Ohhh this is so sad! The homeless man, stumbling through the snow, seeking refugee and turned away, only to fall asleep in the bitter cold. But that is not the end of this tale, awoken 100 years later! And he wasn't there the whole time frozen, appearing much to the curiosity of the second protagonist. A very nice way to fulfil the prompt.
The future world as shown through his eyes is wonderful, the change in climate, fashion (love the outfit description) and society. You paint the changes in the last one there so very well, a world where someone with a hole in their shoe is so out of place says a lot about how people look after each other. (and is this a world where people maybe do slip through time now and then?)
The realisation of the relationship between the two characters is such a nice touch, bringing the past and future together, and then visiting the grave, the passage of time and the contrast of those two moments mirroring the joy and sadness of life.
There is a whole other story here, in how those who fight in service of their country are treated, and the desire to start over, and the wish for a place that was possible. He could have been a vet, having served and been so damaged by it that he couldn't go back to his family, passing away in the snow. I doubt it was the story you were referencing in your end blurb, but there is something about this that reminded me and the beauty and sadness of the little match girl <3<3
UwU ~ Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliments! Indeed, I had worked on this story a way long back (ending in a Xtian note of the person weeping their own death as a spirit rising to Heaven) but now I wanted to spruce up a happier ending for the old man. And so, this his new Heaven, granted already a rebirth and to try again at life but without the ills of a century past.
Indeed, all the crass has to go! Horrid snow storms, possibly corrected by now. Fashion, better believe it that they didn't suffer having to live with NeoLiberalism for a long time!~ Society on that same beat too~ And I might have fun with this story a bit if I ever come back to it. Indeed, probably the best point of comparison of the two societies was indeed a microcosm example of one's clothing. (The whole Universe is full of galaxy hoppers being ripped open at random, who really knows how he got there and how long it really took him. For all we care, easily could've been in a time-stasis in a galaxy hopper and then released when it opened again once more~)
Indeed, I wanted to touch upon this aspect that I rarely see in Utopian stories ever: what the peck is the great-grandchildren like, where's the plot/story/pacing, what do people think of the past and how do people get around? I can only count on my one finger one story that does it, and it so happens to mainly fill up that one finger: Utopia by Sir Thomas More. Regardless, this is more of a "positive" projection of progress into the future and I just wanted to paint a happy story where indeed some problems yet do still remain unsolved and will have to be talked about and rectified. But, at the same time, isn't a death-defying trait of any one person.
Indeed, I was trying to comment on homeless vets and how disenfranchised they were. At least the ones that were denied of their guaranteed GI (basically like welfare for Troops) at the crises of Capital. And given the chance (notice that I didn't even mention the town's name until the 2119 date kicked in) to exist, he has a chance to connect to whatever is left and at least provide some guidance as a male-figure, knowing full well he can't nor wants to pretend even being a father-figure. (He's a bit smart to notice how a child like Clarentine got around fine, so he'd at least let the child be free and be his guidance instead.) But of course I was hoping to spark a memory inside of yer brain about that lil' match girl!!!!~ <<<<3333