My grandpa was the stingiest man I ever knew — the kind of person who reused ziplock bags, cut paper towels into thirds, and pocketed sugar packets at restaurants. So when he died and left me a single old-fashioned $100 coupon from a store I’d never heard of, I assumed it was a joke. Still, I kept it in my wallet for a week, unable to throw away what felt like his final prank. Eventually, curiosity won, and I decided to visit the store printed on the coupon.
Inside the small, forgotten shop, everything seemed normal — until the cashier saw the coupon. Her face drained of color, and the manager rushed me into a back office filled with binders labeled “LEGACY COUPONS.” He explained that only five of these coupons were ever printed in 1972, part of a secret founders’ program that seemed to bring strange, life-altering consequences to whoever redeemed them. The stories were unbelievable: marriages, fortunes, disappearances, bestselling authors — all tied to one coupon. And mine was the only one left unused.
