Magic Numbers

Angela sits on her usual seat on the train. She sits there every day on her journey to her city job, at the back of the carriage, where, usually, nobody disturbs her. Angela enjoys these daily moments of peace before arriving at the hospital, where she will be on her feet all day long, tending to those who are ill and some who just think they are ill. Sometimes it is a rewarding profession, but mostly it seems like a thankless task. Yet she has always wanted to work in this industry. Caring just seems to come naturally to her.

Angela’s partner, Dave, has his own challenges in his counselling role and she doesn’t like to add to his worries by talking too much about what seem to her to be little grievances. They are in a good place though, although the stress of living in a small unit with a new baby is starting to show. They need a deposit to buy a new home but despite them both having good jobs, it is not proving easy to save and she doesn’t know how much longer they can stay where they are with their little girl. Neighbours are already starting to complain about the noise created by night-time crying.

She has only just returned to work from maternity leave and is badly missing her chubby, little curly-haired bundle, who is happily being cared for during hospital shifts by her grandmother, Angela’s mother. Thinking of little Hailey now makes her smile. She remembers her baby laughter as she kissed her goodbye this morning.

She flicks her eyes again to the seat beside her. She has been glancing back every few minutes. The black book is there again. She had found it there on Monday and handed it to a train worker to place in lost and found. Today is Wednesday. When she had found it in the same place yesterday for the second time, the train worker was clearly puzzled, but took it from her again to drop off in the office. And now here it is again.

Angela does not usually meddle with things that don't belong to her but she is becoming intrigued by the ubiquity of this book. Finally, curiosity overcomes her reticence and she opens it, telling herself it may contain a clue to the owner allowing for its return.

The pages are empty. Well almost. In the middle of the first page is a series of six numbers.

Now Angela is really fascinated. This is very curious indeed. Is it a code? If so, what does it mean?

The only reason she can think of for a series of six numbers is the lottery, which she enters occasionally, with little success. And the nagging thought that the money she is throwing away each week on a pipe dream could be better used, added to their small savings, is always with her.

She looks around. Nobody is paying her any attention. “What if?” she thinks. She has nothing to lose.

Feeling a little silly, she places the black book in her handbag, with another guilty glance around.

During her lunch break, Angela goes to the nearby newsagency and buys a lottery ticket, using the numbers from the book, and then, back at work as things grow hectic again and patients demand her attention, she forgets about it.

Until that night. Half watching the television with Dave, suddenly she becomes conscious of the numbers appearing on the screen in front of her and they look startlingly familiar. She checks her ticket. All six numbers match. The total prize pool is a whopping $1,000,000. Life-changing. But Angela soon discovers that with 50 other winners her share will be $20,000.

Angela is disappointed but only for a minute: after all, they weren’t really her numbers. It is a truly unexpected windfall and will allow her and Dave to start looking for that new home. Dave, of course, is astonished at the news. “How did she come up with those numbers?” he asks. She’s not sure how to explain this to him, but she goes to her bag and shows him the book.

She opens it to the front page and is shocked to discover that the numbers have changed. This is all becoming way too creepy. She likes puzzles as much as the next person but this one is beyond her comprehension. She and Dave agree that they cannot have this book in their house: they need to dispose of it. Wrapping it in a plastic bag and putting it out with the garbage seems as good a solution as any.

The next morning when they are leaving for work, their eyes are drawn to the front lawn – and there, like an omen is the book.

Angela is normally very level-headed but right now she is a bit freaked out. She grabs the book and when she enters the train she drops it on the nearest seat and leaves the train. She will wait for the next one that day.

Angela never sees the book again. From time to time she wonders about its seemingly magical properties, wondering whether some other person may have picked it up. She idly fantasises about what might have been if she had entered the next week’s lottery with the new numbers. But now, in her new home, with her family safe around her, it all seems such a long time ago.