Giving Freely

Was it fate or chance that Lilly Morris stumbled upon the small black notebook which laid on the sidewalk? Perhaps a smidgen of each, for you see, Lilly Morris’s luck was about to change. The school bell rang loud and clear as Lilly sat at her desk, jolting her from her thoughts. Mr. Edwards; her English teacher stood near the chalkboard dismissing the students. “Alright class the next paper is due by the end of next week, brownie points for those who turn it in early.”

Lilly stood and tried to slip out before he had a chance to stop her, but to no avail. “Lilly, can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked. She stifled her sigh and turned to him. Mr. Edwards was a good teacher, smart, tall, and skinny with a bald spot on his head, but he was a stickler for being on time.

“If this is about being late, I'm sorry.” she played with her thumbs. “No, it's not that, although that could be fixed too. It’s your grades, Lilly. I'm concerned because they have been dropping steadily. Is there some way I can help?”

Lilly shrugged, “I don’t know, I’ve had my mind on other things lately. I’m overwhelmed I think.” Mr. Edwards sighed, “I know, I'm sorry about your mother, how is she these days?” Lilly thought for a moment, “She's okay I guess... it’s just a lot.” In truth, her responsibilities were too much for her. She felt like screaming out to the world but did not.

Edwards looked her in the eye, “If it’s any consolation my mother went through something similar. I don’t mean to nag on you about your grades, I only want to see you do well in class, you have so much potential. If there's any way I can help let me know.” She wanted help but didn’t know how to ask or what to even ask for. She forced a smile, “Yeah, I’ll try to do better. Thanks for offering Mister Edwards.”

The rain was falling as Lilly made her way home. She didn't have an umbrella and the wet cold rain soaked through her clothes, but she didn't care that much. She made her way past some tall buildings on one side and the street on the other. She suddenly tripped over a black square of sorts, she caught her footing before falling, then picked up the thing. It looked to be a notebook, but it was wet, she almost threw it back on the ground, but decided to keep it anyway. Maybe something interesting to read later, she thought.

Lilly arrived at her house, it was a little too small and a little broken in some places, but it was home. Her mom Elizabeth was watching the news from the couch, Lilly almost zoomed by before she called her, “Hey kiddo, where are you going so fast?” Lilly stopped in her tracks and went over to her, “Just going to my room.” Elizabeth looked at her daughter, “Forgot your umbrella again?” Lilly looked at her dripping clothes. “How did you know Sherlock?” she teased.

Elizabeth chuckled, “How was school?” Life at school was terrible, the food sucked and most of the people did too. She had maybe two solid friends from there, but on average it was a place she looked forward to getting away from constantly. “School? It was... okay I guess.” Her mom looked at her more closely, “Uh-huh, well go change clothes and maybe we can order a pizza or something and watch a movie.” Pizza and a movie, perfect, she thought. “Sounds great to me!” said Lilly, before rushing to her room. The little black book she found was drier than before, but she decided to set it on her dresser and let it dry out before trying to open it.

Later, Lilly went back into the living room and ordered the pizza. In the kitchen, she heard her mother coughing more than normal and she went in to check on her. Her mother was recovering from her coughing fit, her elbows rested on the counter. “Are you alright mom? Do you need your pills?” Elizabeth was quick to reply, “No honey I’m fine, don’t trouble yourself.” “Here, I’ll get them, be right back.” “No really honey, I’m fine.” Lilly went anyways. She went into the bathroom and filed through the medicine cabinet and found the medication. There we go! She thought.

She opened the bottle and poured out… nothing at all. Empty? She thought.

Her mother appeared in the doorway. “I’ve been meaning to tell you but didn’t want you to worry, kiddo. They are just so darn expensive, those little pills.”

“But you need them. How long have you been without them?” asked Lilly.

“Longer than I should be.”

After talking with her mother, Lilly was now more worried than ever. She thought maybe she would drown herself in some TV. She jumped on the couch and saw the local news, which bored her. She grabbed the remote and was about to change the channel when she heard talk of a 20,000$ prize. Such a big sum caught her interest. The news anchor was interviewing a well-dressed man in a suit, “Twenty-thousand bucks for a black notebook, sir? Seems like quite the reward for something so small.” The grey-haired man adjusted his collar, “That’s right twenty-thousand, it’s very important to me. If you have any information about it, call this number, it's my office.” Lilly leaned forward and sat on the edge of her seat realizing what she might have in her possession.

She quickly pulled out her phone and called the number posted on the TV screen. The dial tone lasted for what seemed like forever until a lady answered. “Hello, you've reached the office of Alexander Schultz, how can I help you today?” “Hello yes, I think I have your black notebook.” “Oh yes Mr. Schultz has been hunting it, you have it with you?” asked the lady.

