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Now that school is out for the summer there are not as many kids to play with, some go to camp, some stay at their grandmom's house, and I don't know where the rest of them are. A lot of the time there's just me. I do a lot of walking during the day, not just to walk, but to go places. I usually go over to the school and shoot a few baskets, then I'll take a long walk all around our neighborhood just to see if I can see anyone. Then I'll go home and get a drink, sometimes I'll watch T.V., and then I'm back out on the street looking for something to do.

One day as I was walking up toward Market Street I stopped dead in my tracks like I was frozen. I could not believe what I saw on the street, it was money, paper money, a lot of money, more than I could believe, it was a hundred-dollar bill, I think. It had the number 100 on it. I picked it up and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. This was the most money that I had ever seen in my whole life. I was standing in the street and I was happy and scared, I did not know it but I was standing in the road where cars go by. I decided that it would be best if I put the money in my pocket and go right home. Just as I started to move a giant black car stopped in front of me. It was the biggest car I had ever seen.

The window came down and a man stuck his head out and said, "Is something wrong young man?" I guessed I was in trouble, every time someone calls me young man it means I'm in trouble. After looking at that giant car and the fancy looking man talking to me, I sort of guessed that the money was probably his. So I took out the money and I handed it to the man. He said "What's this?", I told him I found it and I guessed it was his because nobody else in my neighborhood had such big money. He laughed really loud and then gave me the money back and said it wasn't his. Talking really nice he told me to be careful and to stay out of the road, then he left.

I took the money home and gave it to my mom, she said she would hold on to it to see if anyone had lost it. She said, "If no-one asks for it by this weekend, we will go out and buy something really nice." I asked how many days it was until the weekend and she said three. I didn't tell her about the giant car because she would get mad if she knew I was in the street. Besides, wasn't going in the street again, unless I saw another one hundred dollar bill. Now that I had one hundred dollars all I could think about was what I wanted to buy.

The next day was just another boring day, the only difference was that now I could think about the money I had, I was almost like a millionaire! I went by the school with my basketball as usual, as usual, no one was there. I shot a few baskets, I made all of them, and started to leave. Just as I went out the gate that giant car pulled up to the curb. I guess he decided it was his money and wanted it back. I stopped dead in my tracks. The door opened and a man about ten feet tall got out, I guess that is why he has such a big car, he couldn't get in a regular sized car. He asked me if he could shoot a couple of shots with my basketball, he was so big that he could have easily shot me and the ball with one hand. I handed him the ball, he took it and said, "Come on kid."

He ran over to the basket and JAMMED the ball, BAM, WAM, I couldn't believe it. Next he just jumped straight up and jammed it again, his feet were right next to my face when he jumped. This man could jump at least ten feet in the air, or at least it seemed like that. I told him that a very famous basketball player named Air Jordan used to play at this school, and you will never believe what he told me, he said, "I know, that's me, Mike Jordan." I was more nervous than when I found the money. He shot a few more baskets and then he sat down on the blacktop and talked to me for hours and hours, or it seemed that long anyway. He wanted to know how I did in school and if I listened to my mom, and if I stayed out of the street. He told me that school was important and that you couldn't even be a star basketball player unless you could read really good. He said that they give you basketball plays written down and that you have to be able to read them really good. I didn't know that. He had to go, so he kind of folded himself back into the giant car. He waved and said, "Be good."

When I told my mom, she couldn't believe it. She called everyone she knew and told them about me and Mike. She had me tell her over and over what had happened, she was as excited as I was. After dinner we just sat together and talked about how maybe one day I could be like Mike, my mom said that she would like that but that she would also love me no matter what I did. We also talked about what we might buy with the money I found. I was thinking about toys, mom was thinking about clothes. That's how moms think.

The day finally arrived, no one had asked about the money so that night we were going to spend it. Boy was I excited. We went to that big store that sells everything. Mom talked clothes, I talked toys. Mom came up with what she said was a wonderful idea, we would just buy one toy and save the rest for another time. Another time seemed like forever to me but I said okay. We decided on a new basketball, my old one was really beat. We paid for it and drove home. As we were walking from the car, we heard a car horn blow, we turned around, and guess what, it was Mike Jordan. He had stopped his car and said "Hey is that a new ball? Let me see it." He spun it on his finger and said it was real nice. He then took a pen out of his jacket and signed it, he wrote "To my basketball playing partner, Be good, Michael Jordan." My mom just stood there, she acted like she was sick or something. As Mike was getting in his car, he said, "Listen kid, you only have to know two things to be successful in life, first, go to school every day and do the best you can, and second, always listen to your mom." He blinked his eye at mom and got in the car and left.

We haven't seen him since, except on T.V., but we keep an eye out for him. Everywhere I go I tell everyone what Mike said and I go to school every day and I do the best I can and I always listen to my mom. Now, whenever I'm sad, or lonely, I think about Mike and me.

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