The Book

The day Lindsey Ann’s life changed was the day she found the Book. She was in a local used book shop when she found it because it was a simple book, plain black on the outside with no title or author. The inside was equally plain. It was filled with unlined, blank pages. Except for the first line on the first page, which was filled with a single sentence in a spidery script.

“The person who follows the instructions in this Book will be richly rewarded.” It was that sentence that prompted her to pick it up and take it home, further puzzled because the man behind the counter didn’t have it in inventory, letting her take it home for free.

When she got home, she opened it to the front to see that the beginning sentence had expanded to a full page. It now read, “Hello Lindsey, thank you for picking me up. Over the next few days, we will become even better friends.” Lindsey closed the Book, slightly freaked out that it had called her by name. Eventually, her curiosity got the better of her and she reopened it.

“Now that you are over your understandable reservations, this is the deal,” the Book now read. “Every day for the next five days, I will give you three tasks. Each task will earn you One million dollars in your bank account. If you complete all three tasks for a day, you will get an additional Two million dollars for a total of Five million dollars. By then end of five days, if you do everything you are asked to do, you will have a total of Twenty-five million dollars.”

Lindsey gaped at the Book, there was no way this was real. She put the book down and decided she would wait and see what kind of tasks the book would set for her before deciding whether or not she would try. That night, before she went to bed, she placed the book on her bedside table so she could get to it in the morning before anything else. The next morning, the Book had her first three tasks available.

“Good morning Lindsey,” it read. “Here are your first three tasks. Today, you are to do five random acts of kindness for people you don’t know, to pick up twenty pieces of garbage off the ground and to take the bus everywhere instead of drive today. These are to be done in any order.”

Lindsey blinked at the instructions, they seemed so straightforward. ‘I can do this,’ she thought. She then got ready for the day and went out. As instructed, she was planning on taking the bus to work, so she left about thirty minutes early to arrive on time. She went through her day, picking things up as she saw them and performing her random acts of kindness.

By the time she got home, riding the bus had made her more tired than she thought she would be, but feeling slightly more fulfilled. She hadn’t thought to check her account yet but planned on doing so after she ate. She didn’t think about it again until she was ready to go to bed.

Checking her account revealed that she had indeed received Five million dollars in deposits from a mysterious source. At this point, she wasn’t surprised to see that the Book had followed through. She wanted to see if there were further instructions, so she checked the Book. It read, “You successfully passed your first day.” She went to bed with a smile on her face.

The next morning, she checked for her instructions. The Book read, “Here are your next three tasks. Today you must, find five charities that you would be willing to donate to and list them in these pages. You must also take the bus everywhere again and start looking for your dream house. Price is no option, just find places that you love. By the end of the day, you must have five places in mind and list the addresses in here. Have a good day!”

Lindsey shrugged her shoulders and decided to take a day off from work. She decided to spend her morning looking into various charities, deciding that animal charities would do the best good in the world.

The afternoon, she spent looking for houses that she loved. She started looking for houses that matched her style. She soon had a list of ten houses in the area that were easy to get to on the bus routes, up for sale, and matched her favorite style of Gothic Victorian.

After compiling her list, she noted that they were all listed under the same realtor, so she called them to set up an appointment to discuss the merits of each house. After the meeting, she felt confident in her top five houses.

When she got home, she wrote both her charity and house choices, then checked her account, wondering how quickly the Book would use its magic. Her account reflected an additional Five million dollars. Afterwards, she checked again, to be congratulated for completing the second day. That night, as was becoming her routine, she left it on her nightstand.

The next morning when she checked the Book, it had new tasks in place for her. “Congratulations on reaching day Three.” The book read, “You are going to need to take the day off for the next three tasks I have for you. First, you need to go to your favorite coffee shop and offer to buy coffee for the person who makes your coffee. If they accept, ask them out to dinner. While you drink your coffee, pick your favorite charity out of the ones that you selected yesterday. Finally, you need to investigate your five house choices more, and pick your favorite.”

