(Title is still under consideration.....)
fiction
a guy living next to an elementary school
his son had just attended preschool there
but now school is out for the summer
he regularly takes his son to play on the playground at the school
Occasionally other parents from that neighborhood do the same
but usually, at the most, there are only 2 or 3 different groups of visitors at one time
one day the guy discovers nearly 20 thousand dollars in cash on a random picnic table
what surprises him more than anything is that he witnesses it "appear" out of thin air
there is nothing else special about this picnic table
it's only slightly visible from the main playground area (primary spot where children play and parents generally tend to be)
It's one of many identical picnic tables that are sporadically placed throughout the school grounds, the way one might expect to see at any public school
so it doesn't stand out in any way, and really is just a typical concrete picnic table at the edge of the school property nearest to the treeline
incidentally, the only thing that catches the man's attention is the fact that something seemed to spontaneously emerge and then just sit there on the table
at this distance it's impossible to tell what the "thing" is, but the longer it sits there the more his curiosity grows
On this day there is only one other group at the park, which consists of a girl around the same age as the man's son, and her mother
the mother is closely monitoring her daughter at play while she also attends to the gentle stream of text messages she is receiving on her cell phone
she is not interested in, or even aware of, anything that is going on outside of those two things
The mother and daughter were at the park when the man and his son got there, which is kinda rare since the man's son usually starts bugging about going to the park almost immediately after waking up
so he regularly finds himself at the park early in the morning to satisfy his son, and normally the park is empty when they get there
they generally do the same thing every time they go, which is just to play on a large playscape structure which is a significant feature in that area of the school's property
the man and the mother only recognized each other in passing. they would politely introduce themselves on occasion, but would sometimes forget the other's name by the next time they met
the man politely asks the mother if she would watch his son "just for a minute", which was almost not even necessary since this is a very safe, quiet, and relatively obscure area
the mother has no problem with doing that since the two children are basically playing together anyway,
she doesn't even question him or show any interest in what he is doing as he jogs away toward the picnic table
as he approaches, he can't believe his eyes when he sees a small pile of cash which consists of about a dozen thick stacks of bills, each one individually bound with brown twine
The stacks consist of what appears to be "used" money. The bills are not crisp like brand new money, but wrinkly like you would expect to see if it's been in circulation for a while
not bank faced, or in any kind of numerical order, strangely sloppy and careless in it's organization and presentation
such that it is only a coincidence for two individual bunches to add up to the same amount, even though they are all fairly similar in size
the man struggles with that strange feeling that people get in their chest when they find themselves in an unusual morally challenging internal conflict like this
but without hesitation, and while attempting to draw as little attention as possible, he slowly collects each bundle and carefully begins to stuff them into every pocket
he takes special measures to assure that none of it is visible in any way
he knows that he is far enough away that the only other person around, ("the mother"), would find it impossible to tell exactly what he is doing,
but she could potentially be looking his way and maybe even starting to wonder what he is up to
he quickly glances back, and is relieved to see that she is still strictly concentrated on her phone
he takes another quick look to see that his son and the little girl are still playing happily together and still well within the mother's field of view
his heart relaxes a bit and the weird pressure in his ears lessens as he finds a sort comfort zone in his mind where he can begin to calmly approach the situation
completely by instinct he takes out his cell phone and pretends to call someone, giving him an opportunity satisfy any curiosity the mother may be having by now, but also to have room for another stack of cash to go
this also allows him to turn around and secretly place a few more bundles in the back of his pants under his belt
all of the convenient places are stuffed full and there are still several bundles still on the table
he has no intention of leaving a single one behind
but at this point, at least his confidence is beginning to rise since he can tell that there is almost no attention being paid to him whatsoever
he considers the different places where he could put more of them without the risk of falling out on the walk back
with a smooth and graceful technique, he is able to fit the rest of the cash in his socks as he pretends to be brushing the dirt off his shoes one at a time as he talks on the phone
he knows that anyone who studies him closely will notice certain unnatural "bulges" at various points on his body
but he is entirely committed, and in a certain way, not even that worried about whether or not the mother makes any distinct observation of these protrusions
The man carefully, yet somewhat hurriedly strolls back to the playscape structure and collects his son, making up a story about why they had to leave immediately
the son is slightly resistant but sensing the strict commanding attitude of the father, he complies quickly
with a brief farewell to the mother and gratitude for her help in supervising his son, they are back in the safety and privacy of their house in no time
the man also has a teenage daughter who he finds responsible enough to leave at home alone without having to worry
she is lounging on the couch with the tv on, although she is paying much more attention to her phone, as is expected from most teenage girls nowadays
the son joins her on the couch, slightly disturbing her as she braces herself for the inevitable intrusion by her little brother
the father says nothing as he scurries toward his bedroom
finally he gets a chance to pause and reflect briefly on what has just occurred
as the residual nervous anxiety he had been suppressing began to increase, inducing an almost trance-like state... he just stands there paralyzed in disbelief for what seems like an eternity
but the fact remains that the uncomfortable payload of thick lumps of cash sporadically distributed throughout his body were not an illusion
and the reality of this bounty immediately brings him back to his senses as he frantically off-loads what seems to be a small fortune onto his enormous king sized bed
much of the bundles landing on what was once his late wife's side of the bed, suddenly sparking a fond memory of his beautiful bride who had passed away less than a year before
if only she were here to take part in this... what would she think... how would she react to this surprise... the painful memory of that terrible car accident still fresh in his mind
entire spectrums of emotions flooding through him as he stands staring at this scattered mess of treasure in front of him
but one detail tugging at him most of all, he had suppressed up until this moment... how is it that anything, let alone bundles of real money, can just pop into existence out of nowhere
maybe he was mistaken, maybe there was a reasonable explanation... this is not a man who is quick to jump to conclusions that aren't grounded in well established scientific understanding
yet here it is, right in front of him, as real as could be... or is it?
