Mugged

The sun was just beginning to rise on a cool March morning, and Otto was making his way home, still feeling a little drunk, after just being released from the police station. The night before a police officer saw Otto running down Sunset terrace at about 3 A.M. extremely intoxicated and howling loudly like a werewolf. Otto had been up all night drinking heavily with his friend Scott. The officer wasn't sure if Otto would be a threat or not, so he just played it safe and took Otto to the station to sober up in the holding cell. By about 6:45 they figured he was good to go, even though Otto was still feeling buzzed but could at least speak coherently now. Otto was completely exhausted from the alcohol and lack of sleep. He wanted to get to his bed as soon as possible, so he cut through behind the Sawmill Theater.

Just as Otto rounded the corner of the theater, he came upon a homeless encampment in between the shed and the theater. Three rough-looking men quickly hopped up and surrounded Otto. "We want everything you got", one said as he flicked open a switchblade knife by his side. "That's right, everything! Now empty your pockets and give me your jacket and boots", another one said. "Alright fine, here you go, take it all", Otto said agitated but calmly. All he had in his pockets anyway was a lighter, some gum, and two dollars, so he wasn't too upset. He was more upset about it taking up time that could be spent in his bed.

In any other circumstances Otto probably would have put up more of a fight, but he just didn’t have it in him at the moment. As the homeless men quickly gathered their few belongings and scurried off, Otto felt pity for the men. He thought about how much better his quality of life was compared to theirs, which was fairly new to Otto because usually he preoccupied his mind with how much better other people’s lives were compared to his. So in the end, being mugged turned out not to be such a bad experience for Otto after all. From that point on, whenever Otto was feeling down on his life, he just thought about those homeless men who desperately robbed him of his lighter, gum, and two bucks and just laughed.