Life is Weird

Life is Weird

“I need my lunch back,” Frank said quietly to Randel. “I know you took it.”

“You can’t prove a thing.”

“I don’t want to prove it. I don’t want to get you in trouble. I just want my lunch back.”

Randel looked at him like he was crazy. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I’m hungry,” Frank said. “I don’t have any money so if you don’t give me my lunch back I won’t get any.”

“You shoulda eaten a bigger breakfast Chump.”

“I didn’t have any breakfast.”

“Why not?”

“Truthfully? My mom had to get to work early and there was nothing in the house to eat. She gets paid today though, and she’s going to the store on the way home.”

“How can you have nothing to eat in the house?”

“Oh, well, we haven’t got much,” Frank said, a bit embarrassed, “We had just enough bread left to make my sandwich.”

Randel looked in the bag and saw one skinny sandwich and nothing else. He immediately handed it back to Frank. “Sorry Bud, I was just hungry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine. Listen if you try tomorrow I’ll probably have two sandwiches. When we have enough, Mom is always extra generous.”

That day had an effect on both boys. With his new found empathy, Randel stopped stealing lunches, lost weight and at sixteen, became a model for sports equipment. He prospered well.

Frank made up his mind to actually have as much as everybody else, more even. He studied hard and also prospered well. At thirty he was audited. His underhanded methods got him prison time for ten years.

But in prison, he got regular meals, and thanks to Randel, he knew how to handle bullies. He felt like he was on vacation.

Life is weird.