A Chance of a Lifetime

Walking casually down a sidewalk, Carl Forrest enjoys the summer sun with a light breeze in his face, allowing his mind to wonder for several minutes before being startled by the sharp ring of a pay phone! Glancing around and following the sound, he finds the phone on the side of a convenience store. Staring at it as if it were a weird monster about to spring upon him, he glances around for someone to answer it, but no one does. Shrugging, he continues to walk away, even as his thoughts shift, ‘should I answer it? What if it is a gag, like on TV, besides, who uses a pay phone in this day and age, anyway?’ Shaking his head at the absurdity, he moves away, as the phone continues to ring…it becomes annoying! ‘What harm can it do? It’s probably a wrong number anyway.’ Stepping up, Carl picks up the receiver, and hesitantly says, “Hello?”

“Hello, thank you for answering the phone,” a slightly mechanical voice says. “I’m calling to inform you that today is your lucky day! If you follow these steps, you will be rich beyond belief and will never have to worry about bills or debts again! Isn’t this exciting?”

“I guess, if it’s real, which I doubt,” Carl says honestly.

“Have no fear, Sir, this is for real and your ship has finally come in! Now, to receive this wonderful windfall, please glance around, do you see a sign that has ‘Park’ on it with an arrow pointing left?” the voice asks.

Looking around, Carl does indeed see a Park sign with an arrow that he had never noticed before, having walked this way from work often enough. “Yes, I see it,” he says into the phone.

“Great! Please listen to the following instructions carefully, if you need time to get a pen and paper, just say ‘yes’ and I’ll wait,” the voice instructs.

Fumbling in his jacket, Carl pulls out a small pad and pen, saying, “No, I’m good, go ahead.”

“Wonderful! Once you hang up the phone, follow the sign to the Park. You will find a total of four others like it, follow them through the Park until you come to a pile of large rocks. Look under the triangle shaped one, there you will find a cloth bag containing the wealth I mentioned earlier and an especially important book, keep it close. Don’t delay, this offer is only good for the next four hours. If you fail to retrieve the bag within this time limit, the wealth will go to someone else. Don’t let that happen. Now, hurry and have a nice day!” The line returns to a dial tone.

Staring at the phone in his hand, Carl is shocked, should he really do this? Can it possibly be true? What’s there to lose, besides the chance to be rich or to look like a complete idiot as it is no doubt being filmed and will be uploaded to social media immediately afterwards! Still, giving his head a shake, he puts away the pen and pad and hurries down the street in the direction of the Park.

It turned out to a bit harder than he first thought to find the rocks, the other four signs are scattered about the Park and not easy to find. Several times he thought he missed them altogether, each time he thought of quitting, then the possible wealth kept him moving. Finally, as the sun is beginning to set, well after the four hours allotted, very tired with sweat soaked clothes sticking to his body, he finds the pile of large rocks! Good Grief! They look to weight at least a ton each and have been there for centuries. The high grass surrounding their base has never known a blade and the scarred and dirty rocks amazingly have more weeds growing out of every crack and crevice that barely has enough dirt inside to support them.

Walking slowly around the pile, Carl looks for the triangle shaped rock. As the shadows lengthen, he doesn’t see it right away, then the last beams of the setting sun create a shadow near the top of the pile – it’s the triangle rock! But, how to get up there? Before he can panic, he notices a crack between two of the large rocks that look to have chunks missing regularly up the side that he can use as hand holds and steps, on purpose no doubt. Someone went to a lot of expense and time to set this all up. When he reaches the triangle rock, it shifts easily, which means its either not real rock or made from a lighter kind of rock like sandstone or something. Underneath he finds a cloth bag, pulling it out, he stuffs it into his jacket pocket, and carefully climbs down.

Walking to a nearby bench under a lamp post, he pulls out the bag. It is made of crushed velvet and is a deep rich blue in color. Opening it, he finds a little black book that looks to be a ledger of some kind. Flipping through it he finds weird words that may be code names next to phone numbers from around the world based on the area and connection codes. Beside each phone number are phrases in English in parentheses. Grunting in puzzlement, he sets it beside him on the bench and reaches into the bag again. Next, he pulls out an envelope of a heavy expensive nature. Inside he finds a sheet of equally expensive stationary folded in thirds. Opening it, he finds a check made out to the barer for $500,000! His eyes nearly pop out of his head in shock! Wiping his eyes, he leans more into the light of the lamp overhead and looks again…yes, the check is made out for $500,000! Not daring to let loose of it, he reads the letter…’Greetings and Congratulations for successfully finding this check. Aren’t you glad you took the risk and looked under the rocks? Let me assure you the check is valid, simply take it to the bank of your choice and either cash it or deposit it – I would advise the latter, its much safer, but you decide!

“Inside the black book are phone numbers to call if you ever need to increase your balance. When the person answers, say the words beside their number and they will place another check under the triangle rock to be picked up within 24 hours. Please, use these resources in good conscience. Those that are called will keep a record of how often they were contacted. So, if you abuse this resource the checks will stop and when the initial money runs out, that’s it! But if you are wise you will be wealthy for the rest of your life and so will whomever you trust it to when you die. Thank you. Sincerely, A Friend.”

Completely flabbergasted, Carl doesn’t know what to think. The only thing to do is to try to deposit the check like instructed. Rising, he places the letter and check back in envelope, and then placing it and the book back in the bag. Walking to a branch of his bank two streets over from the Park, despite the late hour, it is still open. Nervously, he enters and gets in line for the next teller. Trying to calm his heartbeat which surely is beating loud enough for everyone to hear, he says to himself, ‘Calm down, you’re not here to rob the bank only to deposit a check! If it turns out to be bogus, you’ll have the teller shred it and keep the book as a reminder not to be so gullible next time!’

Stepping up to the window, he takes out the check, endorses it, hands it and his bank card to the teller. She smiles glancing down at the check. Her eyes go wide as saucers, startled she looks up at him in puzzlement.

“Is there a problem,” he asks casually.

“No – no, Sir. I was only surprised by the amount. What would you like to do?” she asks quickly returning to her business face and tone.

"I would like to have $50 cash and the rest placed in my account," Carl says.

“Thank you, just a moment,” She says and proceeds to do so. Carl half expects her to call her manager over to speak with him about the check or for her to say the system has rejecting it as fake. But it is approved without a hitch. A wide grin splits his face, as the smiling teller hands him the cash, his bank card and receipt. Walking out of the bank his face is bright with joy, he is truly set for life! Glancing around for a second seeing no one, he jumps for joy!

Six months later he decides to test the book. He choices two numbers at random and calls them. Giving the responses written in the book, he is told the checks will be under the triangle rock in the Park that day for 24 hours starting after 4 pm EST. If it is not collected within that time, they will be removed and destroyed so no random person can use them. When he looks, he finds two envelopes with a check in each for $5,000! Climbing down, he jumps for joy again! The whole thing is really true! He’s going to tell his friends the next time they pass a pay phone, and it starts ringing, to answer it! It may be their best decision – in fact, a Chance of a Lifetime!

The End.