If Found...

Charlie had fallen on hard times before, but being homeless was unlike anything she’d ever expected. She’d always thought of herself as resourceful, and after going through so much in her life, she thought she could handle anything, but here she was, cold and hungry. Trying to lift herself out of her situation was a lot harder than she’d hoped, as most places that offered any sort of job required an address before they would even think of hiring. Charlie’s usual bubbly personality was starting to turn cynical and disheartened.

She walked aimlessly around the local park, trying her best to pretend to herself that she was simply on a nice early morning stroll rather than someone with nowhere to go. She sighed and sat down on a bench. It wasn’t long before she looked down and noticed a small black notebook bound with an elastic band on the ground at her feet. The book looked worn. Charlie picked it up, took off the band, and opened it. She flipped through the pages, which contained various polaroid photographs of smiling people, thank you notes, and various other sentimental items such as pressed flowers, a napkin and some coins that had been taped to the page. Every item and photograph had a date next to it. Charlie smiled, thinking to herself that this book must mean a lot to whoever owned it. The first page of the book had a note scrawled in messy handwriting, which read ‘If found please return me to 184 Emerald Street!” Charlie felt bad that this journal that was clearly so loved had been lost, and she didn’t have anything else to do for the rest of the day so she decided that she might as well return it.

She had heard of Emerald street, but had never ventured down it before. The street was clean and right at the end sat a beautiful old Victorian style house. It looked like something right out of a story book. Charlie had always dreamed of a house like this, ever since she was a child. She walked up to the front door and was about to leave the book on the front step when it suddenly opened and a small elderly man with glasses peeked out at her. He let out an excited squeak the moment he saw her.

“Ah! You’re here! Come in, come in!” He ushered her inside before she could protest. “I’m Atticus! You must be here about the job.”

Charlie shook her head. “O-oh, no, I found this and-”

The old man took the book out of her hands. “Yes, yes! You can’t be using that old thing. It’s already full. Here’s your one!” He handed her another little black notebook but this one was brand new, along with a thick brown envelope.

“No, you have the wrong person. I found this in the park and-”

“Inside is your list of names and jobs, and inside the envelope is your funds. You have $20,000, which should be just enough to complete all the jobs on your list. Your first job is to go to Gilbert’s Bakery on Maple street to pick up a cake for Mr. Jackson. You’ll find his address in your notes. I’ve already called in the order so all you have to do is use your funds to pay and then deliver it to him.”

Charlie opened the envelope and saw it was full of cash. She stood staring at it, and before she could say anything about the job or the money she was led out the door and was back outside on the front step.

“Now I’m very busy, so I’m afraid you’re on your own for your first day but I’m sure you’ll do just fine! You really must get started right away now. Good luck!” and with that he shut the door.

Charlie knocked several times, but it was clear that no one was going to answer. She opened the notebook and sure enough there was a list of names, addresses, and instructions, just like Atticus had said. Charlie frowned, these jobs all seemed so pointless. Was he really so rich that he could afford to spend $20,000 a day on meaningless things such as cake delivery? Surely if he was that rich then he could afford to lose it? After all, she needed the money, and it’s not like she even asked to be in this situation, and she had returned the notebook so she surely deserved some sort of reward money..? Charlie sighed. She knew that she couldn’t just run off with it, it wasn’t in her nature. She looked at the list, and supposed she could do the jobs for just one day.

Gilbert’s Bakery, she knew exactly where that was. She used to love that bakery as a kid and they had always made the best pastries, but recently it had fallen on hard times. It made her sad to see the once nice shop look so time worn. Inside the owner looked tired, and had told Charlie that she was worried that they would be closing soon for good.

“I’ve been so worried, this business has been in my family for years but I just can’t afford to keep it open anymore. I can’t even afford the repairs it needs.” she told Charlie sadly.

Charlie paid for the cake, $150, and was given a free cupcake by the owner. The cake tasted just like she remembered. It made her sad to think about the shop being gone forever. She took the cake, and made her way to Mr. Jackson’s address.

