Tripple Blessings

"Nice," I say as I bend down and pick up a penny. The Universe has been sending me one almost every day; and every day I pay my respects by showing it that I appreciate the offering. I'm headed towards the gym to clear my head. I've just finished lining up some meetings with Execs the following week, and need to sort out just how the hell I'm going to pitch my complicated (and brilliant) movie idea(s) in one or two sentences.

I smile at people that I recognize walking their dogs, and turn left to cut through one of the parkettes. I've left Consuela alone in the apartment to sort some laundry. She promises that she's going to go for a long walk this evening ~ and since she's started to become taller than she is wide; I've let her joining me at the gym slide for today.

"Oooh!" I exclaim, and bend down to pick up another penny. This is good...no great! The Universe has just doubled its blessings and so, I pick up this second penny with even more gratitude and appreciation.

Keep it coming I think to myself. I start to skip along because I know that good things are starting to happen; and it's exciting. I've been rotting away, alone and broke for months now -- pouring my heart out into well loved scripts; both for television and film, and I'm hoping, that soon enough it will all pay off.

"You've got to be friggen kiddin' me!" I say as I bend down and pick up a dime. This is unbelievable! The Universe just keeps pouring out the blessings today; and I'm not even halfway through the parkette yet. I can can still see my balcony in the distance.

"Hey!" says the homeless man that I frequent every now and then. I smile and walk over to him. I'm pretty sure he wants money; which I happen to have a little of today. Normally I don't really like to carry anything with me when I head to the gym, but since the Universe has given me triple blessings this afternoon, I have no problem sharing them with someone who could really use a break; and a little luck as well.

"How's it going?" I say and walk over to him. I have to step strategically over the web of black cords that are latched around this man's arms and legs. I look down to the scars on my own wrists and am really grateful that I was able to fight off my own demons ~ with the help of Consuela, of course.

"Meh," he says and gives me a toothless smile "the economy is in flux and my mutual funds are doing shit...but it could be worse, right?" I laugh and take a seat beside him. This guy is so complex; angry one minute, hilarious the next. I count at least 7 cords on one of his arms, and I know that the demons have him pretty bad.

"A little something for your portfolio," I say and pour the 12 cents into his open palm. "It's not a lot, but I actually think these coins are good omens. Think of them as magic beans," I say and stand up.

"You're always so nice to me," he says, and tips his dirty baseball hat towards me as a gesture of thanks, "why is that?"

"I dunno," I say, and think about it for a second. "I guess I'm not threatened by who you are, or what you represent."

He looks down for a moment, then makes eye contact again. I can see all the pain, hurt, and despair pouring out from his eyes; and I can't help but to recognize just how hard a time this man must have with his own demons. After all, he has so many black cords wrapped around him. The demons must be having a field day with him.

"But you're so much better than me," he says with a slight twang of confrontation.

"Really," I reply "what makes you say that?"

Without missing a beat he retorts, "You're a good person."

I start to evaluate that statement for a moment. I guess part of the reason the demons have such an easy time with him is because he thinks he's not a good person. They've really done a number on this poor man's head.

"Well," I tell him "It's a choice I make when I wake up every day. You could do it too, you know. Start living the truth of who you are, instead of the lies that you allow yourself to believe every day." he pauses to take in what I just told him, and so I continue; "You're capable of being a good person too, you know, you're capable of being whatever you put your mind too. You just have to want it bad enough."

And with that he smiled. The pain diminished for a brief moment, and his eyes started to sparkle. A moment later one of the cords around his neck snapped, and I heard a demon howl in the background.

"I'm a good person!" he exclaimed. He liked the sound of that. He laughed a little more before crossing his legs, adjusting his baseball hat -- and taking a swig from the bottle in his paper bag.

"You're a good person," I repeated matter-of-fact. He laughed a little more, and another cord snapped. This time I heard the demon howl in agony before swooping down from the sky. It glared at me before heading straight towards my apartment. Seconds later it lands on my balcony; to await for my return.

I guess these fuckers like revenge?

I'm not worried. Consuela is home -- and she's used to kicking some serious demon ass. And before I turn around and head back to the gym, I see her running out onto the balcony armed with a can of Pledge and her swiffer. And, using the Pledge like pepper spray, she begins to douse the demons eyes while bashing him in the head continuously with her swiffer. I can barely make out what she is saying; but it's probably something foul in her native Ecuadorian language. She only speaks English when I'm around.

And so, I wish the man good day and head off towards the gym. Because my thighs aren't gonna get any slimmer just by wishing for it; no matter how much I like the idea of not doing the hard work sounds.