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In the heart of the shopping mall at East and Vine was a little antique shop full of ancient curios and wonders. The proprietor was Mr Gates who was a little sinewy man with round glasses and long gray whiskers.

Mr Gates purchased his items to sell from strange visitors who came regularly from the far east and never knew what he was getting until it arrived. That day a new item had been sold to him that he just couldn't identify.

The unusual looking object which he held in his hands was unremarkable to gaze upon. It was made of some sort of metal and had a hinge at one side. Mr Gates realized that this meant that it could be opened and nearly broke his fingernails whilst prising it open.

Inside the metal case was a nut. The nut was possibly a walnut, or a similar nut in any case it wasn't worth anything. Annoyed with himself for having parted with good money so wastefully Mr Gates tossed to nut out of his shop door into the shopping mall and put the metal case up for sale at two dollars.

The nut lay on the floor of the mall undisturbed until a passer by accidentally kicked it with his foot. It flew across the shiny mall floor and ended up in-front of a homeless man who had come inside to shelter from the rain.

Upon seeing the nut the homeless man picked it up and decided to save it for his supper if he couldn't find anything better.

He sat waiting for the rain to stop, daydreaming about days from his past that had been better than today.

Eventually a business man sat beside him to read his newspaper. The business man looked rich as he was wearing a golden watch and a fine suit. I wonder what its like to be the business man, thought the homeless man.

All at once the nut in his pocket lit up, although he never knew that it had. What he did know though, was exactly what it felt like to be the business man! He knew everything that the business man knew and suddenly understood stocks and shares and how to make his own money from nothing but the gift of being able to talk people around to his way of thinking.

So the homeless man rushed off to make his fortune and tossed aside the nut from his pocket as he could afford some better food now.

Meanwhile the strange visitor who had sold the nut to Mr Gates returned to the shop and begged and pleaded to buy the nut back. Apparently he had sold it by mistake to Mr Gates as it had already been promised to a Prince in the far east.

Mr Gates grumbled that it had been no good anyway and told the strange visitor to search for it himself

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