Lindsey closed her book, called in for another day off, and headed out to her favorite coffee shop and ordered her coffee. The barista who took her order was a young man that she’d talked books with several times. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was to offer him a coffee.

He agreed and she felt her heart thump when he offered to join her, as he was going on break. They sat at a table in an alcove, talking for the next few minutes about their favorite books, as she worked up her nerve to ask him out for dinner the next evening. He looked surprised but agreed to go out with her to a local restaurant. After he went back to work, she went over the charities she’d chosen and decided that her favorite was the Best Friends Animal Society, as they specialized in no-kill shelters.

When she got home, she grabbed the Book and wrote down her favorite charity. She then called the realtor and set up appointments to look at the houses she’d liked. Of the five, only one had everything she needed to be a true dream house for her. It was a brick house, in the Gothic Victorian Style. The bricks were dark red, and the roof and shutters and all the trims were in dark ebony. When she walked into the house, she knew it was right, even before seeing the whole house.

After touring the houses, she went back to her house, and wrote her choice down in the Book. She then checked her account to find herself Five million dollars richer. Placing the Book on her bedside table, she went to bed, excited for what the next day would bring.

Day four began with a registered letter from the real estate agent. It stated that the house she’d picked was now hers and that she could move in at the end of the week. She also received an email stating that a large donation had been made in her name to her charity. With excitement, she opened the book to get her new tasks.

“Welcome to day four!” The Book read, “The first task I have for you today are to quit your job. Next, you need to go shopping for a new dress to wear for dinner tonight. Finally, you are to go somewhere in need of cleanup and pick up all the garbage. Your day is going to be busy, so get to it!”

Lindsey smiled at the instructions and picked up her phone to call her boss. After explaining the situation, she told her boss that she’d quit. She got the feeling that her boss didn’t completely believe her, but she was too preoccupied with her second task to care.

She then went out to find a dress for dinner, finding the perfect black dress with matching shoes and gold jewelry. The dress was a halter style slip dress that fell to mid-thigh. Her shoes were black wedges, and her jewelry was a delicate chain with a small star charm and star-shaped studs.

Afterwards, she went to a local park that was constantly being destroyed by the local teenagers and random people and spent the next three hours picking up all the garbage and in general making the park a safe place for the children to play.

Finally, she went home and got ready for her date. The evening passed pleasantly, and when he asked for a second date at the end of the night, she readily agreed. Before bed, she checked both her book and account, receiving confirmation that she had successfully completed the day, before falling asleep.

The final day, Lindsey woke up with a smile on her face. She grabbed the book and looked to her tasks. “Welcome to our final day, Lindsey.” The Book read, “Today you are to hire a moving service, adopt a pet or two, and volunteer at a local soup kitchen.”

Lindsey closed the book and looked up the number to the moving service she had used when she moved into her current house. She confirmed with them that she would be moving in three days and they would come pack and move her things to her new house.

She then went to a local pet shelter and found a beautiful black pit bull named Thunder. She also found a beautiful white cat named Cloud. Happily, she took them both home.

To perform her final task, she went to a soup kitchen she’d noticed by the Pet Shelter. Before she left, she talked to the woman in charge of the Soup Kitchen and donated 1 million dollars to them. She also went back to the animal shelter and donated 1 million dollars to them.

Her heart full, Lindsey returned home to her new animal companions. Before bed, she checked her account, noting a full 25 million dollars. She also checked the book, which congratulated her on completing day five.

The next morning, Lindsey opened the book to see what was next. It read, “It is time for us to part ways. Please take me somewhere public and leave me for someone else to benefit from me.” Lindsey’s smile was bittersweet, but she did as the book asked. She took the book to the bus she boarded everyday and left it on the seat when she got off.

That evening, after having another date with her barista, Lindsey checked her account, astonished to see that there was an additional 25 million dollars in her account, totaling 50 million dollars. She also checked her email to find a last message from her benefactor.

“Congratulations on finishing all five days. As you successfully left the book for someone else to find, you have earned an extra 25 million dollars. Have a wonderful life. Signed, the Book.”