The District of Never Die

It was just a regular penny, a single cent laying on the top step of a subway stairwell. There was nothing special about it. That is, there was nothing special about it until he picked it up.
He was just a regular guy, another human being breathing the air of an over-crowded city. There was nothing special about him either. He just felt like picking up the dirty old penny laying there abandoned by everyone else. The Lincoln Memorial staring him in the face didn't even discourage him. So it wasn't lucky, who cared? It was a penny.
Standing there at the top of the subway entrance, unlucky penny in hand, the man looked around. A forest of steel stood cold around him, the harsh sunlight doing nothing to help reduce the humidity. A steady stream of cars rushed around him like crazed ants going about their business. The mass of people bustled along, never even looking up from their daily monotony.
The man and his penny just stood there soaking it all in. He used to be one of them. Just another face in the crowd, another meaningless individual in a sea of individuals. He used to think his life meant something. But then his perfect world fell apart and he caught a glimpse of reality. It wasn't as pretty as he thought it was. In fact, it was a lot darker than he thought it was. It had scared him. It had scared him so much that he didn't know how to turn back to his old reality. He was stuck in this world of hatred, of greed, of narcissism and gluttony. Piece by piece, minute by excruciatingly slow minute, he came to recognize that there was no blue pill to help him escape his real life Wonderland.
And yet here was this penny. An unlucky penny. Just like him. He was an unlucky soul in a world that only wanted the lucky.

No one looked up to watch the man put his unlucky penny down. Nobody saw him turn away. He melted into the uniform crowd without notice.

Abraham Lincoln stared blankly into the sun while sitting alone atop a subway stairwell.