The Start To All Of My Problems

“So you’re saying, I can create as much money as I want with this?” Arnold says to James while slumping down into the wooden chair in the corner of their high-end luxurious condominium. James opens the sliding door to their balcony for the warm breeze of the summer air to travel through the humid Miami condo. “Essentially, yeah. Happy birthday, Arnold. There’s not many rules applied to the book that I know of. All of the pages from the book that I used to buy this place and pay off my student loans I ripped out afterwards. The one downside about this book that I’ve noticed is that you feel an immense guilt for however long the pages that you’ve written something down on stay in that book.”

Arnold looks down at the small black notebook in his hands with a deep sense of adventure and lingering unease. He jolts up and walks closer towards James with the book still in his hands.

“James… Where did you even get something like this from? I mean, it’s not like I don’t believe what you told me about it. But you’ve got a gambling problem.” James turns to Arnold while on the balcony in disbelief at what he just heard come out of Arnold’s mouth. “Gambling prob— You think this is gambling related? And how dare you, I told you in confidence about something I’ve struggled with since freshman year of college and you toss back in my face at a moment like this?” James scoffs, “And on your birthday, of course you would say something like that. Whatever, dude, write a number and currency then check wherever you keep your money.”

James shakes his head in disappointment and pulls an e-cigarette out of his Versace robe pocket and begins to take a long puff from the device. Arnold looks back down in hands and fiddles with the book. A normal Bic pen is on their balcony table that catches Arnold’s eye and he goes to grab it to write his first request in the little black book.

Arnold looks up at the ceiling for a moment, daydreaming about the specific amount to jot down for the first time in his new birthday present. He says aloud to James in a snarky manner, “70 trillion U.S. dollars.” while writing in the book and walking towards the balcony as James takes another puff of his e-cig. James exhales a plume of smoke into the air as the breeze carries it away. “Why 70 specifically?” James says. “James, chill bro, don’t rain on my parade. Now I’m supposed to check my account balance, right?” says Arnold while pulling his phone out of his pocket. James suddenly looks over at Arnold with concern. “Ya know… Since you were a dick to me, I forgot to tell you about how that book only adds finances to your life. It doesn’t logically add finances to your life. So if you only have one account, good luck explaining to your bank how 70 trillion dollars was just deposited.” James thinks aloud while staring off at the sunset, “Do banks even have that large of a deposit limit?”

Arnold freezes completely still at the words he’s just heard. The thought of having to logically explain where such a large sum of money came from made his stomach churn. His knees start to wobble and he grabs onto the balcony railing to keep his balance. “James, shut up for a moment, please. I still don’t fully believe you until I see all of that money for my—” Arnold’s phone notification chimes as a bank alert from his bank app appears on his phone reading, “An alarming amount of funds has been deposited to your account. Please open the app for more details.”