“Yes, I do.”

“Let me put you on hold, I’ll call him immediately and let him know.”

Lilly sat there in pure boredom as the phone played jazz music and her foot eventually tapped along with the rhythm. Finally, the lady returned, “I’m back, Mr. Schultz is ecstatic, he asked if he could come by your address as soon as possible to get it. Would that be alright?” Lilly looked around and saw the messy house, but then thought about the twenty-thousand smackeroos. “Uhh, yes that would be great!” Lilly told her the address.

“Wonderful, he’ll be there shortly,” she said and hung up.

Lilly waited on the couch with the small black notebook in her hand as her mom napping in the other room. Now she was curious what was inside this little book that could be so valuable. Why would someone pay so much for this? She thought. The cover was quite pretty and soft, well made in every way, she wished she had one like it. She almost went to pry it open, but then thought she better not, it’s not her business after all. This guy might get upset if someone else saw what was in it. Just then a car pulled up. She leaped to the window and saw a long black limo. From the car stepped out the man she had seen on TV and he made his way to the front door and knocked.

Lilly opened the door, “Hi, Mr. Schultz.”

“Hello, are you the person that called about my notebook?”

“Yep! I got it right here! Come on in out of the rain,” said Lilly

“Thank you,” he said, stepping inside, “It's getting cold out there.”

Lilly turned round to see her mother standing across from her still partially asleep.

“Lilly who is this?” her mother asked, staring in disbelief.

“This is mister Shultz, I have his notebook.”

“What in the world… Wait, did I see you on TV earlier today?” asked Elizabeth

The man laughed, “Yes I was desperate, so I went onto the news and got the word out about my notebook. I’m sorry if I’ve intruded?”

Elizabeth gestured to a chair, “Not at all please sit down, I’m Elizabeth. I’m sorry about the messy house.”

Shultz adjusted his coat and took a seat.

“Not a problem, I grew up in a house just like this one with many siblings. I’m fond of it.”

Elizabeth suddenly coughed hard, several times. “Excuse me one second,” she said walking into the other room.

“Is she alright?” asked Schultz.

Lilly wasn't sure what to say. “She’s sick.”

“Oh yes, the flu bugs are going around this time of year.”

Lilly paused, “No, like really sick.”

The man’s expression changed, “Oh, I see.”

Lilly hopped over and got the tiny black notebook. “Here you go.” He smiled, “Thank you so much, this means a lot to me, Lilly.”

“Can I ask what’s in it?”

Her mother appeared again. “Lilly, that is rude. It’s his private notebook.”

The man chuckled, “It’s not a worry. You see, this is the journal of my wife. We were married for a long time and it has many of her memories in it. Sadly, she passed away last year and it’s one of the only things I have of hers. It is priceless to me. And so 20,000$ is a small price to pay for such an item.”

Elizabeth smiled, “Now that makes perfect sense, I’m glad we were able to retrieve it for you.”

Schultz took the notebook and flipped through the pages and a puzzled look came over his face followed by a tear rolling down his cheek. “Is everything okay, Mr. Schultz?” asked Lilly.

There was a pause. “Yes, everything is perfect and I am so happy I have found this little book.” He pulled out a pen and two pieces of paper and scribbled on them. “And now for your reward young lady,” he handed the paper to Lilly, it was written to her for twenty-thousand dollars. She almost screamed with joy. “And this one is for your mother, it's a slightly larger sum. Elizabeth, I don’t have long for this earth and I won’t be taking this money with me. My wife passed from a similar condition to yours before they created the medication for it. So I want you to take this check and never worry about your health again.” Elizabeth took the check and began to weep and hugged the man. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he smiled. “Now Lilly, take care of your mother and spend this money wisely, I expect only the wisest investments from a lady of your resourcefulness. I hate to leave so soon, but I have a meeting, here is my number if you need anything.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Schultz,” said Elizabeth. Lilly was crying now too, "Thank you so much. This is like a dream come true." He turned, closing the door behind him, “Thank you both for being who you are.”

Alexander Schultz stepped into his limo and took a seat pulling out his little black notebook for which he had paid so money much for. “Hey, so you found it I see! Congratulations sir!” said his driver.

Schultz laughed and flipped through the pages showing them to the driver. “I paid for it, but no this is blank. I couldn't find it after all.” The driver was puzzled, “So you paid a small fortune for a blank notebook? Why did you do that sir?” The old man smiled, “Because it was the right thing to do.”

So Lilly Morris and her mother used the money to pay for everything they needed including her mother's medication. What was a bad day turned into a wonderful day in the end.