What is life without a purpose? Young Jack has been searching his entire life for that object, that metaphor, that idea in his head that will fill every fiber of his being with fulfillment and satisfaction. Jack has always felt average. Greatness is just a dream for Jack, and mediocrity is something he cannot swallow anymore.

Throughout Jack’s life, he has attempted to belong in the town of Royal. The problem for Jack is that the town of Royal is loaded with flashy business men with platinum watches and thousand dollar sports coats. Jack was born in the boondocks and moved to Royal with his family for a better future. Jack earns ten dollars a week at a fishing bait shop and his family struggles to put food on the table every night.

Friends were out of the question. What big city rich kid would want to befriend a petty insignificant cockroach from the boondocks? All Jack wants are friends to call his own. Jack tried joining the football team and ridicule forced him to quit before he could get his helmet on. Jack made straight A’s, but why would that matter? Nobody likes a nerd showoff anyway. Jack was without a soul to confide in, a buddy to laugh with, or a friend to call his own.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Jack screamed, punching a hole through his closet door. “What do I have to do to fit in?”

Jack sat in his comforting bed and cried for a solid hour and pondered hatred, envy, and death. He cannot wrap his head around the bastard idea of luck. Luck had slapped Jack in the face one too many times. He is fed up with working ten times harder than everyone else only to be treated worse than dirt, so Jack did what every human being would do. He gave up.

Jack no longer had perfect attendance at school. Jack no longer ate every meal. Jack even quit the job his family depended on so much for support. Rock bottom would seem like Mount Everest compared to Jack’s state of mind.

One day Jack decided to steal from a Target, taking revenge after the manager kicked him off the couch that he lived on for six hours, like a bum. Jack strolled in the front door and grabbed the first thing in sight and then sprinted for freedom. After a ten minute chase with a cashier with purple hair and acne covered face, Jack was able to escape to a forest with his prize in hand. As he unclenched his hand, he realized that all the trouble he just experienced was for a useless lottery ticket.

Jack felt the blood rush to his head. He wanted to burn down the forest for not grabbing something of greater value. There was an iphone right in sight, but Jack did not have the speed to grab it. Jack pocketed the ticket and halfheartedly began his journey home.

The next day luck was on Jack’s side. Jack found a different store to steal from, but as Jack grabbed the iphone in his hand, he decided to first cash in his lottery ticket. Jack passed the lottery ticket to the cashier and thirty seconds later she passed out. Jack was in shock. He leaned over the counter to see what happened and the words “ten million dollars” appeared on the cashier’s computer screen, and Jack passed out before emotion was felt.

Jack regained consciousness to the smell of hot chocolate in a bed that would satisfy a king. There was an army of servants ready to accomplish every one of Jack’s requests. Jack pinched himself to find that no dream was occurring in his life but rather reality had finally become sweet.

Jack leapt off the bed to experience his new divine power of a man with authority. Ecstatic cannot even begin to describe the emotion that Jack experienced. People were fighting over who had the right to spend the afternoon with Jack. No longer did he have to lift a finger for Jack has servants for his every wish and command. Jack is on the pedestal of kingship with people, who once shunned him, worshipping his every move. Jack has the entire world in his hands, and yet he is experiencing despair.

Even with money beyond his wildest dreams, Jack longs for the days when he sweated long hours of the day to help provide for his family. Without having to work, Jack realizes that his life has lost its purpose. Depression slowly multiplies to the point where even the mere sight of money forces nausea into the pit of Jack’s stomach. Jack could not cope so he burned down his house, containing all his cash, and escaped into the forest that he discovered the ticket so long ago.

Jack, taking one step at a time, found a new town at the end of the forest trail. The town was known as Poverty. Jack began anew with just the clothes on his back and a smile on his face. An opportunity could lie on every doorstep and Jack could not wait to rediscover the glory of a hard day’s work.

Jack found a flyer on a lamppost that requested an athletic fellow with a solid work ethic. Jack moved slyly through the crowds of the street until he came upon a log cabin that matched the address on the flyer. Jack knocked on the door and applied for the most brutal job with the smallest pay.

Every day Jack would work as a logger from sun up to sun down. Every night Jack would tuck himself into bed and have sweet dreams filled with purpose.
One day as Jack was trading his day’s pay for a meal, Jack met a woman named Nicole who he knew he would marry. Jack and Nicole worked long hours in order to support their new born son Tom and put food on the table. Jack was never happier.
Jack preached to Tom the importance of hard work and to be grateful for the little things in life. When Tom was old enough for school, Jack moved his family to Royal to let Tom discover his own true purpose.