The sun had just begun to rise when Aaron swung his legs out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A quiet breeze filtered through his apartment window as he pulled on his usual outfit: a faded gray hoodie, worn blue jeans, and scuffed white sneakers. The morning was still and soft, filled with the sounds of birds and the distant hum of traffic.
He made his way to work—just a small job as a stock clerk at a local warehouse—but one that helped him get by. He clocked in quietly, slipping past stacks of boxes and shelves of inventory until he spotted his friend Lucas by the loading dock.
Lucas grinned. "Hey, man! You look like you fought a bear in your dreams."
Aaron tried to laugh, but it came out hollow.
"You alright?" Lucas asked, frowning.
Aaron sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I did something really stupid yesterday."
Lucas leaned against a crate, arms crossed. "What kind of stupid are we talking?"
Taking a deep breath, Aaron explained the whole thing—how he'd been fiddling with his old smartphone, how he stumbled across a crypto site, how one accidental tap led to another… and how, in less than a minute, he had unknowingly confirmed a $10,000 investment into some shady token.
Lucas blinked. "Wait… ten thousand dollars?"
Aaron nodded slowly, his face pale. "Gone. Just like that. I didn't even realize what I was doing until it was too late."
There was a long silence. Lucas pushed himself off the crate, looking both stunned and frustrated.
"Dude, that's... insane! You didn't double-check anything? You just tapped stuff? What were you thinking?!"
Aaron looked down at his sneakers, his voice barely above a whisper. "I wasn't. I didn't even think it was real until I saw my balance."
Lucas let out a sharp breath and paced a little. "That's not just money. That's rent. Food. Life, man!"
Aaron closed his eyes. "I know. I know. I've been beating myself up over it all night."
After a long pause, Lucas walked back to him and put a firm hand on Aaron's shoulder.
"Look. You messed up. Big time. But what matters now is what you do next. You're not the first person to fall for that kind of scam—and you won't be the last. What you can do is learn from it, get smart about this stuff, and rebuild."
Aaron finally looked up. "You think I can?"
"I know you can. You're not alone in this," Lucas said with a small smile. "And hey, maybe next time, you'll let me look at your phone before you invest in the Banana Coin of Doom or whatever."
Aaron chuckled for the first time that morning, shaking his head. "Yeah. Lesson learned."
They walked back inside together, the early shift waiting—but now, at least, Aaron carried a little less weight on his shoulders.