Old man's masterpiece.

A short story that teaches important life lesson through the old man's masterpiece.

Just round the corner of the street, a truck  unloaded two statues. 

A man who owned a shop of hand made items unwrapped the first statue and placed it in the showcase, it was of a beautiful girl which looked so real that every passersby admired its beauty and the another one was all wrapped up and kept just adjacent to it. 

Soon the girl's statue became the talk of the town but people were more eager to have a glimpse of the wrapped statue but the old man seemed in no mood of opening it. 

The curiosity of the people towards the wrapped statue was building day by day. They talked about the statue of the girl and its beauty but started comparing it with what lied in wraps without even knowing what was inside. 

Many were heard saying, 

"This ones beautiful, so real but I wonder what lies next to it."...said a man. 

"I bet this one will be more beautiful that the one showcased."...said a woman carrying a child. 

"I am lingering here all day long just to have a glimpse of the statue. Why the man isn't unwrapping that one."... said another man in fancy pants. 

All eyes and pointed fingers rolled from girl's statue to the wrapped one. 

And... all these rounds of talks went in the ears of a wealthy man through his employee's who were admiring the never seen beauty of the statue which looked enchanting and of the one kept hidden in wraps as people started quoting it as the "old man's masterpiece" . 

The wealthy man asked his driver to take him to the shop just to ensure what he heard was right. 

He stopped by and when he saw the statue, he couldn't take his eyes off it and further couldn't speak. It felt so alive that he wanted to touch it to know what it was made of. 

Soon he saw the wrapped statue and thought if one statue feel so alive than the other one will be heavenly. 

He offered the old man money to buy the wrapped statue if he first showed him what was kept hidden from everyone. 

The old man refused and explained clearly that the statue was not for sale until he finds good offer for the first one. 

The wealthy man, overwhelmed with the power of money offered a huge amount and bought everything available in shop just to have that wrapped statue. He was so overpowered with the euphoric sense that he now owned something that others fancied. 

When the things got delivered he ignored everything even the statue of the girl which made him spellbound and went directly to the another statue and started unwrapping it. 

The moment he opened it, he was irked to see the same statue. It was nothing different from the first one. Just one size bigger and with different colour combinations. 

He rushed to the old man to demand the answers. 

He angrily asked, "Why didn't you tell me in first place that its the same statue? Why did you cheat?" 

Old man said, "This is life. You think what lies ahead is more satisfying than what's in front of you. You sacrifice many things in life to have what lies in future and totally ignore your present. When you find nothing new you feel disappointed. This is exactly what you did. As far your second question is concerned, I never cheated Sir, it was the power of your money that did."

Lesson of life: Life after death is a mystery so live life while you still can by appreciating the little things around you. Stop running and start loving...