My Little Book Gift

Eighty years ago. God, it seems like forever ago now. You know it's funny how you don't think about life and the little idiosyncrasies that go with it until you look closely at everything. Alas I digress, let me start at the beginning.

I was just fresh off my college graduation walking around New York City attending interview after interview hoping to find my dream job right away(yes I know the odds were against me), when one day as I'm walking my foot kicks a book lying on the ground. I stop and pick it up for I am and always have been a lover of the written word. The book was bound in black leather and looked fairly used. I threw it into my knapsack and kept going making a mental note to look at it once I was home.

As I got home that evening I poured myself a glass of wine and sat with it and the book on the couch to begin my cursory investigation into the secrets held between the bindings. I opened up the cover and on the first page was written the following.

This is the book of greed. Everything that gets written or placed between the pages of this book shall henceforth be multiplied. A hark of warning to you dear reader. All will be multiplied whether that be for good or ill is in your hands. Proceed for whether your worse nightmares or your most pleasant of dreams shall come from this is in your hands.

I had just taken a sip of my drink and had to stop myself from laughing and spitting it everywhere when i read those words. Honestly it couldn't expect me to believe such nonsense. Magic books weren't real. This had to all be a farce yet a small part of me wanted to give it a try because what if it wasn't a ruse. What if it was genuine. So I decided to read and reread the rules several times to make sure I had all the nuances figured out. I then put a single dollar bill within the pages of the book finished up my drink and retired for the evening.

The next morning after getting ready for the day, I proceeded to open the book and out of the book fell so much cash that it fell into a pile around my feet. I could scarcely believe it, no way all of this came out of that book. I had to hurry about my day so I grabbed a bag and threw all the money into it and hid it until I could return that evening.

I went about my day but all that i could focus on was the pile of money waiting for me back at my apartment. The day went by like a blur until i was finally sitting at my kitchen table full of apprehension at the task ahead. It wasn't going to count itself so I did and thirty minutes later I had several stacks all adding to the grand total of twenty-thousand dollars. I couldn't believe my luck. With this book I would never had to worry about money again.

As the years passed and i married had a family and grew old i never did. I always kept that book near me and always in my sight. Until one day I went to use it and it was gone. Vanished without a trace. It was as if my time had come to an end and it had gone in search of a new owner. This was five years ago and now as I lay here nearing the end of my time. I reflect on the happiness it brought me and the sorrow but that is a story for next time.