Friendship

It was a cold night on November 5, 2013 in Chicago. An older man, who had been homeless for a long time, went by the name of John. Even though John was struggling financially, he always managed to provide food for him and his wife. He did not have a steady job and so he would wait and ask all of the people walking on the sidewalks downtown for their spare change. One day he had enough of struggling day to day and so he decided to go to the Trump Tower to see if there was any way that Trump could help him. When he got there, Trump and his assistants were talking about a haunted house that was on the outskirts of town. It was known to be one of the most haunted places in the country and Trump wanted to see who could stay there for a full night and make it out alive. Everyone that entered was never seen again. It is as if they disappear. John spoke up and said he was up for the challenge as long as there was a reward. Trump told him that if he decided to stay there and succeeded, he would not only give the man a skyscraper with a penthouse, but he would also give him one of his five-star restaurants to profit from. John was given a video camera and told to document as much of the night as possible for proof that he did succeed. There was no real benefit of him doing this other than for Trump's own entertainment.

That following night John started his journey to the house, despite the fact that his wife begged him not to. He made the hour-long walk and was ready for the task at hand. When he first saw the house he started to shake and show his fear. The broken shutters and the chipped wood all gave indicators that you should run away. All of a sudden someone appeared next to him and asked what was wrong. This man was tall and slender, but seemed to have some warmth to his soul. John told him about the bet and how poor he had been and how this would change his family’s life. The man told him to follow him and that he would keep him safe. They walked up the steps and entered the house. As soon as the door shut behind them the ghosts started making their way to John. The ghost had human-like features, but were so transparent that they could almost be passed over without even seeing them. The strange man stopped in front of the ghosts and told them that they were to keep John safe because he was a friend. The ghosts did as he said and John was able to walk back to Trump’s Tower that next morning, video camera in hand.

When he got to the tower and Trump was able to watch the videos, he followed through with his commitment and granted John his new house and business. John was so pleased and grateful that he invited all the poor people of Chicago to come and eat for free in his restaurant on the opening night. The man who helped him came and was present, but shortly slipped away. John started to follow him out and the man stressed that he had done his job and must go. Even though John was sad to see him go, he thanked him as he walked out the doors. Overall it was a great celebration and John and his wife never had to stress about finances again.

Bibliography:

Bengal: The Story of a Brahmadaitya

Author's note:

This story started out as an old time ghost story that took place in a village with a king. There was a haunted tree that the man was told to grab a branch from. The man originally wanted to ask the king for help because he was so poor. The king agreed as long as he could complete the task at hand. The man still completed his task of going to the haunted tree and he was able to return with a branch with the help of the mystery man, which was the Brahmadaitya ghost. The man was granted a farm with lots of crops and was unable to harvest it all and so the mystery man again helped him. The man gave back and provided crops and things for the other poor people of the village. The mystery man ended up heading back to heaven and was unable to help the man anymore. I tried to make minimal changes because the storyline was already very interesting and intriguing to the readers. I thought adding a recent time period to this story would help draw the reader in and help them connect more. With all of the recent political controversy, adding Trump made it relevant and comical. Overall I think the piece stayed pretty close to the original with the exception of the change of setting.

Image:

Haunted House