There was once a man named Jim Garret, and he had many hobbies. For example, he would walk his dog (Lucky) every once and a while. He even takes the time to mow the lawn every now and again. Not to mention the greatly cut hedges, which he uses to make an animal of any kind, because it entertains him. He is 45 years old, and he lives in the rundown and atrocious looking slums of Philadelphia, and the year is 1901. Although he lives in a dangerous neighborhood, his house stands out because he had bought the most expensive house available. This man is highly disciplined and has an undeniable strong sense of duty due to his time in the military. All throughout his life he has used his determination and discipline to succeed, and has led him from the lowest man on the totem pole to rise through the ranks and become a general. He is a reliable and trustworthy man. Do not be fooled by his appearance after a hard day’s work, he loves being an accomplished man when he goes to his current job as an accountant.


Now we join Jim at his current job, now before we get into that Jim loves working, he really does, but in his days in the military he relied on his love of danger and excitement, and thrill. This led Jim to constantly make outbursts in class. Jim misses the suspense he got at the military, he has even been thinking of rejoining the military, but he is not sure if that is the right choice. Today, while working at the job he has had for over 8 years, he uncontrollably yelled out and his boss and friend, Bob Vetoia, had finally cracked and came up to Jim’s desk and gave him a very insidious and nasty look that had “you’re fired” all over it. Overcome with curiosity, Jim stubbornly followed Bob into his office. “Listen Jim this can not go on any longer, what is that like your 6th outburst this week, I have tried to be the best friend that I could be but I have to consider the other employees. If you can’t control your so called nervous twitches than you are fired, and I want you to pack up your belongings. You have 24 hours to leave the premises or I will be forced to call security and have you escorted you out of the building.” Being the noble he is, Jim had nothing to say but, “are you sure?” yes I am”. As he packed his stuff Jim thought about possible career choices that would suit his kind of character. As exited the parking lot, he couldn’t help but reminisce about his days in the military. As Jim drove home it had seemed so odd and different to be going home at this time of day. He couldn’t help but ask questions like “what happens now, where do I go, what do I do now? At least I will have more time to spend some time with my dog, Lucky” he said happily. Jim had finally arrived at his house, he had parked car near the curb, because he thought he would be out in search of a new job. As he got out of his car he took a minute or 2 to just look out to the world and to be thankful he still has his home. Then he continued to return home.


He opened the door and looked around the room, which seemed pale to him, probably because the fiasco that occurred not long ago, there is no denying that Jim was depressed. However, he knew things would get better, so he called his dog expecting a joyful greeting, but there was no sign of presence, the room itself seemed gave Jim a depressing feeling. Thinking that the dog was in the backyard sleeping, he proceeded to his favorite chair in the living room, wanting not to bother the dog’s slumber. Interim, Jim took some time to review the job section of his morning news paper. As he read on he was plagued with the thoughts of him being not as mobile as he once was in his youth. Although Jim was a great and accomplished man in the military, he knew he was not fit to work in a place like the bank, or any area concerning intelligence. Jim also contemplated on the reasons why he had an accountant job in the first place. Before he dropped out of high school to enroll in the military, he was close friends with Bob Vetoia. They had kept I touch all these years while Jim was in the military. When Jim returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, he was preferentially chosen by Bob to work as an accountant. Then Jim started to think about Bob and what kind of a friend he was. You see, they were very close friends, but every now and again they would feud, because Jim was jealous about Jim’s success in the military, and how he had a bigger house than him. Furthermore, Jim had a more luxurious car, and many other things that provoked Bob’s jealousy. “Maybe that is what led Bob to fire me”, Jim exclaimed. Jim never held a grudge so he just got up and said “well, what are you gonna do”. Jim walked outside and had noticed that Lucky was not on his doggy bed. He grew a bit worried, so he searched and searched until trepidation started to settle in. then he realized that he had not checked the upstairs rooms. He quickly ran up the steps and had found his dog lying on the surface of Jim’s bed. “What’s the matter boy, are you feeling sick?” unsure of what to do Jim took him to the vet. They spent about 45 minutes waiting, and then they were called up. After a discussion about the dog’s condition with Dr. Andrew, they decided to get some x- rays in just to be on the safe side. About 15 minutes later the dr. came back with the images, along with some bad news as well. “ listen Jim I know how much your dog means to you, which is why it pains me to say that Lucky has a tumor………….. I am deeply sorry about the bad news. The operation, if you wish to go with the treatment then the cost will be about $3,000. If you can not afford it than the humane thing to do would be to put him to sleep. Not being able to respond right away, Jim told the doctor that he will go home and think about it.


As Jim was driving home with Lucky he was thinking about his options that he had, because he was barely making ends meet as it was and he was relying on the accountant job to get the money. After they arrived at the house, Jim carried Lucky to his bedroom to rest. Then Jim just paced the floor pondering over his situation. “I’ve got it; I will go back to the military”. As fast as depression came it was over. Jim was overwhelmed with pride and ambition, but later that night Jim had remembered about the dog’s surgery. After being bombarded by a rollercoaster of emotions, Jim could think of nothing better to do besides call it a night. The next morning, after breakfast Jim received a phone call from Bob. “Listen Jim, I really overreacted. I was wrong to fire you, and when I actually think about it, it really was not all the trouble I made it out to be. To tell you the truth, it was really my jealousy that was encouraging my better judgment. In reality, I can not think of anyone as good of an employee as you. So what do you say?”


The moment of truth had finally arrived. Jim took a dramatic pause and thought, “should I take the job and operate Lucky, or should I go back to the military and do the job that I love, being a general? Is it right for me to risk Lucky’s health for the small chance of regaining my glory?” Bob knew that this was shocking so he just waited on the other line. After a minute or so, Jim finally replied with a………………………………………………………………..” yes, I will take my job as an accountant.” Then Bob then said “Alright, trust me Jim you will not regret this decision.” Bob was speaking the truth, because in the next 3 weeks Jim had already earned enough money for Lucky’s operation, he had gotten into a lovely relationship with from the office building and was promoted to become Bob’s permanent partner. According to Jim”, life couldn’t be sweeter.”