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The grand prize is this man's soul

Whoever wins the Internet drawing is legally bound to Gerald Fraller for the rest of his life.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published November 15, 2006

TAMPA - Many people joke about selling their souls. Gerald Fraller is actually doing it.

The idea sprang from a long distance phone conversation with his only friend. Fraller's life was so miserable, he was willing to sell his soul to change it. The more Fraller thought about it, the more excited he got. He just needed to figure out how to market his soul.

"There's no way to measure it. There's no way to prove a soul exists," Fraller recalls thinking. "What if I could find a way to measure the output of a soul?"

And he did. Future family, career and creative ventures would all be fruits of his life. Fraller spent two months in his tiny, unfurnished apartment creating an online sweepstakes.

Monday, the day after his 28th birthday, which he spent alone, Fraller quit his job as a computer technician and launched his Web site: winmysoul.com.

Each dollar donated to Fraller equals one entry. The lucky winner will get a lifelong contract entitling the owner to 20 benefits, including:

A percentage of Fraller's taxable income for the rest of his life with a guaranteed minimum of $500 per year. The power to choose the first name of all his children, make his New Year's resolutions, plan his wedding day and even write the inscription on his tombstone.

Fraller is actively seeking a lawyer who will craft the contract so as to preserve his free will. But he says he's willing to do almost anything to turn his life around. Having spent most of his life alone, he likes the idea of a commitment that will tie him to another human being as long as he lives.

"I'm leaving behind a life I hated," Fraller said.

His life story is one of broken commitments. Fraller doesn't know his biological father. He says his mother abused alcohol and drugs to the point where she couldn't care for him. Foster families didn't keep him long enough to love him. He married young, and it ended in divorce. And when he landed his dream job in Taiwan, he wound up unemployed.

Fraller moved to Tampa last year to live with his friend and got a job he didn't like. Then, his friend moved away.

"I didn't have any family to turn to. Everything from my past came crashing back," Fraller said. "I went through a severe depression."

Fraller is optimistic about the risk he is taking. By the second day of his soul sale, he had collected $404 in donations and a bunch of encouraging e-mails.

He isn't going to draw a winner right away. By January 30, he'll set a date for the drawing, which he says will be no later than Nov. 1, 2007. Until then, he isn't spending the money. But he already knows the first step he'll take when he does: find a good therapist.

Fraller also wants a wife and includes a separate e-mail address on his Web site for marriage proposals. Already, about a dozen local single women have e-mailed him, Fraller said. One invited him to Thanksgiving dinner, so he wouldn't have to spend it alone.

"I don't know what the future holds, but I'm looking forward to it," Fraller said. "It's going to be a grand philosophical adventure. I'm going to uphold this until the day I die."

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 15, 2006, 01:43:09]