The World Will Be Different Tomorrow

Jack looked a little nervous as he leaned into the table, getting ready to divulge his biggest secret to his best friend, Moe.

“Look, I just found out… I mean I just figured out that I… Well, actually, I don’t know how long it’s been going on for. Seriously, it could have been years already,” started Jack.

“What?? What are you talking about man? Is everything ok??”

“Yeah, well that’s the thing.. everything’s better than ok’”

“I don’t follow..” Moe looked at Jack, confused and a little worried. “Hey, another round, please,” he called to the bartender about 10 feet away.

“Moe. I woke up yesterday morning and decided enough was enough. There’s just absolutely nothing left for me. No job, no girlfriend, shitty apartment, Lucky, my goldfish passed away last week... Gray skies all around, I’m telling you. Look, don’t get alarmed or anything, but I was ready to off myself.”

Moe became extremely alarmed.

“Moe, I’m telling, you, that was yesterday morning! In the afternoon, I was really bringing myself down, and I wasn’t even thinking about it, but seriously, only a miracle could have brought me out of it.”

Moe became extremely confused.

“I was just kinda zoning out, looking at the stuff on top of the small refrigerator in the bar by my living room, ya know what I’m talking about?”

“Yeah, sure,” Moe confirmed.

“Alright, Moe, I get that one of the reasons that everything keeps going wrong in my life is because I’ve never really been able to fit in; I’ve always been a little different than everyone else.”

Moe was confused both by what Jack was saying and also by how Jack all of a sudden seemed like a hippy.

“Well, I saw the old harmonica I picked up on my trip to New Orleans last year. I’d never even tried to play it, ya know.” Jack was developing a look in his eye that was starting to show his excitement.  “Moe, I swear, I figured my life out. I know why I’m different. I swear, it’s that miracle I needed. Moe, listen, I’ve been put on this earth by the grace of God to help people. I’m different than everyone else, even you, Moe.”

Moe was about to ask the bartender not to bring Jack any more beer.

“Moe, I’ve got a special ability. I’ve never heard of it before in my life. I swear, it’s like something out of a freaking comic book or something.”

“Jack, I really don’t follow. One minute you’re talking about killing yourself, the next, you’re talking about comic books. Please tell me what’s going on!”

“Alright, maybe I’d better just show you…” And with that, Jack pulled a harmonica out of his pocket, looked Moe very deeply in the eyes with a mark of confidence that his friend had never seen before, put his lips to the harmonica, and played Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

“Jack, I’m fucking serious! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Moe! That’s just it!!” Jack stood up so quickly that the chair shot out from under him. Jack was getting impatient and wondered if his friend was on drugs. “Alright Moe, look here, tell me when the last time was that you heard someone play the harmonica like that!! Huh?”

“Uhh.. well, I guess-“

“EXACTLY! And get this, before last night, I didn’t even know I could play!”

“Jack, what are you talking about?”

“Moe, don’t you get it?? It’s a fucking miracle!” Jack sat back down and leaned in towards Moe again, glancing over his shoulder and becoming gravely serious.

“But Jack, you were just talking about comic books..?”

“Moe, you know how comic book characters have super powers that they use to help right wrongs and save people?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well Moe, I’m not saying I’m gonna right any wrongs here, but I can definitely save people.”

“Jack, I really have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Alright, let’s take the economy as an example. Presidents and foreign ministers and all those people have been trying to fix it for God-knows-how-long, right? Well nothing has worked. Nothing. That’s because they’ve just been taking the wrong approach. Moe, this is my calling!”

Moe scratched his balding head.

“Jack, are you talking about fixing the global economy, or playing the harmonica?”

“Both, Moe, BOTH! And that’s just the start! Look, you know I’m not all that religious, but I’m telling you, God gave me a gift, and I need to use that gift to help people. World hunger, terrorism, cancer…. I can help fight all these things.”

“Jack, you just played a children’s song on your harmonica. It was pretty good, but I don’t see how this can-“

“Fuck you man, I’m not joking around here.”

Moe saw that he just had to let his friend go with it. At least now Jack wasn’t about to kill himself. “Alright, Jack. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Just wait, the world will be different tomorrow.”