Awarded 2nd Distinction. Short Story and Poetry Competition 2010

To live or not to live

It was a grey, dull, rainy morning. In a grey, dull rainy street. But the thing that caught my attention the most was a man. He was struggling with his own problems, or, as he called them, responsibilities. He was in his mid- thirties. As he walked rapidly through that depressing block, he looked at the people surrounding him, feeling sorry for them, as they did not enjoy life, according to him. He was so self-involved that he could not see that he was just like the other people, and even less happy. Moreover, he had no family; he did not even like his job. In life, he just scraped through, as if it was another responsibility.
All of a sudden, an elderly person who seemed to be homeless grabbed his suit and yelled- “Change! Please, change!”
“I do not have any change for you, disgusting old man!” - He said rudely, and continued to mumble something about having to deal with poor people. He approached to his routine job, and he stayed there until eight o’clock in the evening, and after that, he went back home. During the weekend, he arranged his house, and did some work he had left undone.
That was how his life had been like for about forty years.
However, one day, he did not wake up as usual. He saw all his life in just a couple of seconds, or maybe hours. He could not tell how much time had passed, but he realized, for the first time, that he had no legacy, nothing to live for. He had not accomplished anything throughout his life; he only had his money and himself.
Suddenly, he appeared in a grey, dull, rainy street. He was sitting on the floor, while dawn was making everything visible.
Am I dead? - He wondered.
Everything seemed slower; nothing made sense to him any more. He was trying to figure out what had happened, when he saw himself, perhaps thirty, forty years younger, walking towards him. When he realized what was going on, he cried out- “Change! Please, Change!”



Pen name: RWJ
Category C