Kindness Rewarded

I. The Find

It was to be the perfect mid spring day, once the morning dew yielded to the warm sunshine and crystal clear skies. The perfect time for a spontaneous day trip through the local countryside.

He set out alone, as was he place in life. But he was ready for adventure and exploration. He spoke into his cell phone search engine, “Directions for a 6 hour round trip road trip,” and after he okayed using his current location the adventure was on!

As he was guided on the journey, he stopped at visually appealing locations to snap pictures, documenting the landscapes he found.

When he reached the halfway point in his journey he stopped in a quaint little town for a fuel top off. He asked the attendant “What’s interesting to explore here?” The attendant wasted no time informing him about an old school house that hosted weekend estate sales. “There is a big one today the town is buzzing about,” and gave the man directions as he handed him the receipt.

II. The Discovery

The man now tired of driving decided to check out the old school house and the estate sale. He looked in his wallet and decided if he found something of interest he could spend $10 of his remaining $20 cash.

Once at the school house he couldn’t resist taking a few photos, he was drawn to its architecture as much as any scenic landscape in his photo collection.

He went inside a meandered through the rooms, somewhat aimlessly. But then was drawn to a small room filled with boxes of books. He was pleased no one else was there so he could freely explore the collection.

In the room he found the typical items; paperback novels, hardcover thrillers and biographies. But then he was again seemingly drawn to a small 1’x1’ carton with miscellaneous items. The box was marked $5 for all. He couldn’t resist the bargain, especially since it was within his budget and instinctively grabbed the box and carried it to the cashier. As the cashier handed him his change, he stuffed it in the jar simply labeled “Please Help.” “My good deed for the day,” he muttered aloud.

He suddenly felt an overwhelming need to take the box somewhere quiet to look at the items more closely. Before exiting, he asked the cashier for directions to such a place. She kindly directed him to a nearby park. “People in this town are so kind and helpful,” he mused. Quite uncommon in this day. He felt even better about his good deed, almost inspired.

When he began looking through the items, he found interesting papers, random sealed envelopes, family photos, and at the very bottom, a little black book that appeared to be some sort of diary. He determined this because of the little lock binding the book closed. “Perhaps this could be an interesting read,” he again mused.

He scratched around the box but couldn’t find the key. He checked some of the sealed envelopes by shaking them and holding them up to the sunlight. No key, although one envelope seemed to contain a hand drawn map.

Intriguing, but will have to wait. Must find the key! His last ditch effort was to try and pry open the book itself and shake it. He didn’t know why this idea came to him, but as he began shaking, as if by magic the little key dropped onto the picnic table; landing squarely and firmly onto the envelope containing the map.

He tried the key and to his surprise it indeed opened the book. He immediately began reading the passages.

They described in detail a confession of a secret fortune. Hidden from the persons family for various reasons; greed and unworthiness of receiving such wealth were top of the list.

The writer of the diary explained that whoever became custodian of the little black book would become the rightful heir to the fortune, but they had to prove their worth by following the treasure map to find the money. He opened the mystery envelope and discovered the map. Now the real adventure begins!

III. The Search

The treasure map was of the local town, with very simple instructions in the legend key. Start here, go here, continue there and look here. Could this be a wild goose chase?

He decided he had set out for an adventure so why not take a leap of faith and see where it leads.

One hour later he found the location the map said the treasure would be found. To his surprise, it had been seemingly untouched to this day, and to his surprise; there it was.

A briefcase holding $200,000 in cash!

IV. The Reward

Now this was an extraordinary find! But after the adrenaline wire down, the man knew he couldn’t just end up with such an amount of money without raising suspicion.

He decided ultimately to turn it in to the little town that had such kind, helpful and inspiring people. After a little research he determined the proper authorities to give the briefcase, treasure map and little black book to.

He felt good about his decision but still imagined how even that somewhat small amount of money (by today’s standards) could have changed his life. “Probably more trouble than it was worth,” he surmised. He still felt positive and inspired by returning the money. He shrugged it off as a once in a lifetime adventure.

After about a month, life went on and he thought little more about it; until one day he received a call originating from the quaint little town with the kind, helpful and inspiring people.

The caller explained that when the man turned in the money and provided his contact information, little did he know there had been a “finders fee,” clause (in the papers that were in a sealed envelope that was hidden inside the briefcase) for the individual that returned the money to the town, on their own volition.

That finders fee was a tax free gift of $20,000! A much more manageable and guilt free amount to receive and use as he needed. He accepted his just reward and the new found fortune helped him toward reaching his own financial freedom!

Moral: do not discount the kindness of strangers nor be uninspired to bestow your own acts of kindness, as they may reward you eventually.

And:

Never pass up the chance for a good adventure!