One night about a year ago, I was hurrying along an icy sidewalk during a driving snowstorm. An extremely old woman was standing beside the sidewalk at the posted coordinates. She was bent over from arthritis and leaning on a cane. I stopped to see if I could help her. The woman slowly turned her head to one side and then rolled her eyes to look up at me. Without averting her gaze, she reached into her coat pocket, pulled out a slip of paper, and held it out to me.
"Please take this," she whispered.
I took the paper from her trembling hand.
"Thank you," she smiled. "Don't forget ..."
I couldn't make out the rest of what she said because there was a blinding flash of lightning followed by a deafening explosion of thunder. When I recovered my senses, the woman was gone.
I shoved the paper into my pocket and hurried home to read it. This is what it said:
I have hidden a scroll not far from here. It will bring peace and prosperity, or at least a sense of accomplishment, to all who find and sign it. The music below contains the secret to the scroll's location.
Be warned, however, that this is a magical musical score. I have hexed each note, measure by measure. Only a chosen few will be able to unlock the score's secrets. All others will be cursed with a melody that will run through their heads for all eternity. Unless, of course, they later hear something even more annoying in a television commercial.
In the year since I received the note, I have struggled in vain to find the scroll. I have studied the music, symbol by symbol, to try to uncover its secrets. I have taught myself to play a variety of different instruments, in the hope that by performing the tune I might discover its hidden truth. (I am particularly proud of this organ performance.)
Alas, nothing has worked and I am no closer to finding the scroll than I was a year ago. I have sadly concluded that I am not one of the chosen few. (Fortunately, I am finding the tune that is stuck in my head somewhat pleasing.) I am posting my story here in the hope that some who read this will be able to succeed where I have failed. If you take up this challenge, please post the story of your quest.
One more thing. I just figured out the mysterious woman's final words to me.
They were, "Don't forget your pen. It's a nano."
Congratulations to palmer154 for being first to find.