The Lucky Man

There was a man once in the streets of Paris. A man living on the streets. He always would sit around in his favorite homeless alley. A place full of former shops which were closed down but the homeless used them as shelters and essentially lived there without the authorities knowing.

And there he was.Sitting in the day. A sunny day men would sweat on hopelessly longing for a fresh breeze. People would pass through the alley. Some would look down in disgust upon the homeless. They were filthy and smelled bad after all. So some people would hurry in order to not get a disease. Some would spit and make fun of them. Making their misery even worse...

The man got caught up in a monologue in his head."these rich bastards. Always looking down on us. But do they know how the manager refused me when i applied for a job? They force us to be homeless and hate us for it...If only..I had power..to be rich..to change things" Suddenly a well clothed man with a cane approaches from the distance. He sits next to the man. But he didn't notice him because he was caught up i his monologue.
"Joel, what are you doing?"
"What?wait...how do you...Who are you?"
"Ive been called many names. It is not important if you know. Aren't you the one looking for power...to change things?"
"look...i don't know how you know that but..if you try something funny i will have my buddies beat you up!"

The man looked around the homeless.They were broken , weak, pitiful.

"don't be silly. I am here to help. Just say yes."
"yes to what?"
"Yes to losing your humanity. And i will make you powerful."
" but if i loose my humanity what's the point to being rich?"
"You won't become a robot you simpleton. You will have ambitions like everybody else , ideas etc.. You'll just be less human then the rest."
"okay then.. I accept...as if you'll change something"
"good"

Suddenly as if the man wasn't even there and as if the time was stopped during this whole time and it just started again. Awaken by the stench and misery, the man goes bitter to sleep. Who knows how much time has passed. But he wakes up. He is in a luxurious bedroom. Well clothed. Healthy... Smelling fresh and good. Greeted by a young maiden.

"Sir. I've seen you woke up. Let me guide you around the house. For you just bought this yesterday and fainted for some reason without getting a proper tour."

The man is shocked to the core. He can't believe his eyes... Slowly fear starts to grow in his heart. Like the growing of a tree with deep roots. Who was that man? He kept his emotions in check and didn't let the maiden notice a thing.

"Sure. Let's go..."
So she shows him the many beautiful Parisian rooms. It seems he has a villa that looks and has beautiful outdoors like the mansions in Versailles. The man is overwhelmed. He quickly forgets.
He forgets his fear and his past.

"sir. Your harem is waiting for you"
"what... I... A harem?"
"yes. Go and enjoy yourself."

The man spends his time with women, parties... Hunts.... Going around the world... Living like an aristocrat... He enjoys life.
One day he has to pass through a homeless alley. Like the one he had been living in for so long.
He sees the homeless and remembers what he was. But he still gets through it with hurry and disgust.
Suddenly he sees the a homeless man that almost looked like him in the past. Asleep.

"what? That man over there... He... He looks to much like I once did. What is this? How... How is this possible... I have to check the birth mark... If it's there... He is me!"

To his shock the man finds the birth mark on the spot that he has it... Or had it? He quickly checks the spot on himself only to find out he doesn't have it...

"what this is mad? How can this be? I... I'm here... Not there... Why... What's happening?Everyone called me Joel so i assumed somehow reality changed, but this?"

He asks the homeless about the man lying there...

"oh.. He was a good man... Very angry at the rich and powerful. Wanting power to take revenge and change things as he likes to say He always thought he would be different than them for some reason... Sadly one day he just suddenly collapsed into sleep. When he woke up he said that he shouldn't be here... He bought a house that he had to see... His harem was waiting for him... Maybe the misery made him loose it... He sleeps now because he's tired... Or maybe he committed suicide... Who knows.."

The man is shocked to the core.
Suddenly as if time stopped again.
A fear is growing in his heart as he notices someone coming from behind

"and? What did you change? You humans are always the same. Bragging and bragging... I've yet to see someone not fall victim to this...
All it took was a role switch for you to act just like the people you despised.
Simpleton! You quickly forgot the pain and the misery didn't you? "
"what... Who... Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?"

"I am many things. In your case... I am hypocrisy and tribalism... I said give up your humanity... You didn't... If you gave it up and went after perfection you would have changed things."

The man is shocked... The roles get quickly reversed and he wakes up in his old filthy clothes.

Sad. Not because of his current situation... But because he forgot that all humans are limited by the same limitations and the same weaknesses...

"These rich men... They are just like me... And I am just like them divided by our humanity Many people thing being human is a good thing..Well it seems it isn't ..This mysterious man seemed to be convinced of that... What a hopeless situation"