From Scrapyard to Redemption

Animated cartoon

Transcript

00:00In the back alley of a gray and tired town, behind rusted gates and under the

00:05crumbling roof of an old workshop, worked a man named Mr. Raleigh. He was a bent

00:11and bitter figure, skin like cracked leather, mind sharp but twisted with

00:16suspicion and regret. People said his heart had curled in on itself like the

00:22papers he used to burn in his furnace. He ran a scrapyard and hired desperate

00:27people, those who couldn't ask for more. His current worker was a quiet young man

00:32named Eli. Fresh out of the foster system, Eli had no parents, no savings and no

00:38choice. He swept floors, moved broken machines and stayed out of Raleigh's way.

00:44Mr. Raleigh had rules, no questions, no slacking, no getting smart. Eli obeyed

00:51them all. But unlike the other workers who came and went, Eli stayed. He didn't

00:58complain, even when Raleigh hurled insults or paid late. He didn't argue, even when

01:03Raleigh muttered twisted things under his breath, about people, about life, about the

01:08world being too soft now.

01:11Still, Eli watched. He listened. He noticed the locked door in the back room. He

01:17noticed how Raleigh touched a worn photograph when he thought no one was

01:20looking. A young woman in the photo, smiling, probably long gone. One night, a

01:27storm rolled in. The roof leaked, the power flickered, and Eli found Raleigh on the

01:33floor of the workshop, clutching his chest. No neighbors nearby, no family to call. Eli

01:40rushed him to the hospital. Raleigh survived, but woke up with a different look in his

01:45eyes. Less fire. More fog. For the first time, he asked Eli a question. Why'd you

01:52help me? Eli shrugged. Didn't think you deserved to die on that cold floor.

01:59Raleigh chuckled. Cracked and bitter, like gravel scraping metal. Still don't think I do.

02:05Eli kept working at the shop. Raleigh changed. A little. He still barked, still grumbled, still

02:12believed the world was rotting. But he paid on time now. He gave Eli the keys when he went out.

02:19He taught him how to fix engines, how to strip copper clean, how to negotiate with the steel buyers.

02:25Then one day, without warning, Raleigh handed Eli a thin envelope.

02:30Inside was a deed. Ownership of the yard. Place is yours, he said, coughing hard. I'm tired of being

02:39the villain. Eli didn't say anything. He just nodded, and they sat in silence as rain tapped the roof.

02:47That scrapyard became something new. Cleaner. Fairer. But one rule stayed nailed to the gate.

02:54Written in Raleigh Scrawl. No questions. No slacking. No getting cruel.