Very Good Notes

It was just shortly after dawn when Robert opened his eyes to the amber sunlight trickling into his Toronto Apartment. He laid in his bed staring at the ceiling waiting for his brain to fire up. He had been up late last night, and even later the night previous. Had been studying for the last exam of his undergraduate university career.

It was only hours until Robert would close this chapter of his life forever. He supposed he could be more excited, however, he was graduating with a bachelor's in Philosophy and really wasn’t sure where life would take him after today. After all, this isn’t necessarily the type of degree that sets you up for a fruitful career in, well…anything specific. Except thinking to himself perhaps.

Nonetheless, Robert was happy and grateful to be achieving this milestone. He knew he would do great things, even though he wasn’t sure what they were, when he would do them, or how. He had the type of unwarranted arrogance, that we all envy.

He took a warm shower, got dressed, and had a bowl of Fruit Loops breakfast cereal. It was 6:30 AM at this point, and his exam was at 11 AM. It would only take him about 25 minutes to get to school, but his plan was to arrive early to find somewhere comfortable to study for a few hours, rather than show up in a panic like the rest of his classmates would.

Robert had no idea that this decision to leave early on this day would be the worst decision he made today, but the best one he had made in his life.

He started out of his apartment to the street and made his way toward the subway. He pulled out a little black notebook from his black backpack and quickly flipped it to a page marked by his pen. It was his journal. He couldn’t live without it and could be caught at many points in the day jotting down his thoughts. He must have had over three hundred filled notebooks at home. He was a thinking man after all.

However, he should have been paying more attention. To what was going on around him, for right before he had entered the subway, a stranger was able to reach into Robert’s still open bag and steal his laptop and additional notebook.

It wasn’t until he had already gotten on the subway that Robert realized what had happened. But the person who had stolen his laptop must have made a b-line in the opposite direction and was long gone by now. He had his notes, memories, and life on that laptop. Needless to say this spoiled his day before his exam. His whole plan was to arrive early to study, and without his laptop, he really had no material other than his own black notebook to write in.

He got off the subway, clearly upset. The type of upset that makes other people want to look away from you as to not incur your wrath. It wasn’t until about 100 meters away from the main campus student center when Robert was confronted by an older gentleman. The gentleman stopped him and asked why his face had such a scowl on it.

Robert explain what had happened to him and that his laptop was stolen just minutes before. The old man nodded his head. He understood, but then looked up at Robert and said,

“It seemed he needed it more than you,” and just walked away.

It was a strange thing to say, but the more Robert ruminated on the phrase, the more it resonated with him. Surely anyone who is willing to blatantly steal must need what they are stealing right? People don’t usually do things like that for the heck of it…just because. At least he hoped. Thinking this way made him feel better.

When it was time to write his exam, Robert placed his backpack at the front of the room with all of the other students. He placed his in the left corner of the room, where he had been placing his bag for the last four years so he could always find it in a crowd. But today he wouldn’t notice when a stranger would move it during the exam.

It was a long and grueling exam to say the least, but he able to get through it Robert was one of the last students to complete writing, but that was nothing new. He always had a lot to say in his writing.

But when we went to look for his back at the end of the exam, it had been shifted to the other side of the room. He could tell it was his bag by his initials written on the right should strap in silver sharpie. First the laptop and now this he thought.

He made his way over quickly after handing in his exam booklet. He opened the bag, expecting the worst, even though he only had his notebook, a copy of The Lord of the Flies, and a pack of bubble gum in the bag. None of those things seemed to be missing and so he left the auditorium. Perhaps, someone simply had mixed up their backpacks before realizing.

Until he realized that there was a piece of paper sticking out of his notebook which had not been there before. He pulled the notebook out of the bag to find a cheque for $1,000,000 wedged into the last page. The craziest part was that it was made out to him, Robert Gram.

But how? When?

None of this made sense until he read the last journal entry in his notebook. The handwriting was different from his own. Someone else had written it.

It simply read:

“Hi Robert. You take amazing notes. Three hours was more than enough time to cram for this exam thanks to you. I'm sorry I had to steal your laptop earlier, but forgiveness is easier to ask for than permission. I hope you enjoy my apology”.