Ten O Nine

“That will be $10.09 please miss.”

Sam gave an almost imperceptible gasp, not because of the shocking cost of the sandwich and shake, but because she had seen that number last night.  Sam had fallen asleep reading her library book and woke at 10:09 PM.  Strange, she thought but shrugged it off.  Her coworkers had all tried food at the Burger Barn and said it “was to die for” but she would wait for a coupon before returning.  

After lunch she took a brief walk through the park and dropped a few coins in the guitar case of a singer who was playing I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash.  After some deep breaths and food, she could indeed see more clearly, or so it seemed.  She had about ten minutes left so she popped into a flower shop on her way back to the office.  One of her coworkers seemed a bit sad so Sam thought flowers would cheer her.  She selected yellow daisies and one tiger lily. Nice, it was the kind of bouquet she would like to receive.  She signed the card “from a friend”.  Sam knew the girl would be at lunch when she got back and smiled to think of how much joy it would bring when the girl returned.  The clerk rang up the sale:

“$10.09 please.”

Now that was just too funny, something was definitely trying to get her attention today.  She would keep alert for any hunches or more signs.

As she left the flower shop she gasped again.  1009 Magnolia Street.  Amazing!  She would research the number that evening.  Sam made it back to work exactly on time and placed the flowers unnoticed on Nancy’s desk before resuming her tasks.  She worked as a data entry clerk for All Data and had been with the company since she left high school.  The pay was fair but it was quite a hike to her apartment in the north of town.  

Just then, a note on the bulletin board caught her eye.  Her supervisor had just placed it on the board.  She passed Nancy on the way to the water cooler who said to her

“Can you believe it - someone sent me flowers.  Really cheered me up.  Did you see who brought them by any chance?”

“Sorry no, but I’m glad they cheered you; they’re very pretty.  I’m just getting some water, would you like some?”

“Please.”

Sam slipped the note into her shirt pocket and came back with two cups of water - one for her and one for Nancy.  She offered to help Nancy get caught up with her workload if she needed it - they frowned on inefficiency at All Data.  The girl thanked her and said that others had said the same thing - it was good to work in a place with caring people.  Her cousin had committed suicide.  It was sudden and it was hard for Nancy to focus on her work, they were very close.  The company policy for time off for grieving did not extend to cousins.  Sam shared that one of her cousins had passed the same way a few years ago so she understood how difficult it was. 

“Just take one day at a time Nancy, one minute at a time.  You will get through it.”

“Thanks.”

When she got back to her desk Sam read the note that she had been drawn to.  It was a notice about an apartment availability in a building two blocks away.  That was auspicious, she thought and made a goal to stop by and talk to the landlord after work that day or early tomorrow.  It would be a real answer to prayer to get an apartment closer to work.  Most days she walked but sometimes she had to take the bus.  She said a quick “thank you angels” and continued her work.

Her final batch number for the day - 1009.  Unbelievable!  She was unable to look at the apartment that day but set a time to view it the next morning.  The number 1009 even dominated her dreams, it was uncanny.  

Over orange juice, tea, and toast she researched what significance, if any, the numbers had.  Very interesting.  The message was essentially that she had the support of the angels and would have their support if the things she did benefited others.  Spiritually, it indicated that she should develop her talents to boost her creativity.  Which talents she wondered.  Perhaps the intuition she sometimes very strongly felt.  Yes, that was probably it. Zero stood for spiritual growth, one was work hard, nine was philanthropy.  More and more interesting.  She looked at the time, oops, she needed to rush to see the apartment. Exactly on time, that was a relief.  The landlord explained that there was only one apartment left in the building at the moment, would she like to see it? Sam said that she would definitely like to see the place.  She had a hunch about the number of the apartment.  Yes, it was apartment number 1009.

After looking around the rooms Sam took out her checkbook and gave the landlord the requisite first and last month’s rent.  He told her she could move in whenever she wanted, all employees of All Data were welcome in his complex.  She was almost late for work, but made it.  Phew!  At least that would be less of an issue soon when she lived closer.  While her work at All Data paid the bills and some charitable contributions, Sam didn’t feel like she was contributing to humanity very much.  It wasn’t very rewarding.  She was grateful to have a job but prayed for one where she could be of service.

The next week an envelope was slid under the door of her new apartment.  Sam had been praying for about a week and had trusted the Universe to provide an answer.  Inside was a card that read 

“You have been chosen.  Come to the oak tree behind the building at 10:09 AM on Saturday to learn more.”

Huh, she thought.  Some kind of joke?  Maybe, maybe not.  She would hold it up in prayer and see if an answer presented itself.  

On Friday night her beloved grandfather appeared in her dream and spoke their secret phrase - klein tier - which is little tiger in Afrikaans.  Her grandfather wasn’t South African but several of his friends were from there so he had fun learning their language and passing it on to his granddaughter.  Grandfather Webber assured her that the note was real and she should go to the meeting place.  That was all the confirmation Sam needed.  The two had never shared their secret phrase with anyone.

On Saturday Sam showed up at the appointed place and was greeted by a lady who instantly made her feel calm.  The lady seemed to have a glow about her and Sam trusted her instincts enough to know that all would be well.

“I’m Alison, and I work for the Jason Benevolent Society named after the humanitarian Ben Jason.  We are a secret organization that anonymously coordinates filling food, shelter, and clothing requests to the needy.  We contacted you because we need a detail oriented person who wants to help others and can rapidly input messages to our delivery “angels”.  If you would accept the position, we think you would fit in well with our Society.  We don’t wear any special clothes or anything to stand out, we prefer to blend into our surroundings.  Our offices are behind the flower shop.  We each  bless the flowers before going through the back door into our work space.  Your rent is paid up for two years, regardless, because of your years of good deeds to others.”

Sam was overwhelmed, the move had gone well, but she had few possessions and was in need of new footwear.  No rent would mean she could get caught up on necessary items and help more people in need.

“I’ll take the job, and can start in two weeks.  I want to give some notice to All Data although I’m sure they can fill my position quickly.”

“Terrific Sam, welcome aboard. See you on October 9th.”  There it was again,  1009, goodness.  She typed up a resignation letter which said she had to leave to care for an elderly aunt; there was no one else in her family that could take care of her.  That meant that if she was seen in the area, she would just be running errands for her aunt.

Her coworkers gave her a journal and pen for her parting gift because she was always jotting things down on post it notes or any other little bits of paper and they thought it would be easier to have a regular notebook to write down ideas or whatever she was writing.

Sam Webber’s first day in her very rewarding job was a whirlwind of welcomes, handshakes, and familiar faces that she had seen periodically; the guitar player being one of them and the clerk at the flower shop being another.  

“I work in the flower shop part time in exchange for use of the back room, Sara said.”

A man with deep brown eyes stood by her desk. 

“I see we have a newcomer.  Welcome.  Webber huh?  One of our founding members was a Webber.  Maybe a relative?  His picture is in the boardroom.  Anyway, welcome Sam.”  He flashed a smile.  Tony, his name was she found out later.  This was indeed going to be a job she would be happy in.

“Thank you angels” she whispered, and started working.

The number would figure prominently one last time the following year for the wedding of Sam and Tony Newcombe on October 9th.