he regains an adequate amount of his composure such that he is able to begin questioning this situation, and with the kids being relatively preoccupied and out of the way
the man calmly focuses on unwrapping, sorting, inspecting, and finally counting each and every bill
exactly $17,528 in cold hard cash lay strewn out in organized piles across his bed... the excitement of this gift finally overcoming the confusing mystery of its appearance
a fairly successful man in his career as a welder and fabricator for a local machine shop, he had only recently began to feel a concern about his financial capacity since the passing of his wife
who was also working in a successful career... they had always enjoyed a comfortable middle class lifestyle, and even after the tragedy struck, the man continued to provide the same class of living for his family
although the expenses were much more apparent now that it took everything he made to maintain the standard that they were used to
he felt that this treat would give him a little break from the stress of his financial tension, and he actually sat back and breathed a sigh of relief...
of course, no sooner that his nerves get settled down, does that damn question reemerge about what phenomenon occurred that delivered that stash onto that specific picnic table, at that time, and in that configuration
a question so powerful that it practically dragged him to his feet and over to his bedroom window where, if one were to strain hard enough, the picnic table could just be seen in the distance
and when he focused his middle aged eyes on the table, to his astonishment he could just barely make out what appeared to be objects similar to what he would expect the earlier bounty of cash to look like sitting on that table
a whole new wave of nervous anxiety settled in on him as his heart began pounding in his ears... he literally felt dizzy with anticipation
could it possibly be that this same strange anomaly had happened yet again... he had to know, and it was certainly worth it to find out
he quickly scrambled over to the bed and grabbed the entire bed comforter upon which the freshly processed collection of bills were placed,
he wrapped the whole thing up enclosing all of the money inside and stuffed it under the bed
coincidentally at that very moment there was a startling knock at the door
it just dawned on him that several hours had passed while he had been indisposed, attending to his new found prize
his kids had been exceptionally well behaved during this time, such that he practically forgot about them entirely
understanding that he would need to acknowledge them to some extent, he would like to be subtle
but he was on a mission now... and he couldn't shake the feeling that time was running out
he grabbed one of the pillows off of his bed, took the pillowcase off of it, and then opened the door
he went to exit his bedroom and of course he was not surprised to see his son standing in the middle of the doorway
with a completely lost look in his eyes as he immediately began stuttering out questions in his typical autistic-like fashion
the man could barely hear him talking much less pay attention to what he was saying, as he hurried around the boy and proceeded toward the front door
his legs couldn't possibly move as fast as he wanted them to...
he could not get to that table fast enough...
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More details to come,
but the gist of this story is that at random times, at least once, but up to as many as 5 times a day, a large random amount of money will just appear out of thin air on that picnic table, free for the taking
one condition that is soon learned is that in one hour, every bundle of money that appeared on the table, that hasn't been touched by human hands, will disappear just as quickly as it appeared.......
and it must be direct contact on skin. If you pick up a bundle while wearing gloves and put it in your pocket, if no human skin touches that money within one hour of it appearing, then it will vanish right out of your pocket
NOT SURE IF THIS SHOULD BE A SHOW OR A MOVIE... (most likely a movie)
...IT'S BASICALLY ABOUT THIS PERSON'S EFFORT TO KEEP THIS (SUPERNATURAL) OCCURRENCE A SECRET, AND TO WHAT LENGTHS HE IS WILLING TO GO TO BE THE SOLE RECIPIENT
OF THIS WEALTH, EVEN THOUGH IT'S HAPPENING IN AN OPEN AND PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE LOCATION... ALTHOUGH TECHNICALLY, THE PROPERTY AND EVERYTHING ON IT BELONGS
TO THE TAXPAYERS... AND DURING MOST OF THE YEAR THERE IS ACTUALLY SCHOOL TAKING PLACE...
MORE TO COME!!!!!