Jonathan is squatting down next to the river as he does every day. As he was sitting he
noticed the river moving very vigorously, pounding onto the rocks, but the water still looked
very pristine and very mesmerizing. This was one of the few things that created a peace inside
Jonathan. The wind was blowing through his dirty scruffy hair and thin clothes. With each stroke
of wind slowly relaxing him until a huge newspaper blows straight  onto his face. His peace is
suddenly interrupted but tries to keep it together. As he attempts to read the newspaper, each
word  looks like a word scrabble. The thought of not being able to read simple words caused
anger to slowly run through his blood. He viciously throws the newspaper to the ground and
begins his “three mile walk of misery” to his house like any other day. 
As the walk got longer the beautiful sights are decreased and the sickly smell of trash
increased. Penniless people walked down the dirt streets barefooted, selling fruit they pick
random tree hoping for the smallest amount of cash. He lives in avery poor neighborhood where
even the smallest wind can cause damage for many years. His house had an aluminum rooftop
pure cement blocks, and a wooden door that made a terrible screeching sound. When he enters
his house, he sees his mother. His mother was a loving and grateful woman. She had always told
Jonathan to be grateful of what he has because life could be worse although it doesn’t seem like
it . He hated his mother for that, he saw no point of gratefulness where there was nothing to be
grateful about. 
He enters the house and goes straight to the bedroom, right past his mother. 
“ Well hello Jonathan!” she says with a smile as vibrant as seven suns.
“ What do you want.” Jonathan said.
“ I just wanted to let you know I found some of your favorite fruit today while walking thru the
garden in the city.” she exclaimed as she handed the bowl to Jonathan.
He snatched the bowl from her rough palms and smashed the bowl of fruit to the cemented floor.
Seeing her happy made him furious because she couldn’t give him a life of wealth. Jonathan
hated that walk. Jonathan hated his house. Jonathan hated his life.
It was the next day and Jonathan had to complete his daily routine of going to the river to
wash clothes. It was the same routine, the name newspaper, but the wind has felt extra heavy that
day. As Jonathon was stubbornly making his walk home he fell over a rock. 
   “ Aghh!” he shouted triggering his anger even more,” Why do these things keep happening to
me! Haven't I had enough!” he exclaimed towards the sky.
    But, when he looks down at where he fell he saw a huge stack of green. It was money! His
favorite thing. He usually finds single bills on the floor but this time it looked like way more than
one dollar. He rushed over to the bank with  his huge stack of money. As he ran through the
streets, he only saw bright colors.He noticed the beautiful color patterns of the grasses with the
buildings. He finally appreciated the beauty of the sky and how each cloud had its own unique
shape. He felt the run was his road to happiness. It took him about five hours to get to the nearest
bank, but it felt like seconds to him. He was told he had found one hundred thousand dollars on
the floor. For the first time ever, joy ran through every single bone in his body. He was in such
shock that he had no idea what to do.
He had promised himself to remain humble and try to help his mother. He had gotten a
taxi car ride to his home and felt excitement throughout the whole ride to his house. He could
imagine his mother crying of joy and be shocked. For the first time he couldn’t wait to get to his
house. He couldn’t wait to see his mother.
   “ Mom guess what I found? Our days of despair are finally over!” he exclaims as he hands he
the huge stack of money. “ I found this huge stack of money as I fell over the rock and I
couldn’t-”
    A look of disappointment appears on her face.” Jonathan you shouldn’t have taken that
money. You have no idea where it came from or whose it was. If we were meant to have that
money, we would earn it the right way not by-”
“  MOM YOU ARE SO UNGRATEFUL!” he said. “ YOU ARE THE PERSON HOLDING US
BACK! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CAUSED US TO HAVE THIS HORRIBLE LIFE! When
we get the opportunity to change things all you do is turn it down.”
Hearing her son’s words saddened her but she knew she had to let him learn the consequences of
his actions by himself. 
He storms out of the house and goes to the city. He had never seen so many lights and tall
buildings in his life. The emotions of having money and the “ungratefulness” of his mother turn
into greed. He goes to the places he saw in the newspapers. The “place of money giving” is what
he called it. He going to this place with bright lights, loud music, and the sound of machines
ringing every second. He went to a casino. He asks one of the body guards who looked like he’s
done this before as he watches over the games of each person. The bodyguard shows him how to
play on the machines, gives him brief instructions of the card games but warns him not to go to
those because they are very risky even though he could get more money. 
Jonathan first goes to play at the machines. He sees all the right things. His luck is out of
this roof. He has now won twice as much as he originally had.  He begins to feed on his success
as he keeps winning. He felt on cloud nine with all his success but that wasn’t enough for
Jonathan. He saw the card games through the corner of his eye and could resist the urge to win
even more money. He draws the cards and bets all his money. He is at eighteen on his cards. He
carefully thinks about the possibilities. He was going to stay but then the thought of his mother’s
disbelief and ungratefulness he decided to draw considering all the luck he’s had too. As he sees
that card hit the table a feeling of despair and misery fill his heart. He has lost it all. The first
thing he does is go to his mother and beg forgiveness. 
“ Mom I am so sorry. I should have listened to you” he grieved
She doesn’t accept and told him to accept his consequences. Jonathan lives on the street now,
with no roof over his head, no food in his stomach every day, and no love. He had now realized
that things could’ve been worse.