Wealthy Thomas McCan was born to a very poor family in a small village lost in the wild wild West. His father was sold as a slave when he was only a kid. His mother was the sweetest woman and a fantastic cook. She had named him Wealthy because that is how she felt when she had him.

Wealthy, 10, his baby sister Lucky, 4, and their parents lived in a small shed at the back of the Willowby family mansion. They had been slaves all their lives and worked around the clock to attend the Willowbys every need. The Willowbys were an affluent family that had gotten rich during the gold rush. They were also very nice people and treated the McCann's with respect and appreciation. Mrs Willowby even offered to teach Wealthy to read and write. Little Wealthy loved to learn and waited anxious for the weekly lessons. Mr McCan was not happy with that though.

 "Why do you bother? Don't you see we are slaves? We will always be slaves. You'll never amount to anything. I'd rather you helped me with my chores!"

Wealthy had other plans for himself though. He dreamed of owning a big house like the Willowbys' one day. With a big garden, a river and horses. He wanted to be a successful businessman like Mr Willowby. He spend hours daydreaming about this and coming up with small business ideas he would jot down on the diary Mrs Willowby had given him for his ninth birthday.

One day, Wealthy was sent to the village store to buy meat. This was a huge responsibility. He had to make sure the meat got home ok and impress Mrs Willowby. When he entered the shop he saw an old woman serving what  looked like the tallest man on earth wearing a brand new suit and hat, and white gloves in his hands. Wealthy was gobsmacked. He stared at the man for two minutes without even blinking. The gentleman spotted him.

 "Good day little boy, what's your name?"

 "Wealthy, sir" he replied.

 "Wealthy? Ha! What a peculiar name! Here's something to get you started boy".

The boy could not believe his luck when, only after he got the meat home safe and fresh, he opened his hand and... A golden coin!

This was the beginning of his dream. Wealthy was sent regularly to the village where he became friends with the tall man. At age 18, this
gentleman bought his freedom and gave him a job in his factory. He worked hard and also had the chance to put some of his business ideas into practice. When he turned 25, Wealthy bought a house just like the Willowby's and moved in with his family and his sister as his servant. His mother had died but his dad chose to stay a slave for the Willowbys for the rest of his days.

By Anna Aparicio
IINLP Life&Success Coach, Master Practitioner of NLP
Reiki II Practitioner
anna@delite.ie