Some aeons ago, in some parallel world... there lived a load of bread. This bread thing isn't some normal gardenia that you might find every morning in grocery stores. And no, please don't think it as some kind of super bread or whatever. It's just a loaf of bread with the ability to fill someone's stomach. Sounds really normal to you, doesn't it?
The bread was put up for sale in some run-down bakery. From the looks of it, this bread would seem as though it would be the last loaf of bread which the bakery could sell. However, the owner of the bakery would never have expected a total of 10 customers from all walks of life to walk into his humble little store.
Of these 10 different people, there was a family of 4, 3 different individuals who were extremely affluent as well as 3 of which who held grudges against one another. As that loaf of bread was the only piece of bread that's left on the shelf, the baker had this wonderful idea. He took out a plastic card and wrote "Closing down sale" on it with a permanent marker. He then placed it in front of the loaf of bread and said, "Today is the last day for the operation of my bakery. Everything here is up for grabs except that loaf of bread which will be priced at $9999.99."
The customers at the scene reacted to the baker's words very differently.
1. The family of 4
The 2 children insisted that they wanted the bread and that nothing else mattered to them. Their father was silent about the whole situation. Their mother, on the other hand, was bent on trying to get the price of the bread down to a feasible value. After much haggling, the baker decided not to sell the bread to the family, instead, he tore off 0.25 of the bread and gave it to the children. He then said, "Try it, and tell me how does it taste like..."
The children tasted it and jumped for joy. They said it was the best bread they had ever tasted thus far and were satisfied with it. And so.. they went off.
2. The group of 3 at loggerheads with one another
The first one said, "I'll never let any of the other 2 buy this loaf of bread!"
The second one said that same thing... and so did the third...
These 3 people then went around the shop and started to loot everything in it, except that loaf of half-eaten bread. Each of them wanted to be better than each other so badly that they had completely forgotten about the bread...
This competition carried on among themselves and the baker moved on to serve the rest of the customers.
3. The group of 3 individuals
The first one came and said, "I'd buy the bread if it hadn't been pinched by you."
The second one said, "I'd buy the bread if you tell me the reason why it's priced at such a high price."
The third one said nothing and stood behind the first and the second.
After which, the first and the second persons left the bakery. And of course, the 3 were still arguing at one corner of the bakery.
That was then, the third guy opened his mouth and muttered, "I'd buy the bread... if you could set the price at the amount at which you first bought this shop."
The baker was shocked. He had never seen anyone so stupid to want to buy part of a loaf of bread at a higher price then the stated amount. He then asked that person why would he want to do so.
And the third person replied, "There must've been a very special reason why you've set such a high price for this loaf of bread. And... since you wouldn't tell the person who asked you why, i'd like to take this chance to discover it for myself."
He seemed really sincere in buying that loaf of half-eaten bread. Under the gaze of such sincere looking eyes, the baker felt guilty towards him. He then lowered the price to what he would set for a normal loaf of half-eaten bread.
"Alright, you can have it at half a dollar."
The third person said nothing... he pulled out a cheque book and started scribbling words and numbers onto it. "Nevermind, it's alright, you don't have to pack it. I'll just eat it straight. Here's the payment..."
The third guy left the store... All the baker could see was a black silhouette which blocked off the sunlight that shown through the door as it opened... He then took a glance of that cheque he was given and started to cry... He would never have thought that he could have another chance to live life again...
And of course, the 3 of them were still busy arguing. They were chased out of the bakery later that day.
And yes, like all fairytales, I'd like to end off with the baker living happily ever after...
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Hmm.. this is just a short story which i came up with after i felt happiness... The bread actually didn't have any special chemical in it. It was just a plain loaf of bread, however, to those who know how to cherish what's given to them, it is, but of course, a different story...
