Single Choice

The weight of making just one right choice can be both immense and profound. In the tapestry of life, decisions are the threads that weave our path, and each one carries the potential to shape our destiny. The pressure to select the correct course of action can be overwhelming, for it often hinges on a delicate balance of knowledge, intuition, and circumstance. The gravity of such choices can lead to sleepless nights and deep introspection, as the consequences may echo throughout one's existence.

Choice of one and only one choice was about to weigh on Charlie's mind. He bought an antique shop with his life savings. Despite his unwavering passion for vintage treasures, the store's business was declining. Each morning, he unlocked the creaky door, hoping for a change in fortune. One day like many others while Charlie was inventorying the warehouse, he found a wooden box in which a curious phrase was engraved: If you wish you lose, if you choose you win. Charlie doesn't remember ever seeing that strange artifact. Naturally he chooses to open it and to his regret he finds nothing and nothing happens. In that moment he thinks about how beautiful it would have been to whisper the secrets of life's labyrinthine journey into the ears of the young man he once was.

The morning of the following day Charlie heard a familiar voice say the word "good morning". A boy appeared in front of him who looked incredibly like his younger self. It couldn't be true, it had to be a double of himself. So he decided to ask something that only himself could know, but it shouldn't be too personal otherwise he wouldn't get an honest answer.

He saw that the boy had a bandaged right hand and remembered that in his youth he was burned himself with the stove by stupidly leaning on it. So he took the opportunity to ask what had happened. The boy exclaimed "it's all my mother's fault who turned on the stove too early and I leaned on it, no big deal". Charlie's heart rate made a sudden increase but he didn't want to start warning his younger self so as not to look like a fool.

The boy asked if he could look around and Carlie naturally agreed but asking why he was there. His younger self said he has a passion for antiques and would like to own a shop one day too. At that point Charlie exclaimed "no don't do it you would regret it". The boy asked "why are you saying that, business is not good?" "Yes, you wouldn't earn enough to be satisfied". The boy said that he wasn't interested in money, what mattered to him was to collect all those beautiful antique objects. Charlie reproachfully said: "you can't collect those objects because you have to sell them stupid boy!" The young himself got scared and ran out of the shop. Charlie realized that he had just thrown away the only chance to change his life once and for all.

Charlie didn't sleep that night thinking back to what happened, to the opportunity of being able to change his destiny or at least the destiny of himself in another dimension. So what could he do to get a second chance? Charlie remembered the strange wooden box and his first thought after reading the engraved sentence. He got out of bed and rushed to the warehouse to open the box again and make a second wish. But the sentence engraved in the wood had changed, it now read: You wished and you lost, if you choose you win. Charlie was furious and I immediately thought of a bad joke that some customers had played on him or someone who knew about the burn he had gotten on his hand. But he soon realized that no one still alive could know this and it began to torment his mind thinking about what kind of choice he had to make.

The thought of what he could choose but above all what he had to choose to win gripped him. Charlie began to struggle to do the simplest things such as taking care of the shop, the house and even himself. The few customers who came in to buy something did not they managed to stay because of the dirt and the stench. Charlie fell into a strong depression due to the helplessness and frustration of not being able to make a sensible decision.  Looking back on his life he began to understand why he was so unhappy. He had never wanted to make choices because he was afraid of making mistakes. It was time to start doing it or else he would die under the weight of his regrets.

He decided he was tired of selling what he loved to collect, so he put the shop up for sale. Charlie considered it a desperate move as she did not expect to receive large offers. To avoid remaining immobile as he had done until now, he decided to sell to the first bidder. The next day an older gentleman showed up and made an incredibly generous offer. Charlie asked why the old man wanted to pay so much. The mysterious man said that he also loved ancient objects and collected them. He also said that he had created his fortune by making many choices in the latter part of his life. Charlie took out the wooden box that he had kept and read: Well done, now choose again.

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