9/5/13

Biggerton
By Nicholas Slade

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Many years ago, I was standing beside my mailbox, as I did every day, waiting for the mail to arrive. Each day had it’s regular routine, I’d stand by the mailbox, the postman would arrive, he would hand me my usual stack of mail, and he would be on his way. That particular day started off like any other, I’d stood by my mailbox, the postman arrived, he handed me my usual stack of mail, and he went on his way. But as I walked back to my home, I noticed something different. There was something in my usual stack that was not so usual at all. It was a letter, from a man I could have sworn I had never met, from a town that I had never been to.
I walked into my home and looked at the envelope. In curiosity, I opened the letter. The letter was from a Mr. Shire; a name that I did not recall ever hearing before, but I read the letter anyways. The letter read:

Dear Johnny,
Hope you are doing well. You were right, New York is as big and bright as you said it would be and the wife and I are having a fantastic time. I am writing to you now because I had an interesting conversation with a Mr. Millar. He was going on and on about how he should have invested in Biggerton Company and how he would be rolling in the dough if he had just took the chance and invested in it. I thought you, of all people, would find this interesting. Well, I’ll see you when I get back old chum.
Sincerely, J. Shire

Now, I had never met a Mr. Shire before and I have certainly never been to New York, so I thought that he must have sent it to the wrong address. But I did find the contents to be interesting. I had heard of this up and coming little company, Biggerton, before. Everyone was saying how it would go belly up within the year, so I didn’t bother following it any further. But this letter made me rethink it. I had saved up some money and was considering investing it and this seemed to be the perfect excuse to do it. So, the next day I bought some Biggerton stock.
What could it hurt? I wondered.
I was absolutely shocked that by the end of the year, this little company that everyone said would be belly up, had shot up the ranks and become one the largest software companies in the country. I was rolling in the cash and never had to worry about money again. A short time later at a party, I met a man named Jacob Shire. I remembered the letter and chalked it up to coincidence. Jake and I would go on to be the best of friends.
Many years later, Jake told me that he and his wife were looking for a place to spend the week at. I recommended New York, as it had become a favorite place for me to visit. A week later, I was feeling nostalgic and was looking at the letter that had led me to my first million all those years ago. Suddenly, Jake burst through the door.
“Johnny,” he yelled. “How have you been doing this past week?”
He looked at the letter in my hand.
“Oh, I see you got my letter.”
“What?” I said.
“My letter that I sent you a few days ago. But dear God, look at the condition it’s in. You should fire your mailman.”
A cold sweat came over me. Jake walked up to me.
“What’s wrong, old chum?”
I looked at him, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”


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Nicholas is a writer currently living in Florida. Originally from Mississippi, he moved to Florida in 2012 and is currently studying for his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.