Member-only story
Two Life Lessons That Have Painful Consequences
Lessons are often learned later in life, but it’s never too late.
Charles, a homeless man rummaging through trash cans, was looking for something to eat. The usual restaurant he frequents for leftovers abruptly closed. As he walked away towards his camp, he accepted he was going to bed hungry. This was an everyday occurrence for Charles, but this time he was starving. He hasn’t eaten in a few days.
As he got closer to camp, he saw a chipmunk tangled in string and couldn’t escape. Charles had eaten squirrels before when he was famished, and his hunger level was far worse than that. So he decided to take the chipmunk back to camp.
On the way back to camp the chipmunk asked Charles, “Why are you taking me?”
Charles explained to the chipmunk that he would kill and eat her because he was hungry and hadn’t eaten for days. Hearing this, the chipmunk got scared but didn’t show it. After some time being silent, the chipmunk told Charles she accepted she was going to die. She has lived a full life but has one last wish before she dies.
Charles said she was free to ask for anything as long as it wasn’t her freedom because Charles needed to satisfy his hunger.