Mr. Jackson turned out to live in one of the wealthiest districts in town. His house was an enormous modern monstrosity of marble and glass. Charlie pressed the intercom on the gate. “Uh, I have a delivery for you, Mr. Jackson.”

“A delivery? I wasn’t expecting anything today.”

“It’s a cake. I think it’s a gift?”

“Cake? Oh, alright then. Come on in” The gates opened and Charlie went up to the front door where she was greeted by Mr. Jackson. He looked at the bakery name on the box. “Oh Gilbert’s Bakery! I remember them! I used to love going there as a boy with my dad!” he smiled. “I haven’t been there in so long.”

“Yes, I used to go there a lot too, unfortunately they might be going out of business soon.”

“Oh...well, I’m sorry to hear that…”

“Yeah...well, enjoy your cake”

Charlie left the house, and crossed the first name off her list. She looked at the list again and before she knew it it was almost dark and she had completed almost the entire list. Her day had consisted of many jobs most of which had seemed absurd or meaningless. She only had a couple hundred dollars left. She could hardly believe that she had given out almost all of the money.

On her way to her next job she passed Gilbert’s Bakery again and noticed Mr. Jackson leaving and the owner inside crying. She went inside to make sure everything was alright. “Um...hello? Are you ok?”

“Oh! Oh my goodness! Yes! You were the one who delivered that cake weren’t you?! That man just said he wants to invest in our business! He’s going to help so that we don’t have to close down...we...we may even be able to open up other locations! He has such a big vision for us, it’s amazing!”

Charlie left in shock. Did Atticus know that would happen? She completed the last jobs on her list and made her way back to the house. The door was already open when she arrived. She shut it behind her and found Atticus sitting in front of a fire in the living room. He gestured to an armchair beside him and she sat down. On the coffee table in front of them were two cups of tea and some sandwiches. “Please eat, I’m sure you're hungry, especially after today.”

Charlie began to eat, and placed the notebook and empty envelope in front of her. “Look...I’m really not the right person. I found that old notebook in the park and I just came to return it. I wasn’t applying for any job with you or anything today. I don’t even have a home right now, I’ve been sleeping at various motels, people's couches, the streets some nights, and to be honest I debated running off with the money...but I did all the jobs on the list for today. I did try and tell you I was the wrong person though.”

Atticus smiled “You’re not the wrong person, Charlie. I knew that you wouldn’t run off with the money because you were the last person on my list. Only good people end up on the list.”

Charlie froze. She had never told him her name.

“You are exactly the person that I wanted for this job. Look inside the notebook again”

Charlie opened the book up hesitantly, and inside the cover was now an owners page that hadn’t been there before. ‘This book belongs to Charlie. If lost please return to 184 Emerald St.’. It was written in her handwriting.

“I...I don’t understand. What is this? What do you mean only good people end up on the list?”

“Well, although the jobs you did today may have seemed small and meaningless, such as delivering a cake, each of them had a life changing impact. Only people who truly deserve it end up on there. Some of the jobs require a little money to get things going, some of them require something so simple as a smile, every outcome changes that person's life for the better.” Atticus said.

“Like the bakery that was saved from going out of business?”

“Yes.”

“What is this? Magic? Are you like an angel, or a fairy or wizard or something like that?”

“Something like that.” Atticus smiled.

“You said that I was on your list, what did you mean?”

“Take a look” Atticus handed her the old notebook she had returned, and right at the back she read her own name, along with instructions to leave it at the park bench where she had found it.

“I’m getting old, even older than I look” he chuckled to himself, “and I need an apprentice to help carry on my work. You need somewhere to live and I can offer you this whole house. Your bills are paid, you’ll have everything you could ever need, and all you have to do is carry on the work. You’ll get a new list and new funds daily. Don’t worry, you get holiday’s off” he winked.

Charlie didn’t know what to say. “You mean, I could live here? And, my job would be working for some magic dude, helping people every day?”

Atticus laughed “Yes, I suppose you could put it that way!”

Charlie's heart was racing as she wondered with a manic grin what she was getting herself into. “When do I start?”