Photo source: meta Ai
The note didn’t look like much. It was a small piece of paper, slightly crumpled at the edges, with handwriting so neat it almost felt out of place in a dusty room like that. If Emeka hadn’t been bored out of his mind that afternoon, he probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
“Guy, how far with that place?” Ngozi called from outside the storage room. “You don turn archaeologist inside there?”
Emeka coughed as dust rose from another box he had just opened. “If I see one more old receipt, I’ll resign,” he muttered.
He was halfway through sorting old ledgers when the paper slipped out and landed near his foot. At first, he ignored it. But something about the way it fell—slow, almost deliberate—made him bend down and pick it up.
He unfolded it.
“Check the back shelf.”
That was it.
“No greeting, no name… nothing?” he said aloud.
Ngozi stepped in, fanning her face. “What are you talking about?”
Emeka showed her the note.
She read it quickly and shrugged. “Probably something someone wrote long ago and forgot. Abeg, leave it.”
“Hmm,” Emeka said, but he didn’t sound convinced.
He looked toward the back of the room. The shelf stood there quietly, like it had always been there, carrying boxes no one cared about anymore.
“You’re not serious,” Ngozi said, already reading his face.
“What?” he replied. “It’s just checking.”
“You like trouble, I swear.”
But Emeka was already moving.
The shelf was covered in dust, the kind that sticks to your fingers and refuses to go. He wiped his hand on his trousers and began pulling down boxes one by one.
The first one—nothing.
The second—just old invoices.
By the third, Ngozi had lost interest. “I’m going back outside. When you’re done chasing ghosts, come and help me arrange the front.”
“Wait,” Emeka said suddenly.
“What?”
“There’s something here.”
He held up a small metal tin, dull and slightly rusted at the edges. It looked like something that had been forgotten for years.
Ngozi walked back over, curiosity winning. “Open it.”
“It’s locked.”
“Then forget it.”
But Emeka shook the tin gently. Something moved inside.
“Who locks an empty tin?” he said.
Ngozi folded her arms. “And who told you it’s your business?”
Emeka didn’t answer. Instead, he crouched and started checking around the shelf. It didn’t take long before he found a small key taped underneath.
“Ah-ah,” Ngozi said, her eyes widening. “This one is now serious.”
Emeka didn’t say anything. He just stared at the key for a moment, then unlocked the tin.
When he opened it, both of them went silent.
Money.
Bundles of it.
Clean, arranged, untouched.
“Jesus…” Ngozi whispered.
Emeka swallowed. His heart started beating fast, faster than it should.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
“This is not small money,” Ngozi said carefully.
Emeka nodded slowly. His mind had already started running ahead—rent, food, his younger brother’s school fees, his mother’s complaints about rising prices.
“This can solve a lot of problems,” he said quietly.
Ngozi turned to him sharply. “Don’t even go there.”
“I’m just saying”
“No, you’re not just saying. I know that tone.” She stepped closer. “Emeka, this is not your money.”
“But what if nobody knows about it?” he argued. “Look at this place. These things have been here for years.”
“And so?” she replied. “Because nobody is watching, it becomes yours?”
He didn’t answer.
The silence stretched between them.
“Let’s take it to Oga,” Ngozi said finally. “Simple.”
Emeka hesitated.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know what was right. He did. But sometimes, knowing and doing are two different things.
“You’re thinking too much,” Ngozi added. “And that’s how people enter trouble.”
He sighed. “Okay. Let’s go.”
They carried the tin to the front office.
Mr. Okeke looked up from his desk as they entered. “What is it?”
“We found this in the storage room,” Ngozi said, placing it in front of him.
He opened it—and paused.
His eyebrows lifted slightly, but he didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Where exactly?” he asked.
Emeka explained, including the note.
Mr. Okeke leaned back, thinking. Then he picked up his phone.
“I need someone to come in,” he said briefly before hanging up.
About an hour later, an older man walked in. He looked tired, but his eyes were sharp, like someone who had seen a lot.
“This is Mr. Adewale,” Mr. Okeke said. “He used to handle accounts here.”
The man’s gaze fell on the tin.
He froze.
“Where did you get this?” he asked quietly.
“In the storage room,” Emeka replied.
Mr. Adewale exhaled slowly and sank into a chair.
“I hid it,” he said.
Everyone looked at him.
“Years ago,” he continued. “The company was going through issues. I didn’t trust what was happening, so I kept this aside… just in case.”
“And you forgot it?” Ngozi asked.
He shook his head. “No. I got sick. Everything changed. By the time I came back, things were different. I didn’t even know how to explain anymore.”
“And the note?” Emeka asked.
“I wrote it,” he said. “In case someone honest found it one day.”
There was something about the way he said “honest” that made Emeka shift slightly.
Mr. Okeke nodded slowly. “Well, it has been found.”
He turned to Emeka and Ngozi.
“And you brought it forward. That matters.”
Emeka didn’t say anything, but he felt something settle inside him—something like relief.
Because truthfully, it hadn’t been easy. Not even close.
“Thank you,” Mr. Okeke added.
Later that evening, as Emeka locked up and stepped outside, the air felt different.
Ngozi nudged him. “You see? You didn’t die for doing the right thing.”
He laughed softly. “It wasn’t funny inside there, I swear.”
“I know,” she said.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the note again. He had kept it without thinking.
“Check the back shelf.”
Such a simple line.
Yet it had led to all of that.
“Funny thing,” he said, looking at it. “This note wasn’t just about the shelf.”
Ngozi smiled. “Of course. It was about you.”
Emeka folded the paper carefully and slipped it back into his pocket.
Maybe some pieces of writing carry more than just information.
Maybe, sometimes, they carry a moment—a choice—and quietly wait to see what you’ll do with it.