In the past few months, the businessman had developed a strange, almost automatic habit. Every evening, when leaving the office, he would take all the coins from his pocket and give them to the elderly homeless man who sat at the building entrance in all weather. He never lingered. He would place the money in the outstretched hand and leave quickly, without listening to thanks.
That day, it was pouring rain. The street was nearly empty, cars passed rarely, and there were no pedestrians. The businessman went out late and was surprised to see that the old man was still in his place, completely soaked.
He approached, mechanically reaching into his pocket for coins, but at that moment, the old man suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“You’ve helped me so many times,” he said quietly.
“Now I want to give you something too.”
He handed the man a rough wooden board. The wood was cheap, and the inscription was burned unevenly and crooked: “In his place, it could have been you.”
The businessman frowned.
“Please, make sure to hang it next to your bed,” added the old man.
“Soon you’ll understand everything. It will save your life.”
The man thought the old man wasn’t in his right mind, but he took the board anyway. At home, he placed it on the table in the bedroom and soon forgot about it completely.
But late at night, something happened that made the man realize with horror that the homeless man had been telling the truth… The board saved his life. 😱😲
During the night, he was suddenly awakened by a sharp chest pain. His heart was pounding so fast he could barely breathe. His wife, frightened, called their family doctor.
The doctor arrived quickly. He examined him, shook his head, and said the blood pressure was too high and an injection had to be administered immediately. He took out the syringe and approached the bed.
Suddenly, he stopped.
His gaze fell by chance on the table. There lay the board. The crooked inscription was clearly visible in the night lamp’s light: “In his place, it could have been you.”
The doctor’s hand trembled. He slowly lowered the syringe.
“I can’t do this,” he whispered.
The wife turned pale.
A few seconds later, the doctor admitted that there was no fatal tachycardia. He was supposed to inject a substance that would have caused cardiac arrest.
Everything had been planned in advance. The wife and the doctor were lovers and wanted to get rid of the husband to take his property.
“I saw the inscription,” said the doctor as the police had already arrived.
“And I realized that tomorrow, I could have been in your place. At that moment, I understood what kind of man I had become.”
The wife and the doctor were arrested.
The next morning, the businessman went to the intersection to find the old man and thank him.
But in his place, there was no one.
