The Moleskin Mystery

As Jessica walked to her car, her mind was filled with her week's to do list:

Fiction story due for Creative Writing class

Borrowing Money From Parents(again)

Get car oil changed

Jessica was exhausted and wondered how she could be even after working several hours in a place where the aroma of espresso filled the room. Jessica was the new Assistant Manager at The Café; the pay wasn't the best and college life was challenging. As she approached her car, Jessica kicked what appeared to be a notebook of some sort. Without hesitation, she reached down and picked up the smooth little black moleskin notebook. As a future author, Jessica's love for fancy notebooks was undeniable.

Expecting to see the name of one of her coworkers or Café regulars, Jessica opened the book.Right there in the center of the book, there was a pocket with a flap. Inside the pocket was an envelope. Inside the envelope was money. Jessica looked around to see if anyone saw her and immediately got into her car. Frequently checking her rearview mirror, she made it home in what seemed to be the longest 10 minutes of her life. She rushed into her apartment and locked the door. She closed her blinds, sat on her bed, took a deep breath, let out a heavy sigh and pulled out the envelope. Inside if the envelope was fifty crisp $100 dollar bills and a $20,000 money order with no name on it. Jessica's mouth fell open as she began to imagine all she could do with this money. And a money order too!!! Wow, she was in disbelief! She shook the notebook and began scanning the pages again and there,on the 3rd page, she found these words:

JESSICA, YOU MUST BE IN DISBELIEF!!! WELL, CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO COMPLETE A "HUMILITY" TEST. THAT $20,000 WILL BE ALL YOURS ONCE YOU'VE COMPLETED THE FOLLOWING TASKS. YOU MUST EXTEND GRACE TO 5 PEOPLE. "That's easy", she thought.

YOU MUST GIVE EACH PERSON LISTED $1,000. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE INDIVIDUALS, HOWEVER, THEY MUST KNOW THAT THE GIFT CAME FROM YOU. YOU HAVE 3 DAYS TO COMPLETE THIS TEST. IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS, THE MONEY ORDER WILL BE NO GOOD! YOU WILL GO TO THE BANK AND BE EMBARRASSED AND CHARGED WITH FRAUD. DON'T TAKE THAT CHANCE! ONCE YOU HAVE DISTRIBUTED ALL OF THE FUNDS, YOU MAY FILL OUT THE MONEY ORDER AND DEPOSIT IT. THIS IS NOT A JOKE, TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!!!

Still in disbelief, Jessica closely examined each bill and then the money order. Who would be "testing her humility" and why and where did this money come from ? Jessica pondered as she did her inspection.The money order and bills seemed legit.

First on the list was the homeless man that camps out across the parking lot from her apartment. He had a habit of calling Jessica the "Coffee B****" since she neglects to give him the " little bit of change" that he so often requests.

Second was Jessica's ex boyfriend that cheated on her with the girl from the grocery store.

Next was Jessica's former college roommate/friend that's been mistreating her since she moved out and got her own apartment off campus.

Then there was Jessica's best friend who got pregnant on prom night, is pregnant with baby number 2,is extremely jealous of Jessica and has basically disowned her.

Last but not least on the list was Jessica's dad who often generously slips Jessica money from his retirement vacation savings.

"Yeah Right!! Why should I give any of these people other than my dad anything"?!?! She thought of ways she could use each and every one of those hundred dollar bills. $20,000 was way more but who's to say this isn't a trick? Jessica didn't believe in magic but she certainly did believe in miracles!

Jessica decided it was worth a try so she grabbed 5 envelopes from her desk and ripped out 5 sheets of paper from her Creative Writing notebook. She separated the money and placed each stack onto one of the sheets of paper. She was acting fast. The instructions said she had 3 days but Jessica wanted to get this done ASAP! On each sheet of paper she wrote

"You've Been Blessed By Jess'' and she wrapped the money in the paper and sealed it in the envelope. On the outside of the envelope, she wrote each person's name except for the homeless man whose name she didn't know and she wasn't going to write Jack Slack (which was what the neighbors called him).

Jessica always tried to do good for others but always ended up getting the 'short end of the stick'. This time she hoped the outcome would be different.

It was late in the evening and Jessica was exhausted. She didn't have a plan but was determined to pass out the envelopes immediately so she headed to her car.

Jessica placed the first sealed envelope into an empty coffee cup she had and set it down next to the sleeping homeless man that gave her the not-so-pleasant nickname. "That was easy" she whispered to herself as she got into her car.

Next, Jessica drove by her ex's house. As she approached, she saw Jason and "grocery girl" going into the house. She noticed his car window was slightly down so she pulled up beside the car and slipped the envelope inside and pulled off quickly. "What a drive by," she said to herself.

The next stop was Jessica's college campus. Thankfully, she still had the spare key to the lockbox her and Jamie shared when they were roommates. Jamie still used the box to receive her mail. Jessica politely unlocked the box, placed the envelope inside, locked it and left without being recognized by any of the few mingling college students.

Jessica was even more exhausted by now but since her former best friend lived next door to her parents she only had one more stop to make. She pulled into her parent's driveway and sat there a minute to think. Jess noticed a baby bag on the porch next door and she suddenly had a bright idea.

With the envelope in hand Jessica jumped out her car, darted to the neighbour's porch, slipped the envelope in the zipper pocket and quickly headed over to her parents house.

She went inside to find her parents in their bedroom recliners watching an old movie. Jessica kissed her parents and then went into the kitchen and filled up two plastic containers with leftovers from the fridge.

On her way out she thanked her mom for the food and hugged and kissed them both. " Oh dad, this is for you " Jessica said as she doubled back and handed him the envelope with James written on it.

"What is it dear"? She heard her mom asking as she exited.

Once back at home, exhausted Jessica fell into bed barely taking off her shoes and was fast asleep. With all of the events of her day's journey, she almost forgot about the

reward.

The next day, Jessica picked up her little "mole skin friend", took out the money order and inspected it one last time, then carefully filled it out. "OK", she said to herself "here we go"! Jessica grabbed her purse and keys and was on her way to the bank.She got in her car and realised that the homeless man was nowhere in sight; she felt a sense of relief. She glanced at her phone and noticed she had a message from her dad telling her to come get rent money help. Her only response was a smile.

Jessica got to the bank and nervously handed the teller the money order, a deposit slip and her ID. This brief wait felt like eternity. She felt herself beginning to sweat when the teller smiled at her and said, " OK, you're all set". Jessica gave the teller a weird smile and headed back to her car almost tripping over her own feet. She sat in her car thinking " This is real, it really worked"! Jessica got home and sat down at her desk. Her heart and mind were racing with excitement. She picked up the little black mole skin notebook and hugged and whispered "Thank You" . It was at that moment Jessica knew exactly what her short fiction creative writing piece would be about .Jessica opened her laptop and in the centre of a blank new document she typed: The Moleskin Mystery.