Quote:
You're out and about doing whatever it is you've got on your agenda for the day when you just so happen to spot a dark patch of color among the snow that lines the side of path you're on. Upon closer inspection, it's a leather wallet, stained from the dampness of the snow. Peeking inside, you find two things: one, a crumpled list of people's first names with random objects scribbled next to them and a collection of dollar bills. A lot of dollar bills. In fact, at first glance, it looks to be well over two hundred dollars.

There are no other items in the wallet - no identification, no credit cards, nothing to help you identify the wallet's owner, just a shopping list and a wad of money. Looking around the area, it's clear that nobody else is around.

What do you do?

((Wordcount: 652))



It was the last weekend before Christmas, the last few days to find the perfect gift, and that was just what Dawn was out doing. She had her saved allowance in one pocket and her list in the other. Most of the people on the list were already crossed out, she really only had a few friends left to shop for and it was all little things. It had to be actually. Her allowance wasn’t a lot, and even saving up from her numerous odd jobs didn’t exactly net her a significant sum. Not that the teen minded any. She prefered small, personal gifts then large, expensive gifts that would just be regifted or exchanged.

Dawn hummed a carol as she strolled along the slushy and snowy sidewalk, peeking in the windows of the small local stores. Shop local and support small businesses, that was part of the goal for today. It wasn’t easy anymore since so many places had given up the fight and sold out to places like Walmart or Target, or even worse, they went online to Amazon. The strawberry blond understood, she really did. Every year it seemed like the cost of Girl Scout cookies went up which made selling them harder, add on the cost of an actual store and she suspected that there would be no way to actually be able to afford to sell the cookies. It had to be so harder for real businesses. So that's what brought her to this particular part of the city. Plenty of small businesses to poke in, to find just the right gift at, and to support her local shopkeepers.

“Your welcome,” She smiled and nodded at the elderly woman who thanked her when she held a store door open before she continue
d on her way down the sidewalk. Her forward momentum stalled however when she spotted something hidden in the slush. After a moment she realized that what she saw was a wallet, a lost and battered leather wallet that was now soaked through. Glancing around she didn’t spot anyone who seemed to be searching for anything so with a sigh she bent over and picked up the wallet.

As much as it felt like an invasion of privacy Dawn knew that she needed to open the worn leather in order to locate the owner, it just felt wrong. So with a reluctant face she gently opened the wallet only to be surprised to find the thing nearly empty. No drivers license, no credit card, no identification at all. The only thing she saw was a significant number of bucks and a piece of paper that she unfolded, hoping for any clue, but even that wasn’t helpful. It was a bit ripped, smudged, and runny from the slush, and over all it only contained a list of names and items. Likely a Christmas List, capital letters and all, much like the one she had in her own pocket.

“Oh dear,” The young woman muttered to herself as she looked over that list, eyeing the couple of hundred of dollars the billfold contained. She knew what she needed to do, she just wished it was easier. With a sigh Dawn refolded the list and slipped it back into the wallet before heading into the closest store. She would check with all the stores on this street and then if no one reported it lost she would have to find one of the roaming police officers to pass the wallet off to.

It never even occurred to her to take the money and toss the rest. That just wasn’t who she was. She would do what she could to make sure it got back to its rightful owner, and failing that then it was a job for the police. She was just a kid after all… one who was apparently a magical warrior during the night.

Fun.

NOT!