Scratch

Warning: Reading ahead. To those who don't like reading, please gouge out your eyes. Or, just skim through it.
Very, very slight warning: There is mild mature themes in this. Nothing bad, but you might want to use slight caution
The Cursed Dollar
                         A short story by Gregory 'Awesome' <Insert Last Name Here>           

PART 1: The creation

Hardly anybody really remembers how it was made. Some say those that once knew chose to forget it and those that didn't went mad. And I guess that's true because I remember exactly how it was formed. Also, I'm not exactly what most people would call 'sane'. But in a world where everybody is crazy is anyone really crazy? I guess, due to the fact I witnessed it's creation I became a little less sane then normal. But it wasn't just seeing it being formed, it was the fact that afterwards I was put onto the streets. So, maybe all my misfortune in life can be blamed on a dollar. A cursed dollar. Or maybe not. All I know is that I'll never forget the day it was made. The vision is still burning in my eyes after all these years...

It was a boring working day at G.R.E.E.N. (I can't tell you what that stands for without killing you). Washington D.C.  Was particularly warm that day as I recall, and everybody was in a good mood because president 1990 announced that the economy was up, and would stay like that for another 40 years. I was just a mechanic at the time , checking the power gauge of the money printer, refilling the ink, you know the usual. Sometimes, defective  bills, coins and workers were sent to me so I could throw them out and dispose of them properly. That day however was one of those days were you knew something would happen. The money printer had started to clunk and crash while printing  it's third batch of 100$ bills. As the bills were counted and checked, and as always the few bills that were defective were handed to me. But one of the 100$ bills caught my eye. The zero's and been smudged until all you could see was a black smudge after the 1s. So, It was basically just a plain 1$ american bill. But that wasn't the only thing about it that was strange. The code at the bottom of the bill was normally 10 letters and numbers- 8 numbers surrounded by 2 letters. But this code had extra numbers.

See, a normal bill might have a code saying F 29263850 A. But the code on this one said
SA 206206206 AN. But, looking closer this couldn't possibly have been a 100$ dollar bill. All that were left on the bill was just a 1. In the corner of each side of the bill was a 1, not a 100. It looked really the same as a normal 1$ bill, besides the smudge. So, it must've been printed as a 1$ bill, even though it was in the same batch as a bunch of 100$ bills. There's probably a deeper meaning to that, somethin' like having a bad apple in a good bunch. I was never very good at phisyology or whatever. The pyramid on the dollar had it's eye closed instead of open which made me very suspicious. As I further examined it, another oddity was instead of saying 'This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private” it said “Th15 8i11 15 3vi1.” And that was before people like spoke like that existed (thankfully for me.) But the weirdest part was that instead of having “In God we trust” it had “In money we trust”.  Anyway, I chucked it in the garbage, making sure to properly dispose of it by cutting it in half and marking VOID on  George Washington (sorry George).  In hindsight, maybe letting a dollar which was clearly from Hell be let outside wasn't a good idea. Because as soon I put it outside the scraps of useless paper blew away with a sudden gust of wind. And that, I thought was the beginning and end of the dollar. Turns out I was wrong.
PART 2: The legend begins

Well, after seeing a dollar like that I decided to tell my buddy, Ricardo Von Lyzerheinzer, who I made promise he'd keep on the down low. I had my suspicions it was evil, but I also told him that I had cut it up, and we'd seen the last of it. Now, we know that's not the end because this is only part 2, and the title of this story is that of the dollar. But anyway, somehow everybody found out about what happened in G.R.E.E.N, and soon all my co-workers were teasing me, calling me crazy. Heck, even I wouldn't believe me if all those coincidences were imprinted on the dollar. Even though I', sure many other people would've seen it, they had called me crazy too. Eventually my boss, 'Dr.Mr.Prof. Nounington Esq. The Third', or as we call him, Bob, came to talk to me about it. At the time, I had no idea what was happening, and before I could blink I was unjustly fired for being crazy. I couldn't believe how unlucky I was, so I decided to go to the bar, and get a drink.

