The Store of the Worlds by Robert Sheckley. Short summary

5 seconds

Wayne is given the opportunity to choose any reality and live in it for a year. Of the many worlds, he chooses a world of the past without war or destruction.

1 minute

Wayne arrives at the cabin of old man Thompson, who offers to settle for a year in any alternative world in any guise — god, assassin, emperor.

For this you have to give up everything you have and lose ten years of your life to nervous overload.

Wayne returns home, contemplating the old man’s offer. He continues to work as a broker, life passing in worry and concern for his wife and children.

A year goes by. Still not knowing what to say to Thompson, Wayne wakes up in his shop.

He thanks the old man for a good time and has no regrets about choosing the world of the recent past. Wayne gives up everything he has: boots, wire, knife, stew.

He leaves the cabin and sees the world around him mangled by nuclear war. Wayne hurries to the shelter before dark, to avoid being caught by the rats and in time for the nightly potato distribution.