“It Was Tempting”

Writing class assignment for the prompt “$100”.

Standing in the checkout lane at the supermarket, I glanced down on the floor and caught sight of the tell-tale green of … a bill … a folded-up piece of paper money.  There is no mistaking that color.

Aha!  I thought.  Lucky me!  I’ve found a dollar!   Good for me!  

As I bent to pick it up, intending to slip it into my pocket — finders keepers, right? — I saw that there was another number next to the “1”.  A zero.  Oh my, I thought.  It’s a $10 dollar bill.  My excitement ebbed.  Keeping a random  $1 bill is one thing, but $10 …?  How could I rationalize keeping the money?  My conscience began to prick at me, and I tried to ignore it.

And then when I actually picked up the money, guess what it was — a $100 bill.  

I’m happy to report that my conscience didn’t need to prick at me.  The message was loud and clear; I knew what to do.  I gave the $100 bill to the clerk, who summoned the manager, who said, “Someone will be back looking for this!” and took it safely away to the office.