At the bar, everybody was talking about it: A dollar with 13 numbers and letters on it, said “In money we trust”, had the eye of the pyramid closed, and was 99$ less valuable then it should be. I ordered a beer, and when I had to pay I reached into my wallet. Can you guess what will happen next, because I sure can! There it was. The cursed dollar. I recognized it instantly, the smudges, the closed pyramid eye. But... that was impossible! It was ripped up! It was voided! I decided to show off, seeing as everyone was talking about it. Yeah sure, it was probably demonic and had just randomly appeared in my wallet, but maybe someone would buy it off me. I decided to show two people who were talking about it, but... when I showed it to them something happened. It transformed into a regular dollar! They laughed at me, and called me crazy too. And maybe I was crazy. But I knew for sure that dollar was evil. So, without a job and without a home I wandered into the streets, and fell asleep.

Over the next few days, I got more hobo-tastic. Met some hobo-pals, ate some hobo-beans, you know. After getting twice my salary begging though, I realized that maybe getting fired wasn't so bad after all. I mean, they payed my almost less than minimum wage. But what do I expect, I'm a mechanic for a money printer. Anyway after making double my salary I knew I had to get rid of that dollar. I had tried throwing it away, running away from it it, burning it, burying it, eating it. Okay, I was hungry. I'm a hobo, okay? Anyway, I soon learned, the dollar is attached to whoever owns it. So the only way I could be rid of it was to spend it, I figured. So, I bought a 2 dollar bill with my one dollar from “Counterfeit Charley- The most real bills around!”. I thought I was finally rid of it, but then I realized it had climbed back into my wallet somehow. I gave up, and decided I'd do one last desperate thing- give it away. So, I wandered into a park. Finding a boy playing in the sand, I called him over. For some reason he didn't run away screaming. I gave little Danny my dollar, telling him to take good care of it. Then I ran away laughing maniacally. Okay, maybe I'm just a little crazy. Without that dollar, my luck instantly changed. I got a job and Best- Buy, although I still worked as a hobo, part time. I soon had enough money to buy a place to live, but figured that would mean giving up my hobo status, so I decided to just keep the money. But I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen to the boy I gave the dollar to...


PART 3: What happened to Daniel Fletcher and the Cursed Dollar

Life went on in Washington, whether a dollar from Hell was on the loose or not. But for Daniel Fletcher, the boy who was given the dollar from Dr.Hobo, life went on a bit better for a while.
With that dollar he  had much more money than all of his friends. He bet the dollar with his friends, and soon doubled his money. 20 years later, he was a successful business man.

But something was different about him. As a young boy, he had been known for his extreme generosity, and willingness to approach filthy hobos. But now he was greedy. He hoarded his money, not willing to part with a cent. It was only when he managed to realize his change he collapsed upon a stack of newspapers, wondering what had happened to him in those years he had acquired  his money. Then he took another glance at the newspaper he was sitting on. And there it was. An interview with Dr.Hobo (he always called that guy that gave him the dollar that) about the cursed dollar.  Fascinated, he looked farther into it, realizing that the Dr.Hobo said the dollar was evil, and instantly cursed anyone who owned it. The only way to get rid was to use generosity because it defeats greed. ( I play Greed with 2400 ATK power! Well I play Generosity with 2000 ATK power, but get a 500 ATK bonus thanks to it's special ability! Generosity, defeat Greed, and reduce his life points to 0! (Sorry)) That was still confusing, so to get more information he decided to find Dr.Hobo (it's like fining Waldo, only without the striped shirt and cane. And with a smell)

Daniel Fletcher, owner of Fletcher Inc. (they make ink) decided to find the dollar and get rid of it, so he could turn into the nice man he once was. He searched everywhere he could for Dr.Hobo until it occurred to him that the man that gave him the first money he ever had held could have been dead. Oh noes! How was he supposed to find out more information about the dollar?! He ran around, looking everywhere he could, carefully examining each hobo, realizing they weren't Dr.Hobo, and ran off again. Tired and confused, he slumped down near the side of the park he had played at once he was young. Suddenly, a man walked up to him, and, realizing he was sad, decided to sit next to him and give him a sandwich. Looking up, Daniel realized that this was no ordinary man! This was Dr.Hobo! What joy! Dr.Hobo instantly recognized Daniel, even after all those years. After a bit of talking, Daniel told him about his situation.

