“Little Black Book”

Bobby Briggs, 36, sat solemnly at the airport. He had a full mind and heavy heart due to the chain of events that recently took place in his life. Bobby didn’t have any destination in mind to where he might be going. He just figured in his heart that he should fly to a destination far away from the life and people he had come to know in the past several years. He had recently lost his girlfriend and his job in a span of a single day.

The events took place at his factory warehouse. Bobby was a material handler and was expecting to meet his girlfriend in the break room when lunchtime had arrived. Bobby was a bit worried when his girlfriend didn’t show up. His natural curiosity wanted to know where she was. So, like any concerned person, he went searching for her. He searched the rooms in the warehouse. He even searched both the ladies’ and mens’ restroom. At this time, Bobby figured that she wasn’t inside the warehouse so he decided to check the parking lot outside. This is where the ensuing events would forever scar his image of his town and workplace.

Bobby was about 100 feet from his vehicle when he noticed some movements in the car. His mind began to race with eerie anticipation as he edged closer with each step. Once he was about 20 feet away, he noticed his girlfriend was topless and was on top of his own work supervisor. They were engaged in passion. This enraged Bobby. He started to run towards his car. Before he got there, both Bobby’s girlfriend and her lover were aware that their secret had been revealed. Bobby’s supervisor quickly buttoned up his trousers and opened the door. He tried to stop Bobby and offer reasoning, but Bobby was in such a state of volatile anger that he maliciously attacked his supervisor with a flurry of punches. He even forced him down to the pavement. He was about to unload some more angry punches until her heard the concerned cry of his girlfriend. She yelled ”no!” She pleaded with Bobby to cease his actions. His mind began to regain the sane reasoning and he realized what he had done. He glanced over at his girlfriend, who was covering herself, and his eyes began to water. He started to sob uncontrollably. He kept repeating “why, why, why” Bobby’s girlfriend quickly put her clothes back on and went to alert the proper authority. When the smoke had all cleared, Bobby was fired and owed money to the man he assaulted which was his boss.

Apparently word had gotten out about Bobby’s assault charge. This made it nearly impossible to find a job in his city. Bobby owed money and it was impossible for him to pay the dues with the money he had in his name. He had exactly 964.12 in his account. His debts far exceeded what he had. A lot of thoughts ran through his mind before he decided to come to the airport. He even considered suicide. In his view he figured his life was over. He didn’t have the connections, educational prowess, or any close family members that could help him out. Bobby‘s mind told him that he should flee to another country. This is how he came to be at the airport at this time.

Bobby knew that his reasoning probably sounded crazy, but he was at his wits end. He just sat in his seat at the airport and began to ponder about his life. He was surrounded by people who were not paying attention to him. They were just going about their own business. That was until Bobby decided to do something he hadn’t done in quite a while. He began to pray. Bobby prayed aloud with so much seriousness and desperation that he caught the attention of the people near him. Some looked at him oddly. Some giggled. Others just paid to mind. Bobby prayed: “Dear God, please help me. I know I haven’t done everything right in my life. I am sorry for the mistakes I’ve made, and I want to atone for the sins I’ve committed. I just need some guidance, Lord. I need a miracle. I say these things humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” After his prayer, Bobby felt a little better. He didn’t care how he must have looked in front of the others while he prayed. He felt a hint of inner peace that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Bobby just sat there for a few minutes.

Some more time passed and Bobby noticed a very pleasant and cheerful looking woman come into his field of vision. He gazed his eyes upon her as she was nearing closer to him. As she walked by, she dropped something. It was a little black notebook. The woman did not slow down a bit as she continued to briskly walk forward. Bobby just looked at that little black notebook for a moment. He waited for someone to do something, or for the woman to turn around and retrieve the book. Nobody noticed and the woman never turned around. The black notebook seemed to have a resonating glow about it. The book was almost calling out to Bobby to pick it up. So he did. He didn’t open it up, but he briefly studied the fine Moleskine cover which was alluring to the eye. Bobby quickly rose from seat and attempted to follow the woman and return the little book. She was a good 100 feet away and was heading towards the exit. Bobby sprinted valiantly after her. He yelled “Ma’am! You dropped your book.” She didn’t turn around. She went out the door and quickly got into a taxi. Bobby watched her. Before she got in, she turned around and smiled at him. For some reason,Bobby felt at ease with her smile and knew at that moment that she wanted him to have that little black book. She quickly disappeared in the taxi.

Bobby didn’t know what to make of the situation exactly, but he came to the conclusion that strange mystical forces were at work here. He returned to his seat with the book in hand. He opened it up and began to read the contents. Bobby was a bit confused at first. It appeared like there were just random letters written down. There were also price numbers written by the random letters. Bobby did a little searching on his smart phone. After nearly an hour of studying, he came to realize that these letters were IPO stocks and the accompanying prices. Bobby knew little about the stock market, but he just had a “gut” feeling that he should follow the guidance of this Moleskine black book in his possession. Bobby still had a choice. He could either purchase a plane ticket, leave the country and his personal debts and anguish, or he could invest in the stock market with the money he had. His conscience convinced him to do the latter. Bobby invested in the stock market. He went all out and invested every last cent he had. His faith in the contents of the book made him a believer. He purchased all the stocks suggested. The stocks varied from pharmaceutical companies, tech companies, entertainment, and private businesses.

A few days later, Bobby’s investments made huge divedends. The value of his stocks exceeded 20,000 dollars. Bobby was elated and felt it was a blessing from God. The first priority was to pay off his personal debts, so he did it. The stock value continued to rise. He knew he was blessed, so he set aside 25 percent of his assets to be used for charitable contributions. More importantly, he had a reborn faith in God. Bobby was convinced that the woman he saw at the airport must have been an angel of mercy. Bobby could have used his newly acquired fortune to spoil himself with luxury, but he knew that his money would be better served to help those in need. He had an ample amount to sustain himself, but he considered it a duty to help those less fortunate than himself. Bobby was a changed man. The origin of this great change was due to the contents he found in that Moleskine black notebook. Thank God for that notebook!!