1 A Morning Stroll

An old man on a park bench. He was seated too comfortably to move quickly from his seat that he could not react to a dog rushing to his feet. The dog stopped right beneath him and sniffed which soon wretched its face then pranced on.

'Oh wow. How rude.' The old man thought.

The old man was wearing a wool beret and a trench coat that looked a tad bit dirty. With boots worn too tightly and worn out pants, he looks like just any hobo on the street. That is true, he is a hobo.

In the past, he fought for his country in numerous wars. At times he also fought his country. But now he is a homeless veteran in his own home country. Alas, a home country is a loose concept to this old man, for what he truly wanted was rest. He wasn't patriotic nor was he an idealist, he was but a simple citizen.

'I'm about to near my limit for this one huh.'

The old man stood. It was a pathetic attempt to stand. His knees were weak and the arms he used to support his body was heavy. It was a miracle that he survived until this point all by himself.

'How many times do I have to go through this?' The old man lamented.

He wasn't just complaining about his current plight. This isn't his first time experiencing this hardship. He was complaining of experiencing it every time his body deteriorates.

'Let's walk towards that tree right there.' The old man marked a tree in his near vicinity. He then looked towards the road and saw a black car nearing in the distance.

'If I don't get to the tree before that car is out of my vision. I'll die.' The old man had very morbid thoughts.

He ran, but it was too slow to be called running. So it was a walk, but he soon fell down. It was early morning but this old man didn't have breakfast yet, in fact, he wasn't able to eat since 2 days ago.

His body was without nutrients to enrich it. It was an old and weary body, it once was a valiant one that fought for freedom, but time takes its toll on all things. This includes the tree that he was racing towards.

The tree was nothing special, it was a mighty tree that towers above in the old man's vision, but it was no extra-ordinary tree by any means. It was just the nearest one. It had autumn leaves and all around the tree was a mess of leaves.

The old man continued his plight(?). He will die if he doesn't reach the tree before the black car is out of vision. He struggled, his run turned to a crawl, he looked pathetic. One thing didn't change throughout his downfall, his eyes still had the determination.

'I'm going to stop the cycle once and for all!' The old man grit his teeth as he continued to crawl.

He was about to reach the tree, the car was also far from him but still within vision. Just a little further and he would win. He would win his stupid game as a senile old man.

Alas, the dog from earlier came to greet him. The dog stood in his way, it stared at his face and it was excited. The dog then proceeded to lick his face which shocked the old man.

'What's the point?' The old man sighed.

'Well, it has been 80 years since I last had a talk with the old man. Perhaps it is time.' He continued.

The car was nowhere in sight. The old man's strength was also lost. The dog was still licking his face.

Though the dog wretched at his odor earlier, it was oddly attached to him this time. Perhaps it came to like his scent.

The old man then laid on his back, alone with his thoughts and his rumbling stomach. Once the adrenaline of his sad excuse of a race, the pains in his body became prevalent in his perception.

He coughed, hard. His cough became a disgusting sound then he vomited his gastric acids. There was no blood, and to no surprise, there were no bolus as well. It was just pure acid.

The dog sniffed his acids then licked.

'At least I won't be alone this time.' The old man smiled as he vomited more acids involuntarily.

Then soon after. He died.

"This is the worst of the lives you've had Adam." A heavenly voice said. "Geez, at least entertain me more."

'That's not my fault God. There were no proper wars after the 2nd world war. Give me a break.' The old man, who is named Adam, said.

"How about I set the world for you then?" The heavenly voice said an ominous line. "Hehe, this should be fun."