One day there was a young homeless beggar that had been trying to gather food.

Each day, he notices that he wakes up with a certain portion of his food missing.

One night he decides to stay up, and encounters the mouse who’d been stealing his food.

Feeling helpless, he asks, “Why are you stealing from me? I’m just a homeless beggar; you can steal from rich people, and it won’t have any effect on them.”

The mouse responds, telling him, “It’s in our destiny that I make sure you only have a certain amount, and no more. No matter how much you beg, and how much you gather, this will be all that you have here.”

The homeless man, shocked, asks, “Why is this my destiny?”

The mouse responds, “I don’t know, you should ask the wise Buddha.”

So, the homeless man gathers his courage, and decides to take the dangerous journey to the place of the wise Buddha.

On the second night of his journey, he comes across the home of a wealthy family who’s willing to let him spend the night.

They let him in, and ask, “Where brings you around this area; where are you traveling to?”

He answers, “I have a question for the wise Buddha. I just need to spend the night then tomorrow I will be on my way.”

The family provides him shelter, then asks, “Can we give you a question to ask the wise Buddha? We have an 18-year-old daughter who can’t speak. We just want to ask what we have to do to make it so she can speak.”

The homeless man thanks them for their hospitality, and agrees to ask the families question to the wise Buddha.

The next morning, he continues his journey and comes to a huge mountain range, which he must cross to reach the wise Buddha.

He climbs up the first mountain, and meets a wizard there.

The wizard decides to use his magical staff to fly them across the mountain range.

While they fly across, the wizard asks the young man, “Where are you going; why are you crossing these mountains?”

The young beggar responds, telling him that he’s going to see the wise Buddha, and has a question for him about his destiny.

The wizard then says, “Can I please give you a question to ask the wise Buddha? I’ve been trying to go to heaven for 1000 years; according to my teachings, I should be able to go to heaven by now. Can you please ask the wise Buddha what I have to do to get to heaven?”

The young man thanks the wizard for helping him get across the mountains, and responds, “Of course, I’ll ask your question for you.”

As he continues his journey, he runs into his last obstacle, a giant river that he cannot imagine crossing.

Luckily, just as he was giving up hope, he meets a giant turtle that decides to help him cross.

As they’re crossing the river, the turtle asks him, “Where are you going?”

The man replies, “I’m going to see the wise Buddha, I’m going to ask him about my destiny.”

The turtle then says, “Since you’re going, can you please ask a question for me too? I’ve been trying to become a dragon for 500 years; according to my teachings, I should be a dragon by now. Can you please ask the wise Buddha what I have to do to finally become a dragon?”

The young man thanks him for helping him cross the river, and gratefully responds, “Of course, I’ll ask for you.”

The young man finally meets the wise Buddha.

The wise Buddha tells him he will answer three questions for him, and only three questions.

The young man immediately became upset; he had four questions, and wasn’t expecting this.

So, he thinks carefully, to himself.

He thinks about the turtle, who’s been living for 500 years, trying to become a dragon.

He thinks about the wizard, living for 1000 years, trying to get to heaven.

He thinks about the young girl, that will live her whole life unable to speak.

Suddenly, his problems seemed so small.

He looks to himself, and thinks, “I’m just a homeless beggar, with a short life; I can just go back home, and continue begging.”

So, he decides to put his question aside, and ask the other three.

The Buddha replies, “The turtle is unwilling to leave his shell. If he is unwilling to leave the comfort of his shell, he will never become a dragon.

The wizard is always carrying his staff, and never puts it down. It acts as his anchor, keeping him from heaven.

As for the girl, she will be speak when her soulmate is ready for her.”

The young homeless beggar bows, and turns to continue his journey back home.

As he’s on his journey back, he reunites with the turtle at the river.

He tells him, “Hey Turtle, you just have to leave your shell, and you’ll become a dragon.”

The turtle thanks him, and takes off his shell.

Inside his shell, there was priceless pearls from the deepest parts of the river.

He gives it to the homeless beggar, and says, “Thank you, I don’t need this anymore.” Then becomes a dragon, and flies away.

The homeless man then comes to the wizard at the top of the mountain.

He tells him, “Hey Wizard, you just have to put down your staff, and you’ll go to heaven.”

The wizard lets go of the staff by giving it to the young man, thanks him, and ascends to heaven.

The young man now has wealth from helping the giant turtle turn into a dragon, and power from helping the wizard get to heaven; he feels like he’s ready for a great life.

He finally reaches his last stop – the family that gave him shelter.

He sits down with the family, and tells them, “Your daughter will be able to speak, only once it’s time for her to meet her soulmate.”

Just at that moment the daughter comes downstairs and says, “Is that the man from last week?”

[vc_row 0=””][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=””][/vc_column_text][vc_message]The stories found in Curious Fortune are not all original Curious Fortune creations; some are sourced from other creative artists who have shared their work online.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]