Short Story – The mystery man near the store
Photo credit: pjhudson from morguefile.com
Everyday I walk to the meat market to purchase various items from food to medication, but there is a man full of mystery. This man always seems to stand in the same spot everyday I see him. He even sleeps on the sidewalk of that street. I stood curious and wondered, who is this man? Is he only feeble minded? Or something more complicated than I can imagine? I had to know why he only hangs around that street.
I spoke to this man Today, his name is Remberto Ramos. He tells me he is always in that same spot because that is where a incident involving his wife had occurred. Remberto tells me she lost control of her vehicle and crashed in a post light. She survived the incident but she dyed a few months after. She told him if she passes to the next life to continue living his life in peace.
I felt bad for what happened to his wife 30 years ago, it damaged Ramos so much that after her death he has been standing near the crash site ever since. I asked if he needed anything in the store, all he wanted was a lottery ticket. He said that his wife and him always used to buy them as a ways to see a better future. A month has past I have not seen Remberto since the day I bought him a ticket, a lot of people nearby say he must have died or left town. I noticed when a man is homeless like Ramos, everyday people don’t care for them at all. They see homeless people as a eye sore rather than a human it sickens me.
The next day I saw him in a brand new suit, car and a decent haircut. Turns out he hit the jackpot with the ticket I purchased for him last month. Everyone around him now treated him with respect as if he wore a king. He wanted to thank me for the ticket and listening to his sorrows, he also gave me a small sum of his earnings. I asked what he would do next? as he leaves a dozen roses for his wife, he tells me to never forget the past. As he now accepts his wife’s death, he will now invest his money to help people that are homeless like he was for 30 years. Goes to that a past negative can make a bright future.
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