“I've probably spent the dollar by now, but why am I still cursed?” he asked

“Because you still own the dollar. When you spend it, ownership will return to you!”

“Hmm... I might be able to make a lot of money off of- wait!  I'm doing it again! Please, tell me how to lift the curse! And where can I find the dollar if I already spent it!?”

“Give it away. It's in your wallet”

Daniel reached into his wallet, and there it was. 1990, eye closed, and SA 206206206 AN, 13 letters and numbers. Dr.Hobo took it, even though he knew it would curse him. He decided to what's right. And he did.

PART 4: Aw man, I hate twist endings

An autumn day blew leaves around the park in washington D.C. After finishing up in Best Buy,
Dr.Hobo, as he was now known, had decided to take a walk down the street. Of course, they didn't let him appear as a hobo for work, so he needed to shave off his beard, buy a new one, then wear it and pretend it's real. He had earned over 100 000 dollars now, from being a hobo and working at Best-Buy, but hadn't decided on a rich life. And strangely enough, nothing changed, even though he had the dollar. Sure, he was rich, but he gave most of his money to less fortunate hobos.  He only used his money for food, soap, and the occasional manicure/pedicure/spa treatment.

But Daniel Fletcher wasn't doing quite as well. Within just 3 months of losing the cursed dollar, he realized he was back where he started. He did realize when his sister, Mindy, told him 3 months ago. He did realize when Mindy told him right now. But the thing was, so what if he was greedy? To heck with that, he was rich! Fortunately the old Daniel Fletcher was still in there, fighting to get free. And so, he wondered why he was like this. Then it hit him: He must have the dollar! He didn't know how he got it, and didn't know why, but he knew he had to give it away to be free of the curse.  But when he checked his wallet, it wasn't there! That could only mean  he hadn't spent it yet! And so, Daniel ran into his giant vault of money, and dove in. Searching through jewels, and dollar bills, he was literally bathing in his money.

Realizing it would take hours and hours- probably over a week of non-stop searching, he decided he'd do something drastic. He took his money, and ran to the church. Dumping a lot of it in the collection. Suddenly the feeling of dread went away a little, and a bit of happiness filled his body. So, he ran to the hospital, and donated a bit. And after donating and donating and donating and donating, until he was positive he had gotten rid of the dollar because he was feeling so good.

Meanwhile Dr.Hobo was giving his money to an elderly hobo when he saw Daniel coming towars him again

“The Dollar is gone, and neither of us have to have the burden of it again! I realized I was getting mean due to the dollar, so I gave almost all of my money away, and I feel amazing!”

But Dr.Hobo just smiled, reached into his wallet and pulled out the cursed dollar.

“You never had the dollar  in the first place.”

“What!? But I don't understand! I was greedy when I had it, and when I gave it away I felt good!”

But Dr.Hobo just shook his head.

“The dollar wasn't cursed. But too much of it will destroy you”

PART 5:  Dr.Hobo's Poem

Here I'm sitting in the rain
Carrying the whole world's pain
With the dollar in my lap
Droplets fall down
Clip Clap Snap

Here I'm sitting all alone
Everybody has gone home
To go to sleep to get more rest
So in the morning they'll be their best

So that tomorrow they can work
And be a servant of a jerk
That gives you money
That's what it's for
To buy a kitchen, and maybe a door

Buy a bathroom, buy a sink
Rent out a large roller rink
So that they can sit in their greed
Not noticing they're making the whole world bleed

This is it
But not for long
This is it
I'll sing this song

Carrying the curses of the world
In a little dollar
Carrying every bodies torment
So nobody else has to

The cursed dollar is in my hand
The currency of my strange land
And yet I know
And yet I see

That dollar isn't cursed.

Well... not to me

~Written by G.G (AKA T.W) for Scratch.mit.edu, copyright 2010, some rights reserved.
Ask permission from author for use.

Thanks for reading! But I doubt you read the whole thing. If you did, good job though!

More of my work on scratch is here

Last edited by turtlewarrior (2010-08-13 16:34:14)