Lucky Day

 

            Keri was about to have the luckiest day of her life, but she didn’t know it yet. At the moment, she was just worried about today’s test in her history class. She kept reciting names and dates as she walked to school. She had studied them the night before, but she was still slightly worried.

            Keri held her notes in one hand and wasn’t paying too much attention to where she placed her feet until she nearly tripped over something on the sidewalk. Barely catching herself from falling flat on her face, she looked back to see what she had tripped over.

            A plain brown wallet lay right in the middle of the sidewalk. She looked around and didn’t see anyone else close by, which was a little weird because she was less than a block away from school. Usually there were at least a few other kids walking to school.

            Keri picked up the wallet, hoping to find some kind of ID inside. To her surprise, the wallet fell open, and it was stuffed full of bills. She gasped as she saw that most of them were $100 bills. There had to be at least $5000 inside.

            For a moment, Keri was unsure what to do. Her family wasn’t exactly poor, but they could definitely use this money. She rifled through the wallet, looking for an ID card, but there was only the cash inside. She felt frozen in time as she debated with herself about what to do.

            Finally, after pushing out visions of all the things she could buy with this money, she closed the wallet and straightened up. She wouldn’t keep it, but how was she going to return it?

            Keri decided to take it to school and give it to the office staff. They would know what to do. She hurried off to school before she could change her mind.

            The school secretary was surprised to learn that Keri had found so much money on the sidewalk, and that Keri was just going to turn it in.

            Keri tried not to think about it as she walked off to class. She refocused on studying for the history test. She didn’t know that someone was now watching her very closely. A woman moved effortlessly through the sea of junior high students. No one looked at her as she passed among them. Her eyes were fixed on Keri as she trailed her from a distance. All day, she shadowed Keri to each of her classes without saying a word to anyone.

            Keri didn’t notice until she left her history class, which was her third class of the day. Relieved after taking her test, she was able to pay more attention to her surroundings. She finally noticed the woman watching her as she walked to her next class. The woman didn’t seem to be doing anything and Keri wondered who she was.

            Every time the bell rang between classes, Keri would see the woman out in the hall, watching her. She stood with her arms folded, looking at Keri through thick glasses. Keri started to worry what would happen when it was time to go home. Would the woman follow her then? Who was she anyway?

            The minute school was over, Keri zipped outside, almost running to get home. She heard footsteps running up behind her, and she ran faster. She had gone three blocks before she finally heard the woman shout, “Wait! I only want to talk to you!”

            Keri chanced a glance behind her and saw that the woman had stopped running and was completely out of breath. Keri also stopped, but stayed far enough away that she could still run away if she needed to. “Who are you?” she called.

            The woman, taking great gulps of air, said, “My name is Anne, and I just want to talk to you.”

            “Why?” Keri asked suspiciously.

            “I wanted to thank you.”

            “For what?”

            “For turning in my wallet this morning.”

            “Oh.” Keri suddenly felt foolish for running away. “You’re welcome.” She tilted her head. “Why didn’t you just say that before?”

            Anne walked up to Keri, who waited patiently. “I wanted to wait and see if you were really the type of person that would appreciate what I’m about to offer you. Not many people would return a wallet full of cash. Trust me, I know.”

            Keri shifted a little nervously. It was a good thing that she had decided not to keep the money. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t mine, and I knew that if it was, I would want it back.”

            Anne studied Keri through her thick glasses. “I’ve been watching you today, and I would like to offer you something in thanks for returning my wallet.” She rummaged around in her handbag and pulled out a thin stick of wood. She held it out to Keri.

            Keri stared at the stick, confused. She finally took it saying, “Thanks?” Why would Anne think that Keri would want this?

            Anne smiled a knowing smile. “It’s a magic wand and I would like to teach you how to use it.”

            Keri wasn’t sure what to say. Was this woman crazy?

            Anne pulled out another stick from her handbag, and this time, she pointed it at a tree close by, saying words that Keri didn’t understand. The tree pulled itself out of the ground and then walked around Anne and Keri before settling itself back into the soil.

            Keri’s mouth fell open at what she had just seen. She couldn’t stop herself from shouting, “Yes, I want to learn how to use a magic wand! Please teach me!”

            Anne nodded and said, “I’ll arrange things with your parents, then. I look forward to seeing you soon.” She gave Keri a big smile and walked away.

            Keri turned to thank her again, but Anne had disappeared. Keri was left alone on the street with a wand in her hands. She ran home as fast as she could, grinning hugely. This was definitely her lucky day.