1 Nobody
In New York, Central Park.
In the darkness of the night.
Staggering, a bottle in one hand, a cigarette in the other.
He was walking without a precise goal or destination, maybe a bench, maybe under a tree...
One day he had everything, the next he had nothing...
Losing his very identity, no family, no friends, nothing...
alone...
But he was used to it...
except he had also lost the one thing that defined him, the thing that made him special...
His first memory here...
seeing gigantic trees rising up from all sides, in all directions.
He took a drag from his cigarette, clearing his lungs...
releasing the smoke from his respiratory system slowly.
Taking a sip of his amber alcohol, a grimace appeared on his tired face, the burn of alcohol was the same here or elsewhere...
A small laugh escaped from his mouth as he thought about this.
Yes, a friend, he had one...
alcohol...
Repositioning his cap in front of his eyes, he continued to stagger in the winter wind.
He reached into his right pocket and found a pair of black Rayban sunglasses, a pack of chewing gum, and a movie ticket which he stroked with his thumb...
''Frankenstein...'' he said wistfully...
As if he could see through his cap he walked slowly to the nearest bench, to crash, even if he wasn't going to sleep, a little rest wouldn't hurt.
Tomorrow, perhaps?
--------------
His hands hanging down, he slowly 'woke up', without bothering to open his eyes or get up, he directed what he was holding in his hand to his mouth and took a few sips.
'I'm an alcoholic!' a familiar but unfamiliar voice echoed in his mind without any control, it was like a relic from the past...
''Yeah, buddy, I know...'' he replied at once, then put the neck of the rum bottle to his mouth for the second time since he had woken up.
Allowing himself to move to a sitting position, he pulled his cap up, revealing two brown eyes, he put his hand in front of his face in an attempt to hide the aggressive rays of the sun...
however what greeted him was not his hand, but that of the guy whose body he had taken possession of...
''Still that black?'' he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, it made him laugh because, despite all the changes, one thing that hadn't changed was his skin color...
He reached into his pocket once more and picked up the now crumpled paper between his fingers, this simple piece of paper represented everything!
A life.
Lost forever...
A life...
the being who had sent him here had given only a brief explanation, yet he understood the essence of it...
this world needs you.
but no matter how much he looked around he couldn't understand how this one was different from his old one...
it was all he had to do...
tear up that movie ticket.
But that meant he was turning over a new leaf forever, and that he would be burdened with responsibilities that he knew would be annoying, to say the least, and that he didn't want to relive...
clenching his teeth, he lay back on his bench...
of course, he did not forget to take a sip of his alcohol...
in his last moment, he had heard everything, from the pleas to the cries, not to mention the reproaches and the looks...
He didn't want to go through that again!
-------------------------------
Bang!
you bleed, you see, you are like us!
Bang!
Yes, we all miss you...
Baaaang!
You see, after all, you weren't a superhero...
Biiiiiiiiiip...
-----------------------------
'John...'
'wake up! '
' hey! asshole!'
''aaaaaaaaaaah!'' John screamed as he opened his eyes.
The death-like cold of winter reminded him of his last moment in his home world...
There was nothing he could do about this man who had taken his life...
Was he a superhero?
No, he was nothing but an alcoholic with superpowers...
Why should anyone's life depend on someone like that?
Why had he abandoned him? And then give him another chance?
Closing his eyes to continue his sleep John gritted his teeth at all these unanswered questions.
''This world needs you... yeah sure !'' he repeated in a mocking voice.
1 hour later.
It was good, but it's time for you to die and move on.
''shut the fuck up!'' John shouted as tears welled up in both eyes, these voices would not let him sleep, unfortunately, passers-by had already pulled out their phones and were calling the police.
John stood up awkwardly as he was still under the influence of his drink...
starting to walk away, a familiar voice called him to order.
You're acting like a coward! Stop pretending you don't care!
It's not a crime to be an asshole but it's very counterproductive.
You've lived this long, wow that's great!
You could be something more, be a Hero!
''okay Ray... you win,'' John spoke in a broken and melancholic voice as he thought about the only friend he ever had, he threw the bottle against a tree and screamed as he collapsed to the ground...
he sat there for a few minutes thinking to himself, holding his movie ticket in his hand, hesitating to tear it up...
The police appeared after exactly 5 minutes, but they did nothing, after all, he was just a drunken bum like so many others...
The man even tried to comfort him with words, but that wasn't going to do much.
John had lived as long as a grandfather, he only saw these people as children...
it was only after he'd gotten all the alcohol out of his system that he stood up.
---------------------
Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
The people who came here usually just came for the free cakes and coffee, but John was different...
Here everyone shared their life story and their problems, they needed someone to listen to them...
Everyone took a few minutes to tell their personal problems and addictions and why...
Once each person had been introduced, it was John's turn, who as usual kept it short.
I'm John Hancock and... I'm an alcoholic.
