CHAPTER 61: OLD MAN.

How peaceful life is, huh... how peaceful life I could have had. He thought, as around him, life was truly peaceful.

Everybody is just living their best, everybody just enjoying the sun, the park, the beautiful scenery... enjoying their life.

A life he never got, a life that was a dream, to be with his family, to be loved, to be a child and enjoy every second of it. To have a dad who throws you in the air, have a mother who shouts, because she worries about you, and siblings who are just laughing... how good that would have been.

But life chose another path for him, a path where he is in a park surrounded by happy people with joy... and at the same time he is a target... he is the black sheep, the other side of happiness, the other end of life. Just waiting idly to be shot at, for somebody to walk up to him and cause chaos while others enjoy their life... almost like a canon event... yeah it would be a canon event to some people if bullets start flying all over.

Children won’t understand what is happening, but they will see their parents’ faces, worry, fear, panic. Parents who recognized the sound, who knew the gunshots, the villains, the blood... a surprise that once again the city has turned into a place of violence, even in a park full of families.

The exact thing that Joseph wanted... yeah, he chose this park for a reason.

A shooting, at least in people’s minds here in Vienna, is nothing unusual. Shootings have happened, and they still happen... but the place where a shooting takes place matters a lot. If it happens in an alleyway, in a backstreet, nobody really cares. Why would they?

Just another robbery, another murder. But if it happens in a crowded park, full of children, families, innocent people all around... that’s different. Then all eyes turn to it... people talk about it, they’re outraged by it, they demand answers for it. And that is where the best thing about it comes in.

If a shooting happens in a park, people won’t talk about the victim, even if he was a gangster, even if he was a nobody, just some robbery gone wrong. No, what they’ll talk about is the shooter, that he chose a park, that he pulled the trigger knowing full well he could hit small children. That’s what people will focus on. That’s what they’ll ask, who the hell was insane enough to do it?

And with it comes the third and final point. People won’t just demand answers, they’ll put pressure on the government, on the agencies, and that will force them to focus on it. And if it comes out that the shooters were gangsters, or paid by gangsters, then Joseph has just gathered himself an army... because he chose a park in one of the richest areas, with millionaires all around. And millionaires are people whose voices are heard, people who can put real pressure on the government to act.

A master plan... it just needs to actually work.

"Hmm..." He sighed as his left hand started to shake slightly. "Excitement or fear?" He whispered to himself.

I can’t deny that I fear death, nobody can in the world... but why do I fear it when nothing is left for me... I love nothing, maybe ice cream, but that’s not something that can change my life. He thought as now even his leg started to tremble a bit. What is my anchor to life... what can I say I love and it loves me back... what is that one thing that I live for... He looked up at the sky. Huh, do I even live for something... cocaine, weed, bitches, whores, money—

"Excuse me, can I sit down beside you young man?" A sudden voice came from in front of him as he was zoned out, deep in his thoughts and as he looked the way it was an old man, with a cane and a dog at his side.

"Of course you can, a companion is always good" He answered as he positioned himself to the right side of the bench to give more space to the old man.

"Are you alone?" The old man asked as he sat down and threw some treats to his dog.

"Joseph didn’t even think about it for a second, he just answered the truth. "Sadly, yeah, I don’t have friends.How about you, mister?"

For a moment, the old man just looked at Joseph, but there wasn’t even the slightest reaction on his face... like Joseph had said something a bit... embarrassing to a stranger. And yet his reaction was nothing, no judgment, no nothing... he just smirked a little.

"I had friends... but they died, and my time is coming too." He said while coughing a little and pulled off his beanie, showing his bald head. "Though I don’t really mind it, I’m blessed enough to be 58. It’s just sad that I can’t be 60."

For a moment there was silence between them, as the only thing that could be heard was the noise in the park, the happy children, the parents talking... yeah, something that was the complete opposite of their lives.

It was almost like what James had thought earlier, like life was showing them what their lives could have been... like a two-sided mirror.

"How come you don’t have friends?" The old man asked, looking at Joseph, who was once again just staring up at the sky. It was a genuine question, one that might feel awkward or too personal for most people, but not for Joseph.

"I was alone for a long time... no, I’d say I’ve been alone my entire life. I had nothing but a name, and to tell the truth, that’s still all I have... just a name." He glanced at the man. "What a life, huh?"

Sounds like you’re depressed, boy." He tossed another treat to the dog. "But I’m in a worse situation than you... I’m dying, I don’t have a family, and I’ve never had a child in my 58 years."

Once again, Joseph didn’t feel any embarrassment about it. "So we’re both losers, huh?" Joseph laughed, but at the same time, it was just sad.

An old man, dying of cancer, had nothing in his life, no family, no children, and all his friends had passed... yet he kept on living. Maybe an inspiration for Joseph... or maybe just a reminder that even when you have nothing left, even when you’re dying, life goes on.

Almost like a deeply emotional story... but no, not quite. Even though it was pure sadness and loss, they didn’t seem to care. Joseph laughed about it, and the old man just smiled, tossing treats to the dog.

It was like they had both accepted long ago that this was their life, that this was how they needed to live... but Joseph had a question in his mind, one he wanted to ask the old man, who had lived a similar life.

"What is your motivation to keep going mister?"