It was a chilly and windy night. I left from work very late so when the bus dropped me at my destination, I was the only person on the stop. The street looked deserted as it was late at night, not unusual for me though, so I started walking casually towards my home.

The streetlights were flickering and the night sky seemed very dark. There was no one around. As I was walking, I saw something in front of me beside a tree, which caught my attention. I rushed towards it to see what it was. On reaching near, I found that it was a black leather briefcase, all covered with mud.

A sudden thought came to my mind, that it could be a bomb! So I looked around for someone else to get a second opinion, but there we no one else there. After thinking for a long time, I gathered my courage and opened the briefcase.

To my amazement, it was full of money and some documents were also inside it. The first thought that came to my mind was to take the money and live a luxurious life, but the greed was quickly overcame by honesty, and I immediately decided to return it to its rightful owner.

Hence, I went to the police station, as fast as my legs could take me. There, I narrated the whole incident to the officer, who was looking at me with a face as serious as a soldier on a mission. He asked for a phone number or an address to track the owner. I saw an address engraved on the briefcase, so I guessed it could be of the owners. I noticed that the officer gestured his peon and both passed an evil smile, it was an indication that I should not trust them.

Then, the officer said, “You can go, we will hand it over to its owner.”

I sensed their devilish plan, so, without wasting a second, I snatched the briefcase from his hands and bolted out to give the man his property.

I ran as fast as I could and reached the address. Panting, I knocked the door. The door didn’t open at first, I knocked again. In fact, this time I banged the door and heard a slight noise on the other side of the door. The door was opened by a tall, slender man, whose face was pale with grief.

Without wasting a minute, I told him the whole story of how I found the briefcase. As there was an address engraved on it, it was easy for me to bring it here.

His face filled with happiness and he hugged me tight. He then thanked me from the bottom of his heart and said that he was very glad to have his briefcase back, which had the funds of his company and some important documents. He tried to thank me by giving me some of the money, but I refused saying that “a good deed has its own reward.”

And then we became very good friends, which is my reward in itself.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 30th, 2017