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Everything comes at a cost

We are our choices and our choices are our thoughts

By Clutch’s EnterprisePublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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The choices we make

Five years from now, people will either benefit or have to deal with the consequences based off choices made today. Waking up to yet another alarm that starts the day to a not so fulfilled life; a young man with hopes of going to his dream college is met with breakfast in bed coupled with the sounds of hand claps that were drowned out by cheers as his family has entered the room. Distraught, he sat up, his mom, in tears, handed him an envelope enclosing his acceptance letter to his dream college.

Just the other day he was asking his mother why life was the way it was for his family, and sadly she had no answers to all the times she had to tell him; “I can't afford that'', and “put that back” when they were in the store, and “do you have McDonald's Money'' when they were driving home. Him and his mother got into constant arguments about money and why they never had any, and her excuse was always claiming that we did not have a lot of money because we would not know what to do with it. Nothing worth having comes easy, she'd always say.

It was not the fact that he could never get what he asked for growing up because he did not ask for much; it was the hurt in his mother’s eyes when she had to tell him no. There was a shadow of unfulfillment as well as a fire inside him to have more, and for that he knew he had to do, more. So with determination in his eyes, he sat up to accept his icing covered in cinnamon French toast, as he plotted on how to do everything in his power to ensure a prosperous future. He was accepted with an academic scholarship but because Aaron didn’t play sports he would have to do much more in order to get the bare minimum, the necessities for a college dorm. Tuition was 40,000$ and he needed another 20,000$ in order to be covered for the rest of the year. Another difficult conversation wood need to be made about monetary gain and what would need to happen in order for them to be ok.

Nobody in his family had been to college but movies like Stomp the Yard and Drumline gave him an indication into what life would be like when he arrived. It was freshmen orientation and he met a particular student named Cyrus who introduced him to a counselor who told him about a scholarship contest where they were tasked to write a mission statement in order to gain access to the college through full acceptance. The essay topic was about a time when the student was forced to be responsible in a moment where they were easily tempted to do the opposite. The scholarship was worth 20,000$! This was a blessing in disguise because they barely scraped the money together to go to orientation in the first place.

So In Order To find a book on responsibilities, off to the library he went . On his way there, an overcast took over his street, it started raining out of nowhere and he rushed into the library where he was met by an older man who spoke in fact. Every sentence started with, “did you know?” The lights shutoff due to the rain and the old man continued with his ranting about random facts. Aaron comes up to a book shelf with the only light on in the entire library.

On the cover of the book it reads, “everything comes at a cost”.

Intrigued, he opens the little black book and a strong gust of wind knocks him back a few steps and drops his glasses off his face. Incidentally his glasses break and now he is forced to take the book home and fix his glasses so he can read it. The ok’d man disappeared and it stopped raining. On the way home he keeps thinking about how his mom is going to be so upset when she sees his glasses as this is the third pair this year. He greets his mother and immediately walks upstairs, he stops for a second to glance at his mom scraping together what she can to pay this months rent and doesn’t want to add to her stress so he proceeds to his room.

Forgetting about the mission statement entirely, and to his astonishment, the glasses were fixed, almost brand new. He did not think twice about it but he opens the book again and the same gust of wind knocks down a glass and breaks it. Startled by the noise his mom asks him is everything ok, and he does not respond, so she asks three more times before barging in the room. He is staring at the book and she goes up to him repeating his name , “Aaron! Aaron!” She proclaims. He slams the book shut and reassures his mom he is ok, and she is still wondering why he was staring at a blank book. She then asks has he wrote his mission statement for school and he replies that he is working on it.

She leaves the room confused and he proceeds to read.

He looks back down at the book, and a once blank book now reads “ Glasses: $79.89. He grabs his glasses and looks back at the book and with a devilish grin he thinks about having some milk and snickerdoodle cookies toasted toa. Light crisp and they magically appear on his desk. The book starts to illustrate in the most elegant writing…$4.99. Elated, he jumps up and grabs the book and heads outside to try out his new found power.

Walking down the street he bumps into his high school sweetheart, which was more like a crush, Leyla. Leyla accidentally Knocks the book out of his hand and immediately notices how flustered Aaron seems when he grabs the book and tightly grasps it in his clutches. He then asks her around the corner to the alley and asks her what something she always wanted. Leyla laughed in disbelief, wondering this had to do with the book. So he explains about how he just got accepted into an NYU and how he needed to write a mission statement, and that’s why he was at the library. When he was in the library he found the book that he showed her, this little black book that seemed to grant his wishes but at a cost. He would not yet know the cost, but proceeded to think of things he wanted. He then tested the power of the book and thought of an entire new outfit from the hat down to the shoes, and in her amazement he open the book and showed her how he was just charged $379 for his new look. She noticed that he was losing hair and asked if he got a haircut. Unknowingly, the book charged him a little over $2000 but by the time he would realize that; they would have been on several dates and changed each other’s entire wardrobe. Leyla pointed out how Aaron, while having on the best designer he had ever seen, let alone had in his possession, was losing his hair. Aarons jaw dropped and a few teeth started to fall out. Disgusted they both look at each other and look at the book and take off running. She then comes up with the idea that they need bikes, so they use the book. A few more strands of hair and a few more teeth fall seamlessly to the ground. They pedal their hearts out with no destination in mind and decide to go to his house. Only his big brother is there and he reminds Aaron about his mission statement, but notices his brother's changed appearance. Leyla explains the situation and his brother needs some proof. Worried, Aaron starts naming off things he knows his brother wants and to his brother's amazement, his little brother looks like Sméagol from Lord of the Rings.

They go to the only person who could solve this problem, the only person with all the answers. They go to their moms job and explain the situation to her, and she says it’s bad juju. She tells him to get rid of the book and sell everything he bought using the book. She then explains that nearly 20,000 $ had been removed from his mother’s account, the same account she was using to pay for his college tuition. He now had no money to go to college. Sméagol breaks down crying and goes and sells everything he ever wished for from the book. He then started to gain his teeth and his hair back just in time for the day to move in. It was a few days before the mission statement had to be done and Aaron thought he may have found his story. He then writes the most elaborate story about a man who came into contact with 20,000$ all at one time, and squandered it away on things that did not matter. He learned the importance of a dollar, earning that dollar, and making it work for him. Most importantly he learned that everything, no matter how small, has a cost. Aaron evenetaylky for his Afro and pearly whites back, and was off to college with the help of his new scholarship. His mission statement was then published and given to incoming freshmen on the day of move in.

fact or fiction
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About the Creator

Clutch’s Enterprise

I am an inspiring Writer and actor. I love expressing myself and look forward to reading the reviews on my work.

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