Robbed

As Otto returned from the grocery store, where he bought Captain Crunch, milk and Budweiser, which is what he lives on, a women approached him asking if he lived in apartment number 420. "Yep", Otto replied quickly as he continued toward the elevator without giving the women much attention. "Well, I hate to be the one to tell you this but...I'm afraid you're apartment has been broken into", said the women hesitantly waiting for Otto's rash reaction. "What! Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of a sick joke?", Otto demanded. "No, afraid not, I walked past not to long ago and noticed that the door had been kicked in and your things were spilled all over the floor."

Otto rushed to the elevator and went up to the fourth floor, where he found, just as the women had said, his door wide open and the wooden frame busted where the lock was, he things lay all across the floor. "Noooooooo! Damn theives!", screamed Otto in outrage. He went immediately over to his dresser to check for his money stash that he kept under his many pairs of jeans. It was gone, all of it. "Oh I'll find whoever did this if it's the last thing I do, and I'll kill 'em!", Otto proclaimed aloud. "Are you alright?", asked the lady who had informed him, poking her head in slowly. "No I'm not alright, I just got robbed! All my money is gone and who knows what else! Just leave me alone, get out!", yelled Otto. "Sorry, it's just I was thinking and I remember seeing this unfamiliar looking guy walking out of the building as I was coming in earlier. He was walking quickly with his head down and he had on a black baseball cap pulled down low and he was wearing a backpack. Anyway, I think that could have been the guy that did it now that I think about it.", said the woman in a friendly reassuring tone. "Great, now I know that a guy with a hat and a backpack did it, that really helps a lot. Do you know how many people have hats and backpacks in this town?", Otto snapped back. "Sorry, I was just trying to help", said the woman and walked away.

Otto stood there, looking around his recked apartment in disbelief. He just couldn't take it anymore, he grabbed his 18 pack of Budweiser and headed for his pawn shop. The pawn shop was where he usually went when he needed to get away or blow off some steam. As Otto walked past the clinic on his way to the pawn shop, a blind homeless man asked Otto if he had any change to spare. "Right back at ya' man, you and me both", Otto said in a dull depressed voice. His rage had passed and he was now unbelievably sad. Otto walked into the pawn shop, sat down and opened the first of many beers. He just sat there, got drunk, and thought. He was reflecting on his life, something he hadn't done in a while. He realized how much he hated his life and was disappointed with what it had become without him even noticing it. He began to think about the robbery again, and how maybe it was karma for all the terrible things he had done in his past.

As he was exploring his thoughts, a man entered his shop. "Excuse me, hello, I have some things I'd like to sell", said the man as walked up to the counter. "What a ya' got?", Otto said, who was quite drunk at this point. The man took out his backpack and pulled out a set of collector's item baseball cards, a lava lamp, and a small buddha statue. Before the man could pull out anything else, Otto had his 9mm revolver pointed straight at the man's head. All of the items on the counter belonged to Otto. "You son of a bitch, get on the ground right now or I'll blow your brains out!", shouted Otto, "Where's the rest of my money, you thief!" "I-I don't know man, I have no idea what you're talking about, you must have me mistaken, please just let me be on my way", said the man as he trembled on the floor. "Don't play stupid with me you little swindler, all this stuff you just tried to sell to me is mine, it belongs to me and I know you stole it. Now, I'll ask you again, where's the money?", Otto demanded as he put the barrel of the gun to back of the man's neck. "The backpack, the backpack! Okay, it's all in the backpack, everything, I swear!", said the man desperately. Otto grabbed the backpack and found all of his money inside along with more of his belongings. "You know, I still outta kill ya', or at least just shoot you to teach you a lesson", Otto said casually putting the gun to the man's head as if he very well would shoot him. "No, please don't, I'm sorry, this wasn't meant to be. Times are tough for me and I was just trying to provide for my family the only way I had left. Please don't kill me, I'm not supposed to die like this, I can't die like this, please!", pleaded the man.

All of the sudden a strange feeling came over Otto, a feeling he hadn't felt in a while, it was compassion. 'True, it is not your fate to fall at my hands", Otto said as he lifted the gun from the man's head and reached out his hand to help him up. The man took his hand and stood, putting his forehead to Otto's hand and praising him, "Thank you, thank you, oh thank you so much, I'm so so sorry, It will never happen again!" He turned and walked toward the door, thanking Otto again and again as he left. Otto gave a slight smile, went back to his seat, finished his beers and admired his recovered belongings with a new found appreciation for each one.