Windfall

The door chimed as I entered Big Jimmy’s restaurant, the smell of delicious bbq wafting in my nose. I could feel the cool air of the AC soak into my warm skin. It was the beginning of June but the weather had been warmer than usual. I looked towards the bar catching the eye of Sandra, the waitress. I smiled and lifted my hand in a wave, she smiled back and tilted her head toward an empty booth. I took the cue and went to the booth putting my purse on the table before sliding in to sit, the leather was cool on my skin. My leg brushed something as I was getting comfortable, I looked down to discover a black notebook on the seat beside me. Curiously I picked it up, flipping open to the first page and it was titled bucket list with nothing else written. Rolling my eyes, I wondered why so many people wrote these silly bucket lists, no one ever finished them anyways. People would write down every interesting thing they could ever imagine and then complete a couple things, leaving unfulfilled dreams stuffed on a shelf never to be thought of again.

“How are you doing honey?” Sandra asked as she placed a glass of water in front of me, her blond bangs falling in her face. She knew I had been having a rough go lately. I had just left my long-term partner, moved out and was trying to start over. It was lonely not having someone to go home to, so I had started working as much over time as possible. I only went home to sleep so that I wouldn’t have to sit in the silence.

“Busy as ever, but I’d never miss my Sunday night date with big Jimmy’s beef dip sandwich.” I winked at her.

Sandra laughed and we chatted for a few minutes before she left to put my order in. I loved to come here for the food and the atmosphere, it was cozy and no one looked twice at me sitting alone enjoying my night. My attention was drawn to the book, wondering what could be on list. I flipped open the pages to a random spot. It read Number 9: Take a trip completely by yourself. I stared at the page, wondering what it would be like to take a trip alone. I didn’t think I would ever be able to take a trip completely alone. It was hard enough living on my own right now. It would be nice to choose where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, an adventure that was my choosing. I didn’t want to compromise.

Under the writing an envelope was secured to the page. It wasn’t sealed, so I peeked inside and almost dropped the book when I saw a One Thousand Dollar bill. I quickly shut the book and looked around to see if anyone was watching me. My face suddenly felt flushed and my heart was racing. Slowly after making sure no one was watching me I flipped to the first item on the list Number 1: Spend an entire day at an amusement park and ride the Ferris wheel at sun set. I opened the envelope on that page, it held the same amount. My heart again started to race. I was amazed at what I had stumbled upon. I went through the rest of the list and found that each page had a task and One Thousand Dollars in an envelope there were twenty tasks and Twenty Thousand Dollars in the notebook.

I started to wonder about the person who had left the book here, I was positive they would want it back. I flipped to the last page to see if it had the owners name so that I could return It to them, I found a note instead.

Dear stranger,

I have left this book for someone to find, to change their life. This book contains 20 tasks with enough money for each plus more. You could just take the money and run, but I hope you open your mind to the possibilities and find the magic and adventure this book has to offer you.

My eyes started to water. I had been given Twenty Thousand Dollars by a complete stranger. I was so happy that I could finally feel comfortable financially, it was an amazing gift.

Sandra set my food on the table in front of me. With a smile she said “Enjoy your meal honey bee.” And left to bring another table their drinks.

I was too excited about the money to eat my food. I opened the book to the last page and read the note again. I started to feel guilty that I was just planning to take the money. I hadn’t even considered completing the bucket list, they were stupid anyways. I decided I would go through the whole bucket list and see if I could do a couple of the tasks so I would feel less guilty.

Number one I would do, because there was an amusement park only forty-five minutes away. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid, it sounded like fun. Number two and three were both to read books Eat Pray Love, and The life of pi. There were so many things to do on the list and the ones that stood out to me the most in the first ten were Sky diving, taking a trip alone, and white-water rafting. They were all terrifying, why would anyone want to do these things?

Every page I asked myself ‘would you do this if someone paid you $1000. I kept reading and they kept getting crazier, rock climbing, skiing in the mountains, hang gliding, and swimming with sharks. Who was the person that wrote this list? There was no way that I would do even half of this list! I was just going to keep the money and not worry about this crazy list. They even put skinny dipping on it!

I quickly shut the book and shoved it in my purse, not wanting to think about the list anymore. I picked up my sandwich and took a bite. As I was chewing my food, I couldn’t help but think back to the list, maybe skiing in the mountains could be fun. I hadn’t done anything adventurous in my life so far. I had always been concerned about making something of myself and building my life so that I could have a family, but all of that had blown up in my face so far. Maybe it was time for me to start living my life and doing things out of my comfort zone.

I finished eating my sandwich and took the book out of my purse. I nibbled on my fries while I read the rest of the list. There were easy ones like ordering desert before dinner or sleeping under the stars, participating in a ‘tough mudder’ competition, if I did the competition it would give me the push to get healthier and start to take care of myself again. There was also volunteering in a soup kitchen and a hospital, I had always wanted to give back to my community, maybe this list wouldn’t be so bad. Every time I thought I would be more comfortable with the list it always got crazier, spend the night in a haunted house on the list. The last few things seemed amazing, go whale watching, see an award-winning play and see the northern lights. They were things I had always dreamed of doing, but never thought I actually would.

The list enticed me, but I wasn’t the kind of person that could do these things. I tucked the book in my purse and decided I was going to keep the money and forget abought the bucket list. Sandra came to clear the table and give me my bill. I paid, gave Sandra a hug letting her know that I’d see her in a week and went out into the warm June night heading home.

I tossed and turned that whole night unable to sleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about the little black book and my brain was working over-time. I gave up on sleeping and whipped my blanket off. I decided to surf the internet to waste some time. I spent some time on social media just looking through other people’s lives, they all seemed so interesting I felt jealous. I wanted to do something other than work all the time and always be alone. Before I knew I was doing it, I started to research life changing vacations to take by yourself and how to meet people while travelling. Before I left for work that morning, I had booked myself a ticket to Iceland for two weeks and I would let my work know that day.

A month of planning went by quickly and I sat at the airport, suitcase beside me, waiting for my flight.

“We are now boarding all of the passengers for flight 308 to Iceland.” A voice over the intercom announced.

I boarded the plane, suitcase dragging behind me. I found my seat quickly and settled in. I looked around the plane and saw everyone else excited for their next adventure and knew I had made the right decision. My whole life had changed all because of that little black notebook.