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Week 9 Story: Lunch Money


Once upon a time, 

there was a middle school in a big city in the middle of a small country. At this middle school, there were there was a boy named George who was in the 7th grade. One day during algebra, George was asked by the teacher to go over to the other building and ask the receptionist for more paper. George hopped out of his desk obligingly and started down the long corridor that lead out of the building and into the other one that housed the administrative offices. When David was almost there, Jared, the school bully, stepped out from behind a corner.

Jared was a big kid, almost the size of a 12th grader, and he never let anyone forget it. He walked over to George and plucked him up by the collar. Jared said to David, “Where do you think you’re running off to? I told you that from now on you owe me lunch money.”
George didn’t know what to do. His mom had only given him a dollar for lunch and if he gave it to Jared it would be a long time before he could eat again. Thinking fast George said, “Hey. Hey. I don’t have any money today, but what if I brought you someone else that did? You could just take their money, yeah?”

Jared narrowed his eyes at George and said, “Okay but they better have a lot. I want to get a candy bar today and those are two fifty.” He let George go roughly and George hurried on to the administrative building.

When George got back to class he looked around for someone that he could send to Jared. Up at the front of the class he saw David. David was never very nice to George, so he figured he deserved it. George went up to the teacher and told her that the principal had told him to send David down to talk to him. The teacher, believing George’s rouse, called on David and told him he needed to go see the principal in the administrative building.

George took his seat and was relieved that he would get to eat lunch today, but George had picked the wrong person. David wasn’t like the other kids. He was magic, and he suspected that something wasn’t right. So, when David stepped out in the hall he pulled two pencils from his pocket. He said to them that one was him and one was George. Nest he asked them why he was going to see the principal. The pencils told him that it was a trap, and there was someone waiting to take his money. He asked the pencils what he should do to avoid this. The pencils told him that he should wait down the hall, and when the teacher started to wonder where he was and go to look for him in the administrative building he should go confront the bully. So that is what David did.

After waiting a while, David started towards the administrative building. When he was almost there, Jared stepped out from behind some lockers and picked him up by the collar. Jared said to David, “So you are the one George sent to give me money. Alright, fork it over!”

Just as Jared had said this, David’s teacher came around the corner looking for him. She had heard what Jared said and saw him holding David by the collar. Seeing this and having no tolerance for bullies, the teacher sent David back to class, and Marched Jared to the principal’s office immediately.
After that, no one bothered David for lunch money. George apologized to David, and they became fast friends.

The End.



Author's Note:


This story was based on the story of Motikatika in the African Stories Unit. In the original Motikatika was a baby that was offered to an ogre by his mother in return for her own life. In that story, Motikatika is magic and enchants some bones that tell him how to avoid the ogre. After avoiding being eaten a few times he eventually tricks the ogre into eating his father. I didn't enjoy the gruesomeness of that story, but liked the plot line, so for this story I made the Motikatika into David and his mother into another student, George. I set the story in a school and instead of an ogre, I made the villain a bully. In the end, no one is hurt and justice is done, which is my favorite way to end a story. I hope you enjoyed it! 


Bibliography

The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903).
Photo: Bully Nation by garysimpson via Deviant Art
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