A homeless man befriends an abandoned kitten, which leads to him finding jewelry in an old sofa.
When Joseph Sullivan left his small town in Kansas and traveled to Los Angeles to make his fortune, he never imagined he would be living on the streets, digging for scraps of food from the dumpsters of restaurants.
Joseph was determined to become a screenwriter, and he had three scripts in his luggage that he intended to use to find an agent. With $6,000 in his pocket to spend the first few months, he was determined to succeed; an ambition fueled by his love for Janice Yates.
Joseph's kitten seemed to like this old couch. | Source: Shutterstock.com
Joseph had been madly in love with Janice since elementary school. At the time, the latter wore pigtails and despised him. Fifteen years later, Janice still makes fun of Joseph, but for very different reasons.
They had been dating for three years when Joseph proposed to her and her reaction broke her heart. Janice laughed and said coldly, "Come on, Joe, I can't marry a poor man!" she said. "Between us, there's nothing serious. We just had fun, and that's it! You can't give me the life I'm used to."
Actually. Janice was used to luxury. Her father was one of the wealthiest men in the state and nothing was too good for his only daughter. Janice certainly didn't think Joseph was good enough for her.
When Joseph boarded the bus for Los Angeles, his goal was to be successful, to become a big man in Hollywood, to prove Janice wrong, and to have her beg him to take her back ...
Joseph had been madly in love with Janice since elementary school. | Source: Unsplash
Joseph spent the long hours of his trip dreaming, but when he arrived in California, he found the reality much less pleasant. He got off the bus, his suitcase in his hand, and looked around.
In the streets, hundreds of thousands of people pass each other, are agitated and ignore each other. Joseph didn't know where to go, so he headed for a taxi that had pulled up outside what looked like a sleazy bar.
The driver was leaning against the car door, chewing on a toothpick. "Excuse me," said Joseph. "I just arrived in LA and I'm looking for a place to stay - somewhere right downtown and not too expensive."
"Of course, buddy," the man said with a big smile on his face. "Get in! I'll take you somewhere nice and clean!" Joseph therefore put his suitcase in the trunk and got into the taxi, placing his life in the hands of a stranger.
"Come on, Joe, I can't marry a poor man!" she says. | Source: Unsplash
The next day, Joseph woke up in a gutter on Hollywood Boulevard, without his suitcase and his wallet. He had been beaten badly and the clothes he was wearing were torn and dirty.
He had nothing, not a single penny. His scripts were gone and he didn't know anyone in Los Angeles to turn to. Police told him he had been robbed by a gypsy taxi driver, and although they took note of the complaint, all they could do was recommend a shelter where he could sleep .
That night, Joseph didn't sleep a wink. There was no way he was going home a loser, even if he could find enough money by begging to pay for the bus. He couldn't face Janice's mockery.
And so began the most difficult years of Joseph's life. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get out of the street. Nobody wanted to give him a job, nobody believed in him, nobody cared about his life or death.
Joseph took a bus to Los Angeles to become a screenwriter. | Source: Unsplash
That night, Joseph managed to find food for the kitten, and the kitten slept curled up on his stomach, under his coat, and he woke up hearing his purrs.
So the kitten stayed and after a while, Joseph couldn't live without it, it was on his shoulder and purring in his ear. One afternoon, while he was looking for objects to salvage and sell in a prosperous part of town, a woman called out to him.
The woman was standing in the driveway of a huge old mansion, and next to her was an old couch. "You! Over there!" the woman called. "Want to win $5?"
Joseph was robbed and ended up living on the streets. | Source: Unsplash
Joseph approached. "Of course," he said. "I need that money!"
"Take that couch to the dumpster, please," the woman said. "And with any luck, they'll take it away with the garbage!"
The woman gave Joseph the $5 and he dragged the heavy old couch half the block to the dumpster. When he got there, Joseph was so tired that he sat down on the couch with a sigh of relief.
The kitten immediately jumped onto the only remaining full cushion on the couch and began to sharpen her claws on it. Then he made a strange little chirp and stared at the pillow, tilting his head.
Joseph ended up saving a kitten. | Source: Unsplash
“What is that, the cat?” asked Joseph, “Did you find a mouse in there?” Curious, Joseph took the cushion and turned it over. On the back there was a large zipper and underneath Joseph felt something hard.
He opened the zipper and was surprised. There was a bunch of sparkling jewelry in the cushion. Joseph immediately took his kitten and the cushion, and ran to the woman's house.
He showed her the jewelry and the woman was speechless. "That house belonged to one of those old movie stars. The sofa was hers, so the jewelry must be too!"
The wife is stunned by Joseph's honesty and she has decided to share the value of the jewelry with him. They turned out to be worth a lot of money, enough for Joseph to live in his own apartment.
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Thanks to his cat, Joseph found jewelry in the old sofa. | Source: Unsplash
The woman's husband was a film producer and he was interested in Joseph's ideas. Very soon, Joseph saw his first screenplay approved and he was interviewed on television.
To his surprise, he receives a visit from his former girlfriend Janice, who is now very interested in him, since he has money and a career in cinema. But it was Joseph who was no longer interested.
"I'm sorry Janice," he said. "I have to tell you that I need more than a pretty face, I need a kind and loving heart - and you don't have one!"
What can we learn from this story?
Also read: Homeless man saves rich girl from burning car, she finally finds him 15 years later - Story of the day
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