Once upon a time in a quaint little town, there lived a man named Princetown Wadesmith, who was considered to be the most successful real estate agent in the area. His secret was that he was obsessed with sales receipts.
Each night, before bed, he would go through any sales receipts he had for the day, carefully inspecting each one for any extra money or discounts he had collected. This soon became an addictive hobby for him and he even kept a drawer full of receipts from past sales, mainly to admire his success.
One day, while at a closing, Princetown asked the seller for his signed copy of the sales receipt. When all seemed normal, a sudden gust of wind blew the receipt off the table and sent it flying through the air. Princetown jumped up and began to chase the piece of paper, desperate to get it back.
That’s when he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a dark shadow lurking in the background, watching intently. It looked like a tall man with a wide-brim hat, wearing an old-style suit and long, black coat.
Princetown tried to brush it off as his imagination, until one night, when he was counting his receipts in his office, the same figure appeared in the doorway. The man silently beckoned for him to follow and without any fear, he followed.
That night, Princetown Wadesmith had a dream. The man in the hat presented him with two choices: take a journey to a dark and mysterious land, where he could find a riches of sales receipts awaiting, or stay in his ordinary life and never again fear the brand of sales receipts.
From then on, Princetown was a changed man; no longer obsessed with sales receipts, but instead a man with a deep respect and appreciation for nature and life.
The moral of the story: when tempted with good fortune, choose to appreciate the more meaningful things in life before money.