The Future

A wise man walks along the side of a river. He hears weak calls for help and finds a person, clinging on to an old, dead branch for dear life.

"Help me," the person calls out as they see the wise man peek over the edge, "Get me out of here! I can't hold on any longer! Get me a rope, give me your hand!" The wise man looks around and spots a beautiful red flower growing on the riverbed. He picks it, holds it out and down to the person and says, "Take this. It's a magic flower. You'll be saved."

The person reaches for the magic flower and in so doing, lets go of the dead branch - the rushing river takes him away in an instance.

The wise man smiles and walks a little way further, where he finds the person, wet and bedraggled, washed ashore quite safely on a shallow stretch. He goes to the person, gives him the flower and says gently, "Told you so ..."