Chapter one

walked into the inner chambers of the

ATM hall to make a withdrawal; low and

behold, an ATM card was in the mouth

of the machine. Was that the mouth? I

guess not! The mouth should be where it

vomits the cash. So I can call it the eye,

or ear….or….okk, not that! you know

what I mean shaa…a card was in the

card-entrance of the machine. The

machine was blinking and sounding a

light warning note, like a notification for

the card waiting for collection. It wasn't

hard to decode what had happened. The

last person to use the machine must

have collected his cash and zoomed off

without collecting his card.

I looked left and right, the other two

machines were occupied. No one seem to

notice what was going on. There was no

queue, the fourth machine opposite mine

was still empty. I pushed the card back

in slightly. For the next 9 seconds or so,

my mind was wondering what will be

next. The machine welcomed me…or

welcomed the owner of the card with

name displayed on the screen;

prompting me for a password.

Passwords!

I calmly punched in the numbers…

1:2:3:4 and pressed enter key.

Wrong Password!

Well, what was I thinking! Which dunce

in this information age will use such a

weak password. Would have been

surprised if it worked.

"Do you need more time for your

transaction?"

The ATM machine was prompting me to

proceed or get-the-fvck out of its

presence. I pressed the no button and it

ejected the card. The other two guys

making withdrawal from the other

machines left. The hall was empty, just

me and 4 ATM machines. I decided to

get adventurous.

I looked at the ATM card in my hand.

The name of the owner was written fully.

I brought out my phone and searched

facebook for the name. 2min later, I got

the owners full profile and date of birth.

This was gonna be fun!

Born in 2nd february, 1979, there were

only 2 possible password combinations

and after that, no more!

2:2:7:9

1:9:7:9

For some unknown reason, I tried the

second one first…it worked!

I was staring at the control panel of the

account…Balance, Withdrawal, Inquiry,

Transfer, Statement….

I heard the footstep behind me and my

heart nearly jumped out of my mouth. I

turned around just in time to see a man

walk into the hall. He looked at me with

a cold eyes, like he was about to jump at

me. I felt a hard notch down my throat,

like a fist trying to suffocate me. The

man was approaching me calmly like he

knew I had no place to run to; like a cat

backed on the walls! I prayed the earth

would open and swallow me! I was

almost having a heart-attack; or a

stroke whichever one kills faster. I

opened my mouth to speak but nothing

came out. I swallowed hard and felt my

throat ache like I hard burning coal in

my throat.

Then, all of a sudden, the man walked

past me to the nearby ATM machine. He

stared at me one last time like he knew I

wasn't all right; then he faced his

machine and started his transaction.

"Do you need more time for your

transaction?"

The ATM was asking me once more.

Then I got confused! What was I doing?

Adventure at first, but now this was

crime! Pure crime! There should be a

boundary between adventures and crime:

I think I just overstepped the boundary. I

wondered what would have happened if

that man was the original owner of the

card?! Well, the name on the card and

the facebook profile was that of a lady.

Could still have been the owner! A lady

will raise hell if she happened on

someone trying to rob her. A guy might

be understanding but a lady will sure

raise hell.

"Please take your card"!

The machine was tired of my bullshit. It

vomited the card and continued its light

warning note for me to collect the card. I

contemplated on leaving the card there:

just the way it was when I met it. On a

second thought, another person may

stumble on it and wreck more havoc. I

decided to hand it over to the bank

security still on duty. One last thought

occurred to me as I was walking towards

the security post: I checked the owner's

facebook profile again and her number

was there.

Well, if I was going to be a good

samaritan, I better get some

acknowledgment and a vote of thanks.

I dialed the number and she picked on

the second ring.

'Hello?'

It was a rich voice with no accent.

'Hello…' I replied and informed her she

had forgotten her card in the ATM

machine at the bank premises.

'Really?' She asked nonchalantly.

'Yes ma' I replied.

There was silence on the other line…

'Hello?' I wanted to make sure she heard

me alright.

'Yes, I'm still here.' She said.

She informed me she was on a car to an

urgent function and can't turn around

immediately.

'I will call you later in the evening for it.'

She concluded.

I walked back to the atm machine. I still

needed to make some withdrawals. I

inserted my card and completed my

transaction. Then, out of inquisitiveness,

I decided to check her account balance.

It wasn't like she will be notified that

someone checked her account balance:

it was only during withdrawals that such

notification is sent.

I inserted the card, punched the

numbers, selected balance inquiry and

then…

I needed to get closer to the machine to

get a clearer picture: it was 8 digits in

the savings account, another 8 digits in

the current account.

Cool, solid cash in millions! So many

thoughts rushed through my mind. I had

to remind myself the difference between

crime and adventure and to stay on the

other side of the line. Moreover, I had

made the call with my phone line.

"Do you need more time for your

transaction?"

D–n this ATM machine! I was sure it

had some evil spirits inside it. Who

knows if it actually caused that innocent

woman to forget her card.

'Please take your card'

'Fool…' I cursed it before walking out of

the bank.