The Old Man Gets a New Chance.

(typos fixed)

James Hitchcock sat on a bench in the middle of the night and looked up at the stars between the rain clouds, wondering how his life had spiraled out of control in his thirties. He once had a beautiful wife he loved greatly and three daughters he once thought idolized him for being a good father. But little did James know that was all a facade, that fate full day when James walked in on his boss making out with them. None were spared from his touch; this man he worked for and considered a person to look up to. 

He sighed as the cold air nipped at his face, and the rain began slowly falling. People walked by and looked at him with disgust, as his clothing was dirty and full of holes. His wife had taken everything from him, and his boss blacklisted him from his job field, making it hard for him to find a job as he couldn't even use them as a reference, so fifteen years of work experience went down the drain.

Making getting a job hard was just the surface-level issue, sending goons to all the low-paying jobs he could get. Until they even fired him, he has been living on the streets for the last twenty years now. Trying to get any food he could, to say his life was hell. He wouldn't be too far off, but the rain began to pick up as he stood up.

James quickly fell back onto the bench, grabbing his chest as people began to walk fast, trying to get out of the rain. Some glanced at him. But none did anything, hoping someone else would help him. He was left in the cold, pouring rain. He tried to move, but the unbearable pain in his chest stopped him.

He fell over, looking up as the rain fell on his face, and he chuckled to himself.

"So, this is how I die. Alone and on a bench in the cold winter rain, sigh, I am tired."

He didn't die angry or sad, just tired. Everything didn't matter to him anymore. This life didn't have any meaning after he lost what was once so dear to him. But in the end, life is cruel; some get the happiness while others get the pain.

His vision slowly faded, as did the pain in his chest, until he felt nothing anymore. Slowly, a new feeling started to come, like floating in a thick fog that touched his skin—the feeling of dew in the morning. The only problem was he couldn't open his eyes. No, that isn't the right way to describe it.

It was like he didn't have a body but could still feel something, which confused him about how to understand it.

"My child, trying to understand something beyond human understanding will only drive oneself mad."

A sweet feminity voice drifted through his whole being; it made his heart, or at least what he thought maybe his heart, skip a beat to the melodic, sweet voice.

*chuckle*

"James, you sure do know how to say sweet words. Well, think sweet words. I thank you for the compliment. You are wondering where you are, and the easiest way to explain it would be to call it limbo, a place between the living and the dead. I stopped you from crossing to give you another chance at life to change the fate you had walked through if you so choose to."

"At what cost? And for what reason, even if I go back, it would not be that much of a difference as he is one of the top ten wealthiest people in the world, and I am no one but a person he once played with for amusement. Revenge is pointless as it will only drag me into a darker place than the hell I was already in, and I will have company this time. The company I would much rather not care about anymore."

"I do not ask anything of you; I just thought your life was of great sadness and as the Goddess of time. I wish to allow you to live however you want, whether for fun or as you explore the women of your world or other worlds. Or burn your world to the ground as you see fit. Anyway, you desire, and I will give you any three gifts you want."

If she puts it that way, I don't care about revenge. They say the best revenge is to live a better life than those who have wronged you. I smile as I come up with the three gifts I want.

(1. The ability to mold people's minds to my liking helps me with everything from business to women. It has so many applications. I can get deals that heavily favor me, and I know plenty of ways to use them during deals. 

2. A system that lets me buy anything in existence with money from my world. This can range from women to technology that doesn't come from my world. I can buy the documents for it, the machines to build them, and the materials to make them. I could even buy them tweaked to earth's standards to not draw attention to myself too much. As it's in all of existence, meaning if there are different realities, that means on one earth, they had come up with that idea, and I can use those as my own. There is nothing wrong with stealing ideas from a different world.

3. The ability to see the future will let me adapt to any changes coming from my meddling with the world's powers. You can't step on people's toes and not have them lash out somehow. This will help me stay under the radar for as long as possible until I am too important to kill.)

"If I were to ask for everything I thought about, would you be able to do that?"

"What you want is not a problem for me to give you; I will even let you buy anything for free one time once you are back."

I smile and ask if this Goddess has a name. Once I get back, I wish to pray to her.

"True gods don't have names as we do not need the worship of mortals. But if you want to give me a name, I don't mind."

"I will call you Serenity. As your voice brings me great comfort, it is only a shame that I couldn't look at you as your voice sounds so beautiful that you must match its beauty."

"Serenity? I like that name, thank you. James, I will reward you with a little extra as I will change your body to the pick of the human's limits. After all, you can't love all those women with an average male body, can you? Have fun with your new life."

She laughed seductively before I slowly felt the feeling around me fade like I was leaving the place. It became nothingness until I was jolted awake by the subway sounds. I woke up, looking around as I looked down. I was wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. I looked at the watch.

'It's the day everything changed; I should be heading home now. I know what to do."

The train was coming to a stop four stops before mine, and I smiled when I heard this stop and got off. The first thing I did was get off and head to a branch of my bank to open a new account, moving every dime in both accounts and emptying our savings into it.

Next, head to Samantha Longings' apartment. She is the hottest woman in our company and the company's jewel. I am going to make her into my woman as I get her to quit. Rumor has it that my boss, who owns the company, has been trying to get with her forever, but she plays the ice queen every time. But I know why she won't bat an eye at him. I overheard her talking to her mother about how she likes women and for her to stop trying to hook her up.

So my boss, who owns the company, will have the woman he has been trying to get taken from me. I call it a fair trade, as my wife isn't even in the same league as Samantha. Well, Ex-wife as of now.

After I finish moving all the money, it's a little over $100,000. Not much, but more than I need right now, as in a week, the lottery will be $1.78 billion, and someone will win it the next time after that. So I need to step in and buy a ticket. I stop by a store and pick the numbers, remembering how much I hoped to win that money. I still remember those numbers. I put the ticket in my wallet and walked to her apartment. I entered the building and pressed the number on her floor.

I had been here before to drop off some important papers. I stopped before her door and rang the doorbell, and a woman as sexy as Samantha opened the door. I could see hickeys. She must be her girlfriend, I thought, and I smiled. Two for one, why thank you.