Somewhere in New York on December 10,2019. An homeless man was fighting a rat beside a dumpster in a ally way.
"Damn it it's mine!"
"Squeak!"
The rat screamed as it's body slammed against the brick wall falling on the ground with an audible thud. It got up in the next instant darting off into the darkness further down the ally way. It was only the man left with the reward he fought so hard for in his hands. A half eaten pizza crust with lint on it.
"Mmmm still greasy" he says walking the streets of New York. The loud cars, the screaming of people yelling for absolutely no reason, and the sound of the subway zooming past as he walks under were all white noise to him. Some days it was even comforting.
After walking for awhile the man arrived at his go to corner store it was his favorite. Mainly because it was the only store that would tolerate him. Opening the door and hearing the familiar ringing of the bell the man walked to the fridge's that held alcohol and grabbed two packs of bud lights. Slamming it on the counter along with cash he spoke.
"Ring me up kid"
Standing on the other side of the counter was a young man who looked to be in his early 20s. Seeing the hobo who's a regular here for the 7th time today he sighed and began scanning.
"Ya know I've only been working here for 2 weeks and you are by far the most richest homeless guy I've met."
He got no response.
"Like do you steal money to buy your beer? Or do you have some kind of savings stash somewhere?"
Still not receiving a response the homeless man just looked at him with an lifeless expression and grabbed his beer proceeding to walk away.
"Wait can I have one before you go!" The young man called out.
Stopping in his tracks the homeless man turned his head and spoke.
"You shouldn't be drinking on the job."
"Well you know what they say you only live once."
Letting out a husky laugh the old man took a can from a pack and threw it at the man who caught it.
"Well they're wrong I would know. Do what you want kid it's your life."
He says walking out.
"Creepy" The man says opening the can taking a sip.
'How many lifetimes has it been so far?'
He thought to himself finishing a can and throwing it to the side. He lived so many lives and experienced so many things that everything felt so mundane to him now. He doesn't exactly remember when it happened.
'Was it around 1202 during the siege? Or maybe a little earlier than that? I do remember being a general in Japan when Emperor En'yū abdicated the throne. Then after that was the constant bullshit I had to deal with in Rome for a few centuries'
Thinking about bad memories the man began chugging more beer down his throat starting to feel the buzz at this point as he just finished a pack. Looking to his left while swaying a bit he saw a park and decided to sleep there for the night. Luckily it wasn't an children's park and was instead a scenery one with benches.
Flopping down on a bench the man began opening the next pack guzzling down beer after beer without a care for his health.
'Doesn't matter if I die from overdoing it. I'll just come back anyway'
Reaching for another can he felt a hand stop him. He turned to see who it was but only saw a person in a cloak. The person turned to look at him but the man couldn't see a hand or face. It was like everything was being hid under the cloak.
'This person isn't normal. Is it even a person? But it doesn't feel like a spirt or any of the sort'
"No, I'm not"
Without showing any response of being startled the man spoke.
"So you can read minds. Then are you supernatural? Or someone who has supernatural abilities?"
"I am beyond that. I'm the one above everything"
Without even needing a second the man answered back plainly "God."
Chuckling the figure nodded its head as the man leaned back letting out a breath.
"You don't seem too surprised."
"I've waited to see you face to face for a long time. Sometimes I could feel when you were guiding me. Walking with me during times of need but not once have you faced me at the same eye level. And so one day I decided not to wait anymore."
"And now that I'm here what is it that you want to ask?"
"Why, why only me. I've lived so long met so many people and even met people who changed the world and yet I couldn't find anyone like me no matter where I went. Tell me, why am I the only one who remembers everything."
There was a silence between the two. For the first time in a very long time the man was at the edge of his seat waiting to receive a answer to something he had no knowledge of. The figure looked up at the moon and then at him and spoke.
"That's why I'm here tonight . To apologize."
"Apologize? Apologize for what?"
"You are not of my creation. You never have been. I found your soul in the edges of my domain. Alone and broken in half. It was my first time seeing such a thing and you peaked my curiosity. I wanted to know more about you. Where you came from, who you were created by, what technique they used in creating souls. So I kept you instead of returning you back where you belong."
The man was at a loss for words. For centuries upon centuries he always wondered why he always felt the way he did. That no matter what he did he never felt contempt with his success never felt…completed. And now he knew why.
"Do you hate me? Do you demise me for what I've put you through all this time?"
The now revealed god asked.
The man sighed a heavy sigh and leaned over clasping his hands together. He lived for a very very long time. And with time comes wisdom so as much as he wanted to be frustrated he couldn't help but understand where the God was coming from.
"I forgive you. But the experiences I've been through. The people I've lost. And the horrible things I've done I'll never forget that. Even if I wanted to blame it all on insanity. There were times where I indulged in the lunacy of it all. So I should be the one to ask you. Do you forgive me father?"
The figure stared at him and slowly began raising its hand resting it gently on his shoulder and spoke."
"I always forgive. Because I love you. Even if you aren't a child of mine"
Hearing those words there was a sting in the man's chest. Gripping his chest his breathing began to turn rugged as he tried to stop whatever was beginning to come up until it was too late. As tears began falling out of his eyes and snot out his nose the man began crying. He wept in Gods arms as he kept saying sorry. A seasoned veteran of life who had centuries on his belt was nothing more but a crying child in the arms of his parent.
When all died down and there was nothing left but sniffling god asked him.
"Would you like to return to your other half? Or do you want to finally rest once and for all?"
It was a question he never knew he waited on for it sounded right. He began to think. He lived far long enough and refused to go on for any longer. But then he remembered how he felt all this time. The feeling of not being fulfilled. The feeling of not being completed stuck with him no matter what life he was in or how happy that life made him.
He spoke.
"I want to return to my other half. But if haven't lived nowhere near the same lifetimes I have lived. Then I will bury myself deep within them and disappear. Because if they are pure I refuse to poison them with this old man's weariness."
God chuckled and spoke.
"Wise choice my child. Wise choice."
With that being said he laid on Gods lap and stared at the yellow moon in the sky as his body began to be developed in snow.
'Beautiful' he thought as he eyelids became heavy and for the first time ever he closed him them and never woke up again.