The book that saved my life.

It was a beautiful summer day. I woke up in the perfect mood. I get dressed and ready for my day. As I head downstairs, I smell the wonderful aroma of breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast, coffee. Keep it coming!! Now it’s time to leave.

I decide to take a long walk. It was a nice day. Why not? I take this what all the time. But this walk was unusual. This walk would changed my life. Not because it helps me stay healthy. It was for a whole different reason.

Now I’m not big on looking at the things around me. But for some reason this day would not be like the other days. I see something strange in the distance. As I inch closer and closer. It becomes more clear. What do I see? It’s a little black book. But not just any black book. This black book was special. Inside the book were clues. Clues that I soon discovered would make me the happiest man alive.

I love puzzles. And as I read the clues more and more I come to understand that there was something special at then end. But what? What was the special gift at the end. I decided that I was up for the challenge. So I started to decipher the clues. The first clue took me to the train station. At the station it told me to find a locker. It gave me a number. I found the locker number and it gave me my next clue. That clue took me downtown to a fancy office building. I walk inside and clue lead me to the a bathroom. I went to the last stall. It said to open the top part. I did and I found my next clue.

Well. The next clue brought me to a dog shelter. The clue gave a name. I figured it was the name of one of the dogs. I was right!! I asked to see the dog. Under the dogs collar was another clue. My next stop was a coffee shop. As I was into the coffee shop, the clue gave a name of a drink. I ordered the drink. As I was handed my cup. There was another clue under the cup. How crazy!!!

I was starting to get tired and I really didn’t want to keep going. But I figured I was in this deep. I might as well keep going. So I did. This next clue brought me to a house. At first I thought someone lived there. But I soon found out it was empty. I went to see if the door was unlocked. It’s wasn’t. So I looked around for a key. I had seen in the movies that sometimes a key is under a rock. I looked and looked. And looked. I found a strange looking rock and thought. I might as well give it a try. And I found the key.

As I walk inside the clue told me to check the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and I looked everywhere. I looked under the sink and found the last clue. I knew it was the last clue because it said last clue. It told me to go back to the beginning. But where is the beginning?

I figured I would go back to where I found the little black book. So I did. The last clue has a picture of a tree. I knew exactly which tree the clue was referring to. As I said earlier. I took that trail many times before. So I went to the tree. There was a hole in the tree. I had never noticed this before. As I put my hand in the tree. I found a bag. I pulled the back out and opened it. I couldn’t believe me eyes.

This can’t be real. But it was. Inside the bag was over 5 million dollars. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I sat down for a minute. I thought back and realized what had happened. Every clue had a meaning. I remember the walk that I took every day. There would always be this old man. Nobody really paid attention to him. I would always be nice and say hi. We would talk occasionally. I didn’t think anything of it.

Why didn’t I realize this before? The train station. That’s the train station he said he would take all the time. The fancy office building downtown was the building he use to work in. The dog shelter was were he found his favorite dog. The coffee shop. He loved coffee. He would go to the coffee shop every morning. The house. Of course. The house was the house that he use to live in. I was so involved with figuring out these clues that I didn’t sit to think of the meaning of all these clues. But why me?

I wasn’t anyone special. But in all honesty to this man. I was. I was one of the only people that ever talked to him. I was so nice to him. I didn’t think anything of it. But to someone who is lonely. Just talking to them can mean so much to them. It was a small good deed to me. But to him. It was the greatest gift I could ever give him. This made me realize. No matter what you are going through in life. It doesn’t take much to make someone else’s day better. Whether it be a simple smile or a hi. Or a short conversation to cheer someone up. Never think anything that is small to be insignificant.

You could be going through the worst day ever. But if you make someone else smile. You just might make yourself smile and turn your day around in a blink of an eye. So be grateful for your life. Say hi to strangers. Smile at your neighbor. Give someone a kind word. It doesn’t cost a penny to warm someone else’s heart.