The Bear, The Bull, The Broken Cable

The market had been in freefall for three weeks, and Marcus hadn't slept properly since October. His apartment overlooked the Hudson, but he'd kept the blinds closed — couldn't bear watching the city carry on while his portfolio bled red.

"Bear market territory," his broker had said that morning, voice thick with that practiced sympathy that really meant *you should've sold earlier*. Marcus had nodded, swallowed the taste of copper in his mouth.

Now, at 2 AM, his TV flickered and died. The cable connection — his last tether to the world outside these four walls — had finally snapped. He stared at the black screen for ten minutes before something in him cracked.

He found himself at a dive bar on Avenue C, where the bartender's nametag read BULL in peeling gold letters. Bull had seen worse than Marcus. Bull had seen divorce, bankruptcy, the slow erosion of dreams.

"Whiskey," Marcus said. "Make it two."

Bull poured. "Rough night?"

"Rough life." Marcus downed the first glass, felt it burn all the way down. "I lost three million dollars today."

Bull didn't blink. "My wife left me for my brother. Took the dog too." He slid the second glass closer. "Money's just paper, Marcus. It comes, it goes."

"It's not the money." Marcus stared at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. "It's that I finally won. I spent twenty years chasing the bull, riding the crests, and when the bear finally came — I mean, when it all collapsed — I realized I don't have anyone to call. No one who'd care if I was broke or rich."

Bull leaned against the back counter, arms crossed. His eyes were kind, which was somehow worse than pity. "You know what my grandfather used to say? 'A man who dies rich, dies alone.'"

"Did he?"

"No. He died alone anyway. But he was poor, so at least he had an excuse."

Marcus laughed — a rusty, unused sound. Outside, rain began to drum against the windows. The cable at his apartment was still broken. The markets would open in six hours. But for the first time in months, he didn't check his phone.

"Another?" Bull asked.

Marcus nodded. "Yeah. Just don't tell me the price."