The Book of Generosity
On a warm Saturday morning, Sarah heads down to her local bookstore to see if they have anything new in stock. As she approaches the book store, she notices that the sign says closed. She waits around for a minute and sees a hand waving through the opaque glass for her to come in. "Good morning, Sarah!" says the shopkeeper who is always delighted to see her. "Good morning, Mr. Johnson. I came to see if you have anything new in stock." she said as she peaks over the back counter. "I just got a new shipment, let's see what we have." he says as he digs through a new box. The box collapses from the weight of the books and out pops a little black book. The shopkeeper didn't notice it at first but it caught Sarah's eye. "What about this?" she says as she picks up the book from the ground. "That's weird, I didn't order that in this shipment..." He looks at Sarah holding the book and continues. "Well, it's on the house." he says as he smiles at Sarah. "Thank you so much, Mr. Johnson! I'm going home right now to read it." Sarah’s smile is as wide as the Earth as she takes off out of the bookstore and back to her house. When she reaches her home, she goes straight to her desk and plops the little black book down. "The Book of Generosity." Sarah reads out loud. Her eyebrows are furrowed as she flips through the book and realizes that it's completely empty. "Well, it seems like it's a notebook. I wonder if I can ask it to be generous to me." she ponders as she pulls out a pen from her desk. "I would like a new car in my driveway right now." Sarah writes and immediately gets up from her desk to look out the window. She stares in the direction of the driveway and shakes her head. She knew it was too good to be true, but she was confused about the purpose of the book. At that moment, she hears her mother in the next room on the phone. She waits until the call is finished to see what is going on. "Who was that, Mom?" Sarah asks with a look of concern. "It's the insurance company, they aren't going to cover my chemotherapy anymore since I lost my job." she said. "I'm so sorry, Mom. I wish there was something I could do to help." Sarah said as she went to comfort her mom. "It'll be okay sweetie. We can figure this out, but in the meantime, you have school work to finish." she said. Sarah nodded her head and went back to her room. As she steps into her room, she looks over at the little black book. She figured out a way to test the book. She sits down and begins to write "I want my Mom to receive $20,000 to cover her chemotherapy treatment." Sarah smiles at the words and closes the book. After several hours it's time for her to rest and she crawls into bed with a smile on her face. She's hopeful the book works but she knows this is probably just an ordinary notebook. She closes her eyes and drifts off into a slumber. "Sarah! Sarah! Wake up!" Sarah's Mom opens her door with a smile on her face. "It's paid for! Someone paid for my treatment!" she says as she goes to hug Sarah on her bed. Sarah wipes the sleep from her eyes and is completely puzzled by the interaction. "Someone paid? Who did?" Sarah asks. "They said it was an anonymous donor." she said. Sarah puckered her lips and looked over at the desk. "Did it work?" Sarah says under her breath. "Did what work?" her mom asks. "Oh, nothing at all. I'm just so happy that you can continue your chemo." Sarah says as she holds her mom. She realizes then that the little black book is all about giving and not receiving.
