Oddbook

In my usual morning routine, I woke up before the sun rose and made my fear of the dark obsolete. Yeah, I know. Still afraid of the dark at this age. In many instances, I have no clue to which age group I belong though. I'm the kid in the company I work for, while visiting home, younger siblings revere me as an adult. Guess cash does the trick.

Anyway, waking up this early does my head in. Lifting up the bed cover is literally the hardest part in my workday. I don't even bother with looking the part of a respectable worker. No. I will not yield to you, societal demands!

Haha, but don't worry. I still look human. By other human standards.

Not to brag, but I'm earning my keep at least. And like that, while waiting for the bus in my usual commute, a darned little book hit me straight in the forehead.

"Ouch! Who did that!?" I looked left and right and... I just missed the bus.

'NOOOoooooooo!' I tearfully rubbed the big bump on my forehead even as I was mentally complaining about my rotten luck today.

'Now I'm going to be late to work.' I clenched my teeth in frustration.

After another bout of complaints pouring out with nowhere to vent, I vaguely remembered that the little book was still lying on the floor unattended.

'Let's unveil the contents of the culprit!' I pinched the black cover and carefully glanced at the insides.

'It's not like it's going to hit me again, so why am I being so careful for!?' I picked it up and realized all it's pages were blank. A little tear was decorating maybe half the pages in it. Most probably from the impact.

'That's what you get for messing with me.' I chuckled in satisfaction.

I started ripping the pages and crumpled them in a way of gaining compensation for physical and mental damages. Not to mention the emotional side I suffered.

In the middle of it, I was so focused I almost missed another bus. I boarded the bus gratefully, none of the previous complaints about transportation resurfacing.

'Just you wait, notebook! I'm not finished with you.' I stuffed the bald notebook and it's crumpled pages in my handbag awaiting it's final showdown.

Once I signed in to work, I breathed out relieved.

'Coast is clear. No management in sight. I might just be lucky after all.'

"Amy. My office. Now!"

Sigh.

'Spoke too soon.' I cautiously followed my manager into his office and painfully remembered his last chastisement.

He sat down with a fed up look and I was sure this was bad news.

"Amy. Last time I have warned you that lateness is not acceptable. You repeatedly came in late until recently when you made a bit of progress. And now look at where we are. Back to square one. I'm afraid I will have to consider letting you go. I will review your performance and look at your file. Expect an email later on."

"I understand. Can I go back to work then?"

"Yes. Of course."

As I returned to work, I felt so stressed.

'What If I lose my job? Arghh. And now I have to wait for an email all day wondering if it's my last day in work or not.'

I ended the day absentmindedly and gloomily awaiting to go home to open my emails. Not wanting to torture my mind with waiting any longer I looked through the email and wanted to cry.

'So much for earning my keep. I couldn't even hold on to my first job.'

I opened my bag and mysteriously, all the crumpled pages were gone. In their stead, a pool of 50$ bills were swamping my bag. I pulled them out of my bag in a crazed frenzy and unearthed the notebook that lied dormant for an entire day.

My guesses ran wild, from someone stuffing money into my bag and taking some little to no worth pages which was beyond realistic, to somehow having crumpled pages turning into cash. Which one was most unlikely, I have no idea.

I counted the bills and it was roughly one 50$ bill per page ripped. Failing to restrain my childish curiosity, I ripped the remaining pages and placed them atop the notebook inside my bag.

Opening the zip every five seconds was no exaggeration, but nothing happened in the end.

'Maybe because I didn't crumple them!' I jumped at the realization and proceeded to crumple every single page, no distraction from the task at hand.

Yet again, it was a failure.

'It has something to do with my workplace!' I rushed to work even though I wasn't sure I was allowed into the building anymore, especially off shift. By the time I arrived it was close to midnight. I punched in the entrance code and no one seemed to be on premise. I waited for a while and took my chance.

Sigh. No result.

I was preparing to take my leave when the security alarm went off. I panicked and remembered I was definitely in trouble now. The police ended up coming to investigate with the manager in tow and I knew I probably couldn't recover from this.

After a chain of questions that I needed to answer, I was released with a warning and an official entry on my criminal record. I was so mentally drained that I collapsed on my bed fed up with this particular bizarre day. I reached out to open my handbag to grab some tissue when I realized that my bag was overflowing with cash.

In awe I counted all the bills together and summed it up to 20.000$. So the initial number of pages was 400. Quite a voluminous notebook if you ask me.

The final question is, why did the cash appear in the first place?

I am no smart cookie, but I don't lack the brains to deduce something from the clues I've gathered. Every time money appeared, it was after a great misfortune. I was fired. Puff. Money. I was arrested. Puff. More money.

'This odd notebook turned misfortune into fortune!' I gratefully hugged the empty notebook now consisting only from the black cover and happily went to sleep among the cash pilled on my blanket.

And so, my tale of hate turned into love took place and left me secure financially for at least a year.