The Miracle Book

“LaSalle & Clark is next” came the voice over the loud speaker of the train Lisa was riding to work. She gathered her backpack and stood up. The train came to a stop and Lisa followed others getting off at LaSalle & Clark. Today was Tuesday, 3 days from payday and 3 days from the stress of knowing that her paycheck would not cover the amount of bills that needed to be paid.

“Damn,” Lisa said in her head. She wished that she could just come into a lump sum of money to get out of the hole and have some breathing room. “I need to find another job” she thought to herself, “a side gig” or something. She had been searching the internet for these “side gigs” she read about and people bringing in an extra 2 or 3 thousand dollars a month. But most of them needed money upfront to get started or a car (which she didn’t have). She had even tried selling clothes on websites, but that hadn’t panned out. It seemed like people basically wanted the clothing for free and she wasn’t about to sell a $100 dress, barely worn, for $5. “Ridiculous” she thought, “I might as well just take the clothes to the Goodwill.”

As Lisa approached her building, a voice behind her called out. “Hey Lisa.” She turned and looked, “Oh, Good Morning Kevin,” she smiled. “How are you today?”

“I’m good. Another day, another dollar” laughed Kevin.

“You got that right” Lisa laughed, “a whole freakin’ dollar!” They both laughed as they approached the elevators in the lobby of the building. “Hey Kevin, I’ll see you upstairs, I need to run in the store right quick.”

There was a small convenience store in the lobby and Lisa went in to buy a pack of gum. “Good Morning,” she said to the clerk as she put the gum on the counter. “Good morning” he replied. “That’s $1.08.”

“Thank you, have a nice day” she said. “You too” replied the clerk.

Lisa walked out the door and back to the elevator bank, pushing the button to go up. The elevator door opened and Lisa stepped in, pushing button 9 for her floor. The door closed and as she put the pack of gum in her purse, something caught her eye on the floor of the elevator. She looked and stooped to pick it up, a little black book, like one you would carry for telephone numbers and addresses. The elevator door opened to Floor 9 and Lisa stepped off and went through the door and to her cubicle. Settling in, turning on her computer and waiting for it to load, Lisa’s attention turned back to the little black book she had found in the elevator. On the inside front cover, it read “For You.”

Lisa flipped through the pages which were mostly blank. Midway through the small book another page read, “For You.”

“Okay” Lisa thought to herself “what does that mean, for you?”

She went back through the previous pages to see if she had missed something, but they were all blank. She continued turning the pages one by one when she came to another page that read “Can you believe in miracles?” She stopped and looked at those words, or at least one word, “miracles.”

Miracles? As in “Jesus miracles?” she thought to herself. She felt compelled to answer the question if only to herself. “Yeah, I guess so, I believe in miracles.” She had heard enough stories in her life from people that she knew, to strangers, to say that “miracles” can happen.

Lisa turned the page and to her surprise the next page read, “Do you need a miracle?” Again, Lisa felt compelled to answer the question. Under her breath she said, “Yes, I need a miracle.” She stopped as she let her answer flow from her head to the words in front of her. “Yes, I need a miracle” she said again under her breath. She turned the page and found the next words.

“Believe and Receive”

“Believe and Receive” Lisa said out loud.

Lisa thought of the upcoming payday and the stress it would bring of having too many bills and not enough money. The stress of figuring out what DIDN’T get paid two weeks ago, what’s overdue, what MUST be paid and what can be put off. “I need a financial miracle” Lisa thought to herself.

She turned the page and the words leaped from the page “IT’S YOURS!”

She turned the page again and read the words before her.

“This little black book is a miracle way maker, but only if you believe.”

“If you have this little black book, you have been randomly, but wisely chosen for a miracle.”

“You already know what you need and so do I, but you must believe it is possible.”

“Take this book and sleep with it under your pillow tonight.”

“In the morning, you will have the answer to your miracle”

“Once you receive your miracle, you cannot keep this little black book.”

“You must place it in a random place and know that the next person that needs a miracle will find this book.”

“If you try and keep the book for yourself, your miracle will reverse itself and you will not get a chance to get it back.”

“Whatever you do, do NOT break the power of this miracle book.”

Lisa read the words again, with disbelief but at the same time with hope. “Can this be true?” she asked herself. She looked around the office and wondered if she should tell or show someone the book. What if it was someone else’s book? What if they’re looking for it now?

