Honesty

   

          Joshua trudged home. He could not wait to have a hot bath and take a nap. However, his thoughts never left the new mobile phone that his friends had brought to school. It had all the latest features and games. He wished he could buy one but his parents would never give him the money as it was one of the costliest phones on the market. He had just stepped into the void deck when he noticed something fall from the pocket of the man in front of him.

 

          Oblivious to what had happened, the man walked on. Joshua called out to him but then he noticed the pair of earphones plugged in his ears. Joshua rushed forward to pick up the wallet but when he looked around, the man was gone. He was about to hand the wallet over to the police when he noticed the fifty-dollar notes sticking out of it. Opening the wallet, he saw many fifty-dollar notes inside as well as a hundred-dollar note. His face lit up immediately. A thought was beginning to form in his head and his body tingled with excitement as he thought of what he could do with the money.

 

          Retreating to a corner of the void deck, Joshua looked around to make sure that he was alone. Then he began counting the money. He was flabbergasted to find out that the man had been carrying a thousand dollars with him. Joshua could buy the mobile phone with the money. Shoving the money into his pocket, Joshua was about to toss the wallet into the dustbin when he heard voices. Keeping as still as he could, he listened as a couple talked in worried tones.

 

          “Are you sure you dropped your wallet here? Someone must have taken it by now. There was so much money in it. No one is going to return it to you,” said the woman.

 

          “Let’s keep searching,” came the man’s voice. “If we don’t find it, I will not be able to pay for Grandma’s stay in the nursing home this month.”

 

          Joshua’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He immediately knew what he had to do. Putting the money back into the wallet, he came out from the corner and approached the couple. “Is this your wallet?” he asked meekly.

 

          The man heaved a sigh of relief and flashed Joshua a broad grin. He wanted to give Joshua a reward but Joshua declined and hurried home. He was too ashamed to think of what he had wanted to do with the money earlier.

 

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