Little Black Book

John lived a very simple life. Get up, go to work, come home, go to sleep, repeat. He had never had any great plans in life, and struggled to pay the rent most months. Nevertheless, he continued his completely boring routine everyday, without any expectation, and without fail.

One day, on his way to work, he happened to notice a little dark smudge laying on the ground, half buried in the snow. He stopped to pick it up, it was a small black book. He flipped through the pages looking for any identifying information. There was none, only blank pages, except 1.

The last page had a short statement on it. It read ' I'm here to assist and aid, if the pages run out I'll need to be paid. Whatever the problem, tear out a sheet, I will solve any issue, full and complete. Take care not to use me, unless there is real need. If you don't heed this warning, you'll pay for your greed.'

John put the little book in his pocket and went on his way to work. He didn't give the book much thought for many days. The first of the month rolled around, like every month, and the landlord was especially angry with John. John, you see, was 4 months behind on rent. The landlord was serving John an eviction notice.

He went into his apartment and gathered the few belongings he felt had value, and started walking to the pawn shop. He reached into his pocket to get his gloves, and felt the little black book. He remembered the words on the last page in the book. He then ripped out 1 page of the book and let fly in the wind, not knowing what to expect. Nothing happened. He continued to the pawn shop, received a few dollars for his items and went home.

He stopped at the landlords office and offered about 2 months worth of rent to the landlord. The landlord willingly accepted the payment, but told John that the eviction notice was still in effect unless he paid all of the rent within 3 days. John was very disheartened at this, considering he had just sold all of his valuables and had nothing more to sell. He went to sleep that night praying for a solution.

The next morning he woke, same as any day before. This morning was different though. As he went into his dresser to get the days clothes, there was a stack of money in the drawer. Well more than he needed to catch up his rent. He went to the office, paid up his rent. Then went back to the pawn shop and purchased back his belongings. He felt relief and content with the results of the day. He started thinking all manner of grand thoughts about his new little book.

Over the next weeks and months, John relied heavily on the little black book, a little too heavily. He missed work on days he really shouldn't have. He skipped paying rent, knowing he could easily catch it up the next month. He bought new furniture, new clothes, and a new car (not brand new, but new to him).

John had been enjoying his newfound success so much, that he lost track of days and weeks at a time. He lost his meager job, and didn't care. The car broke down, and he just bought another. One day, he realized that the little black book only had a couple of pages left, and started to worry a little bit. He figured he would just take it easy, get his old job back, get rent caught up and live more strictly on a budget again.

He went to his old boss, and the boss told him that he could not have his old job back, but he would have to start from the bottom and work his way up again. John, shocked and offended, refused. The landlord was again hunting John, as he was 3 months behind on rent again. John ripped another page out of the book angrily later that night. The next morning there was again money in his drawer, but not nearly enough to cover the rent. He paced and worried. He decided to tear another page out, leaving just page left. The next morning, a little more money was in the drawer, but not near enough to cover rent.

He thought about it, and looked around at all of his shiny new belongings, and pondered what "payment" would be due if he tore out the last page. He decided instead, to return to the pawn shop to sell some items and pay the rent. He drove to the shop, took his items inside and sold them. He received more than enough to cover his rent and expenses for a while. He got in his car to go home, but it wouldn't start. He decided to just walk home and hurry to pay rent, because eviction was at his heels. A few blocks from home a man with a gun relieved John of his money. John went home, depressed, dejected, and very angry. How could this happen? What to do now?

He felt as he had no choice now. Whatever the price, he had to use the last page in the book.........

John ripped the page out, and waited. Moments later, John became ill, like he was losing a part of himself. He looked in the mirror and could not believe his eyes, he was aging rapidly, before his very eyes. He frantically tried to put the page back in the book to no avail. He continually aged until his entire body turned to dust. The dust then collected nicely on top of the book, which had fallen on the floor. The book absorbed the dust and was complete once again...........