I Swear That I Witnessed This a Few Minutes Ago

I was walking back to my house from the corner market when up in front
of me I saw a guy pick up something off the ground and hold it front of him.

Stopping to the side of him to see what it was, I immediately recognized
that it was half of a hundred-dollar bill.

I was just about to say something when this woman came out of the back
door to the market office, and seeing the guy with the half-bill in his hand
she looked down onto the bench—which is just to the left of the door— and spotting the other half, she picked it up and handed it to him.
She then said, "Looks like you now have some real money!"

Holding the two halves in front of him, he matched them together
at which point I responded, "Man, that's hard to believe! Who would
tear a hundred-dollar bill in half and leave the pieces like that!?
Anyway, this must be your lucky day!"

"No doubt about it!" he answered. "Now I have to get some scotch tape
and put them together."

And to the woman he said, "It's only fair that I split this with you 50/50
since you found the other half!"

Smiling at both of them, and then continuing on, I thought to myself,
"I guess there's still some hope for humanity!"

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Jeffrey Zable is a teacher and conga drummer who plays Afro Cuban Folkloric music for dance classes and Rumbas around the San Francisco Bay Area. His poetry, fiction, and non-fiction have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and anthologies. Recent writing in MockingHeart Review, Remington Review, Ink In Thirds, Third Wednesday, Awkward Mermaid, Soft Cartel, The Bitchin' Kitch, Rosette Maleficarum, and many others. In 2017 he was nominated for The Best Of The Net and The Pushcart Prize.