There were at least 20 different companies in the building, it could have been anyone of the hundreds of people that occupy the building daily. “No” she thought, “this is meant for me.” She put the little black book in her purse and started to work. Several times during the day she took the book out and read the pages again. She thought it strange that the words in the book were placed randomly, almost as if you were forced to “search” for it if you wanted to know. A quick glance and flip could have easily led to a person leaving the book behind.

Lisa thought about the financial miracle she needed as she rode the train home after work. She had been going back and forth all day as to whether or not this was real. In the end, she decided that she would believe and follow the directions in the little black book.

The evening went by slowly and the minutes seem to take hours. Lisa could hardly wait until bedtime to put the little black book under her pillow and wake up tomorrow with a miracle. At 10:30, Lisa crawled into the bed and placed the little black book under her pillow whispering “I Believe and I Receive My Miracle.” She said it three times, laid her head on her pillow and tried her best to will herself to sleep. As always, when you actually fall asleep, nobody really knows, it just happens and that is what happened with Lisa, she fell asleep.

“Beep, Beep, Beep” the alarm woke Lisa and as she turned to hit the snooze button, she remembered the little black book. She reached under her pillow and was relieved to feel it, that it wasn’t a dream. She tried to remember any dreams she may have had but the thoughts were fleeting. She sat up in the bed and tried to concentrate on any thoughts that came to her, but there was none. It was Wednesday, two days before payday, two days before stress day.

It was 6:33 when Lisa got out the bed and began to get ready for her day. She got her two daughters up and ready for school and saw them out, then headed to the bus stop to go to the train. She had the little black book with her and it seemed all her senses were on high alert to something happening today, her miracle. The bus came to her stop and Lisa looked up at the bus as it approached. “633 to Park Forest Line”. Hmmm, Lisa thought, I never paid attention to the number on the bus. Her mind went back to the clock this morning and when she got out of bed, 6:33 am. As the bus drove down the street, Lisa looked out the window at the people and cars on their way to work and school.

A black Mustang convertible was on the side of the bus and as Lisa looked at the license plate, it said BKBRD633. “Huh” there goes that number again, 633. “Maybe I should play the lottery today,” she thought to herself. That 633 number keeps showing up, maybe it’s a sign. Lisa didn’t normally play the lottery, but her sister and mother were avid players. Every once in a while, Lisa would buy a ticket when the prize was high, but that was rare. When the bus got to the train station, Lisa went into the store where they sold lottery tickets. The person in front of her brought their purchases and Lisa saw the cash register ring up the customer’s total, $6.33.

“That’s it” Lisa thought to herself. This has got to be the miracle. I have seen this number 4 times today, this has got to be the miracle I’m supposed to receive. She stepped out of line to see how much money she had, $23.00. “Is $23.00 enough to turn into a miracle” she thought. She knew how to play the lottery and she knew that the number 633 straight would get her $500 for every $1.00 that she played. She asked the lady behind the counter to give her 633 straight, $1.00 on 20 different tickets for the afternoon draw. As the tickets printed out, Lisa wondered if she was making a mistake. “No” she said sternly to herself, “BELIEVE AND RECEIVE.” She took the lottery tickets and made her way to the train. Looking out the window at the cars, Lisa studied the cars and license plates, looking for the sign, “633”. Six times she saw the number 633 on license plates, she was convinced that this was her miracle indeed. When she got off the train, she went to the ATM and got another $20. She went into the convenience store and asked for 633 straight for $1.00, 20 times on separate tickets for the afternoon draw. If this went the way it should, she would win $20,000. She put the tickets in her purse and went to work. At 12:15 pm, Lisa logged onto the states lottery website to find the winning numbers for the afternoon draw. She clicked on the “Pick 3” icon and the page opened up showing the latest drawings. The afternoon draw was “633.”

“Oh My God,” Lisa yelled. Her co-worker looked at her, “what’s going on?”

“I just won the lottery” Lisa exclaimed.

“What!” exclaimed her co-worker, “that’s wonderful. How much did you win?”

Lisa thought quickly, I just caught the Pick 3 for this afternoon, 633 for $500.” She didn’t tell her co-worker she had won 40 times.”

That’s great, said her co-worker. Congratulations! Now you can buy yourself something nice, he winked at her. They both laughed, “You got that right” said Lisa.

That evening, Lisa, her mother and sister drove around to 10 different stores cashing in 4 tickets at each store for a total win of $20,000. As they left the final store, they passed by the line of grocery carts waiting for its customers. Lisa took the little black book out of her purse and slipped it onto one of the carts. She smiled and whispered, “BELIEVE AND RECEIVE.”