Jack Withers

• Josephine Wilson, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2017

Jack Withers was a poor, poor man living under a bridge; he was cold, frustrated, depressed and weak. He thought how life went by so quickly, and how he was going to get his family back. There he was, under the bridge, shaking on this icy, cold winter’s night. No one to help him or no one who would. People remembered how greedy and selfish he had been. Jack was also figuring out how to get his money back, and worked out a plan.
He needed resources so he went around and luckily found $50. He then went back under the bridge. He sat on his favourite chair, his only chair, and thought about how all this had happened.
Over the years, the once successful Jack Withers had become a greedy, rich man, who cared about nothing except for his company and how much more money he could accumulate. He had a family but he didn’t care for them; he just provided money for food, clothes and whatever they wanted. He didn’t care. He offered no emotional support whatsoever.
Gambling became a disease. It consumed him. He rarely ate or slept. The power of gambling overtook his life, his mind, his soul! He lost everything!
One night in the fall, he went gambling with a couple of mates. He won a few games, then he kept gambling hoping to change his luck. He didn't care about how he lost all his money until he lost his house, company and family.
Now sitting under this bridge he had time to contemplate. Now he understood how insecure and selfish he had been and how he was going to fix his past actions.
So the very next day he went to an op shop to get an old suit for $10 plus shoes. After he got fixed up he got a job at his company. When he worked for a month they gave him his house, money and company back. Now Jack Withers is living with his family in California and owns homeless foundations and he is always seen with a smile on his face!