Every day I pass an old man sitting on the bench or standing at the pier, his eyes are fixated on the roaring timeless ocean.
His long silver-grey hair moves with the wind. His attire is sackcloth, and he has no shoes. At first, I thought he was some well-known sailor, who missed those days.
Am I the only one that can see him or was he a figure of my imagination? No, he wasn’t. Then a thought goes through my mind he reminds me of Job in the bible with that sackcloth.
But why is he wearing it in this day and age? And where does he live? I am hesitant to ask him.
Maybe he decided to dress like that just to be noticed. Who knows? Truthfully, I can’t get rid of his image in mind, it began to haunt me for days.
I couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard I tried. It felt as if I was transported to a time when there were no cars, luxury cruise liners and so on.
Then one day I, sat next to him on a bench. His piercing blue eyes felt as if it was looking into my soul.
Then he began to tell me his story. ” You, my son, look around you, there was a time when I owned all this. My property stretched from one end of the street to the other.
I was wealthy beyond words, but greed took hold of me. The more I had, the more I wanted! Nothing could stop me, or so I thought.
I began to charge exorbitant rentals. No one could compare to me! I borrowed money without giving it back, not once did I think about that persons needs. What if they needed that money? I avoided them as if they were a plague!
In a way, he reminded me so of myself. Then this happened, and today I have nothing, not even a penny.
“I asked him, “what if this was a test?” He didn’t even understand that! Part of me felt sorry for him. Then one day I didn’t see him anymore. Did he learn anything from it? I can’t say or did he get everything back, I don’t know?
As for me, I left him knowing someday soon, I will get everything back.
