Page 19 - ARRS #582 - The Mystery of the Lost Wallet

Another Random Road Story #582

The area was mostly devoid of litter. A stray plastic bag or empty plastic
bottle with sun-faded label hid here or there among the plants.
Each gust of wind from passing traffic caused the whole stand of cattails
to sway mightily. The waves prompted the foliage into brief symphonies.
As long as no one runs off the road at the cab, and no one stops to abduct
me, and no vagrant or criminal steals my unlocked car over there… I should
be outta here soon.
I don’t see any wallet.
Wait…
Something green over there… Money!
Some kind of dollar bill was wedged between the stalks of the cattails.
I carefully maneuvered over to it and bent to retrieve it. It was a $50 bill!
HOLY SHIT!
I kept the bill in my hand and kept bent to look closer at the immediate
area. A few feet away, tucked into the stalks, was another dollar bill. It was
another FIFTY- dollar bill. I picked it up and kept looking. Soon I found
several more $50 bills, all further and further away from where the cab was
parked on the shoulder of the interstate.
And just like that, I have $250 in my hand. Unbelievable.
After a short walk I’d found no more bills. I turned back toward the cab
and returned to the original empty spot in the cattail stand, double checking
the whole area once again. There were no more dollar bills.
At the far corner of the blank-spot-in-the-cattails, down where the stalks
met the ground was a brown and white mass. On closer inspection, it was a
brown wallet tangled in the stalks. Surrounding it in the stalks were some
business cards.
I picked up the cards, examining each one for the express purpose of being
nosy: a dental appointment, a construction company, a ticket stub from the
Hens game, and a card from the local Big-Box Electronics store.
How big of a purchase do you have to make, to warrant a business card??
When all the cards were picked up I grabbed up the wallet and scanned the
area again, moving the stalks around to make sure nothing was missed.
I opened the wallet and looked inside, oblivious now to the wind blasts.
A driver’s license sat behind a plastic protector on the left side of the
leather wallet, a wallet which felt worn with age and affection. The picture
showed a smiling man: last night’s customer, looking considerably more alert
than when I’d met him.

SEBASTIAN ALVA GILMOUR
43776 MONTAGUE STREET
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, OHIO
43560-2125