The Street Beggar

The Street beggar

 Reo finished work and left the office. It's been a bit wintery lately. That's why people can't be seen on the street at twelve o'clock at night. Otherwise, midnight in Japan is not such a deep night. Moreover, many like him work in night shift. Even in the middle of the night, the road is crowded with people. Even if it is not crowded, you can see enough people on the streets in the middle of the night. But today the road is empty because it is freezing out there. Two pedestrians wrap up warm clothes to escape from the cold and rush towards their destination.

In fact, there is no rush for Reo. No one is waiting for him at home. Hana has been already asleep. She wakes up at six in the morning every day and works in the kitchen. Then she had to go to the office. In the same company, Hana works from 8 am to 2 pm and Reo from 6 pm to 2 am. They can give each other only these 2-3 hours in between. The office closed two hours ago due to bad weather today. But there is no reason for Reo to be happy. Because even if it's an early vacation, Hana is not awake anymore to spend this extra time with her. After returning home the same routine. Food kept in the refrigerator should be heated and eaten alone. Then go to sleep. Wake up and eat breakfast again alone. Because then Hana is at work.

Reo doesn't like this regular routine anymore. Only at lunchtime do the two of them eat together. Reo enjoyed that time very much. Hana's laugh, her talk, when she gets angry at Reo's mischief. Thinking about all this along the way of Reo Metrorail. Then he felt that he was very hungry. As the office will be closed early today, no male break has been given. That's why he didn't eat anything except two cups of coffee in the evening. He went to a vending machine next to the road. He took a burger from the vending machine and started eating it while standing on the side of the road.

Then he saw a man on the road. The man is sitting on the footpath looking at him. The man has no warm clothes. Who knows how he is sitting on the street wearing these light clothes in such severe winter? It is clear that the man is a beggar. Age is estimated to be 60-65. As soon as he blinked, the man got up and started slowly towards him.

Approaching and bowing his head in greeting, he said that he has not eaten for three days. Can Reo feed him something? Reo bought another burger from the vending machine and gave it to him. The man smiled sweetly and thanked him. Reo looked at the hand watch to catch the Metrorail and started walking towards the station while eating a burger. The man then called Reo from behind. Thinking that the man needed something more, he stopped. 

The man asked him to stay with him until the burger was finished. 'Do not go to the station before that.' Reo began questioning him why. The man said, 'Look, I know that time is precious. No one in this city wants to waste 5-10 minutes unnecessarily. And never for people like me. But if I say that spending some time with me will be good for you, will you not be able to give me 5-10 minutes of your life? Actually, everyone is very busy. No one wants to help a beggar like me. But today you have done me a great favor by buying me food. I want to help you in return for that favor. '

Reo said, 'No, I don't need any help. Yet I am sitting with you for a while when you are begging so much.' He thought to himself, it will take 5 minutes to reach the station now. There is a train home after 10 minutes if I don't catch it, and another train is after 15 minutes. That means if I don't catch the train after 10 minutes, I will be late by 25 minutes. I have early leave today, 25 minutes late, will be no problem. And besides, what will happen if I go home early?

Reo asked, 'Say, why did you ask me to stay?' The man said, 'Look, everyone in this world is just running around to make their future beautiful. Everyone just thinks about the future. No one ever thinks about the present. But no one knows if he will ever see the future he thinks about. He may die at any moment. Does anyone know when, how, and who will die? Do you feel like death is waiting for you in the next 10 minutes? No, you shouldn't. None of us know. A pedestrian who died in a road accident, even 2 minutes before his death, did not know that he would die in this place at this exact time. So why do we run into this? Why do we ignore the present and think about the future? Why work like a machine instead of enjoying your life for a secure future?'

Hearing the man's words, Reo remembered something. Hana wanted them both to work at the same time, so they could give each other more time. It's not even six months of marriage, so little time should be spent with each other. But he did not agree. Because working in night shift earns more money. If you don't earn more money now, you can't save more money. Then in the future, when there will be a child, Reo will not be able to buy a house. Reo wants to buy a house before having children. So want to have more time to earn more money. But Hana should not be given proper time for this. The girl is very upset.

The man is still saying, 'Learn to live with the present. If you live then don't let the future lose the present. No one can say who will see tomorrow's sunrise and who will not. Give time to yourself and your family. Enjoy your life.'

Reo thought the man was right. I can't give Hana time for a little extra money. If one dies tomorrow, the other will have no shortage of regrets. The man said, 'Okay, now you can go. But remember my words. Spending time with me has done you no harm but good.'

Reo slowly started walking towards the railway station. Tomorrow he will apply for a transfer to the day shift in the office. Reo smiled as he imagined the magical smile that would play on Hana's face upon hearing this. Immediately, a loud alarm rang in his ears. Being immersed in his thoughts, he did not notice that there was a large crowd of people in front of the station. 'What happened?', he asked someone. It was learned from him that the train which left the station 10 minutes ago had an accident in the middle due to a mechanical fault. Half of the passengers died and the rest were seriously injured. It is doubtful whether all of those injured will survive. At present, the rescue work of the passengers is going on.

Reo's memory reminded him of something, ' Do you feel like death is waiting for you in the next 10 minutes? ....... Spending time with me has done you no harm but good....'

Reo ran over to where the man was sitting. But he did not find anyone when he went there.