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Flash Fiction - Jimmy's lesson
The Anderson family, who are very wealthy, live in Boston. Jimmy, Clarissa, and Stephanie were brothers; John and Maria were their parents. Clarissa is about to graduate from Medicine school, Stephanie is an excellent piano player and president of the student council, and Jimmy is the youngest family member, he is a spoiled kid that don’t appreciate what his parents give to him, he had been expelled form 3 schools this past year, he is actually not going to school and is always messing around. John and Maria don’t know what to do with him, they have already sent him to the Military school, to a psychologist, and he continues being the same spoiled boy.
One day Jimmy thought that driving was easy, so he took the car keys of his mother. He started driving in the backyard, destroying it, and after loosing control he sank the car into the pool. His parents pissed off and lock him in his room as a punishment. Jimmy escape from his room and go to the park looking for someone to play with.
As he was walking to the playground he saw a unusual thing, a man was playing with a dog. The man was a homeless guy who sleeps under a bridge near the park.
Jimmy was surprised that the guy seemed happy, he wondered how someone could be happy being poor and without a thing. Jimmy obverse him for a while, and then he decided to ask him why he was dressed as a homeless person, if it was costume. The guy laughed and continued playing with the dog. Jimmy get mad because of the reaction of the guy and thread him about being beaten by his bodyguards, the guy laughed again and tell the kid
“Do you think that because of having money you can mess with the people’s happiness?”
“Yes, money can achieve everything”
“Oh boy, let me show you something”
The homeless guy took Jimmy under the bridge and showed him where he sleep,
“As you see I don’t have any TV, bed or mini split, and that don’t bother my happiness I keep sleeping happily”
“How could you not have any of those things, and you could be happy at the same time?”
“Material thing don’t buy happiness, with the simple fact of living that’s enough reason to be grateful”
The guy took the kid with his friends, who lived across the park in a backstreet. When they arrived everyone were very kind with Jimmy, they ask him if he was hungry.
“Yes, I’m very hungry”
“Here, take this half of my sandwich”
“Why are you giving me the half of your only meal?”
“Because I know how it feel to being hungry for days”
Jimmy and the homeless friends spend the afternoon together, playing and talking about how they survive day by day. After a while the homeless guy form the beginning told Jimmy that it was late, and that they should go back to the park.
