Sampson Regional Medical Center to tell them she was quitting. That little black book was the answer to her prayers.