Fractions of a Cent

I’ve had the idea for years. What if a man complains about being down to his last $20, but then falls into another world where even one cent is a lot?

It would start something like this:

~~ 💵

“Sarah, please!” he yelled as the door slammed in front of him. Jaden Covey was now alone outside the apartment with a hastily-packed duffel bag. He thought he at least had the night to figure out where he would go, but she had other plans. He banged on the door.

“Stop it!” Sarah yelled from inside. “I told you to shape up before. Now I’m done!”

“Come on,” he pleaded, hitting the wood with his palm. He could already feel the cold seeping in through his one and only coat. “Sarah!” No response. “Please. You know I get paid tomorrow. I don’t have any money!” He heard her groan and then the lock click open.

“Alright,” she said, propping the door open just enough to see her face through. She dropped one hand to reach into her pocket and retrieve something. “Here, to tide you over.” She extended a 20-dollar bill to him.

“Twenty bucks?!” he protested. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Not my problem,” she said. He glared at her. “It’s all I have now, ok?” He sighed and grabbed it from her. “Good luck, Jaden.”

“Yeah…” he said as the door promptly shut again. “…No thanks to you.”

~~ 💵

Then he would wander a bit until he found a diner. He’d debate if he should break the bill in order to hang out there or press on.

This is the first, and perhaps biggest, gap the plot’s up against. I have to somehow get him to slip or fall into a portal. It could be somewhere down the street, but I’d like it to be in the back of the diner.

But why would he go behind the diner? Doesn’t make much sense. The best I can think is he decides to go in, but then turns himself away in front of the door. Then he could end up going around the back in distress, and yells at himself about why he can’t go in.

So he ends up in the wrong place at the right time.

Then… bam! Some type of flashing lights, some falling, some spiraling patterns. “What’s happening, where am I? Ah, ah, ahhhh!”

He falls or slides out into the other world. I see it as a nice restaurant or a bakery taking the diner’s place. There’s also a flower shop and some other indoor/outdoor market-type places.

He overhears people asking for prices and haggling.

This is another snag. I had the idea that he’d hear people saying “that’s 2 millionths of a cent,” and “5 millionths of a cent, are you crazy?!”

The question is how could this society run like that? When the whole country only has $20, you’d think they’d have to name new units. Like a “centilla” or something. But even that sounds too big. That would be like having a one-thousand dollar bill!

If they do name other units that aren’t relative to the cent, however, how would he figure out what’s going on? Like “that’s 4 Zeebs.” Ok?

Or then there’s the problem from the opposite direction. There has to be someone who realizes he has the same amount of money as the whole country combined… in his pocket! How could they find that out, much less understand it??

A smaller, but still significant problem is what happens then. It would work to just explain that this guy helps him get the bill converted to millions or billions. And he buys a mansion and hires help and security out of nowhere?

Not to mention all this has taken on a very different meaning since my teen years. It would’ve been to show how he can now appreciate money when he returns to the real world.

Now of course, the last thing I want to do is valorize the wealthiest. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I think there’s still a lot of potential here. If I… you know… change everything about it.