The Tale of the Wild Moonlighter.

Once upon a time, in an ordinary small-town town, there lived a guy who was a jack-of-all-trades and a hard worker like no other. He lived a decent life — in fact, by today’s standards, you could say he lived a great life: a small house, a steady income, and beer with friends on the weekends. But suddenly, he got the urge to get married. Here’s how it went: he ran into a classmate from back in the day at the supermarket, and one thing led to another, and they started talking. She’d already been married and had very specific expectations when it came to men. Her expectations weren’t exactly sky-high, but she clearly wanted a bigger house than our guy had, a fancier car, and a more substantial bank balance. So our wonderful guy — in every sense of the word — decided that he needed to do a little prep work and step up his game before getting married.

So he headed to the coast in search of some big bucks. Back then — and, for that matter, even now — there was a major construction boom going on there; they were building one hotel after another, and there was no shortage of work for our guy. Especially for someone who was handy and quick on his feet. The guy started working on one site; they paid cash, and the pay was excellent. He’d work a week, then another, and they’d already call him to the next construction site. And then to another, and another. And he didn’t turn down any job: here an electrician, there a plumber, and he’d take on welding and painting too. As long as they paid him.

And gradually, he started to go wild. There was so much work that he had no time to shave or wash. He grew so unkempt that only his beard and nose stuck out from under his hard hat. His work clothes became multicolored, stained with paint and ketchup, scorched, one strap torn, and self-tapping screws spilling out of the holey pockets. He started eating whatever he could find and sleeping wherever he happened to be. A unique aroma of hard work began to linger around him — so strong that workers he happened to pass would flinch, and the foremen who brought him money in an envelope would first put on high-protection respirators.

And there was our guy, rushing around like a madman from one job to the next, never turning anyone down, taking on everything. You’d see his beard fluttering in the wind on the roof, glinting in the light of the welder, and he’d crawl out of the basement with a huge, dirty pipe under his arm, his nose poking out from behind a tangle of wires in the electrical panel. And sometimes the foreman would see a mountain of shifting rags in the corner, look surprised, only to find our guy laying tiles. And there was no sleep, no rest — only those coveted paychecks interested the guy.

And then, at some point, the guy disappeared. He’s gone. At first thought, well, he’s finally decided to take a couple of days off. But even after a couple of days, the guy hadn’t shown up. Just for form’s sake, went to the police — you never know. And the police didn’t find him, not at home, not on the beach, not in the basement. He vanished. Just let it go.

But from that moment on, strange knocks and rustling sounds began to be heard in the hotels at night, and minor mishaps started happening. It was as if someone were hitting the wall with a hammer, or suddenly a tile would fall off the wall, or the lights would start flickering. A strange shadow would flit through the hallways, someone would sigh in an empty room, or something shapeless would appear in the mirror. And it was worst for the foremen — every time they picked up cash, the bills would slip right out of their hands.

And a legend began to spread among the workers along the coast about the Wild Moonlighter. They said that the Wild Moonlighter roamed his lands and found no peace. And since he had no peace, no one would be able to work in peace either. And from then on, the laborers began to perform small but important rituals: as soon as they started a new job, they would be sure to cut off a lock of hair and burn it for good luck, so that the work would go faster and smoother. Or they would place a coin under their heel so that money would stick to them. And most importantly, to appease the Wild Moonlighter, so that his spirit would help when needed, or at least not get in the way.

That’s the story of a simple guy, a jack-of-all-trades, who went off in search of a big bucks.

And that classmate of his ended up marrying a manager at a Chinese car dealership.