The Boy with the Dollar

There was once a boy who had a dollar to spend and the whole day ahead to decide what to do with it. This was the day he was waiting for all week, he had gotten a dollar from his grandmother when she visited on Tuesday and now it was Sunday, the day he can choose to buy anything in the world with that dollar. So he went along down the street towards the part of town where the stores were located. There were quite a few choices for him, right from candy, comics, toys, or maybe he can try something new. "All kids end up getting candy, or toys or comic books, why not buy something different for a change" thought the boy.

He came up to "Mathilda's Discount Store" and went in to find out what he could get that was unique and different. He went towards the register, and looked up the counter at the lady, and asked her "Ma'am, I have a dollar, what can I get for it?"

"Well little boy, you can have 10 of these Double berry twist candies, or 5 of these Sweet Lemon-lime mango candies, or a Super-pow! chocolate bar or two pop soda drinks, which of these would you like?"

"None of them, I don't want to get candy like every one else, I want something different"

"Oh, would you like the latest issue of Dragon Rockets comic instead? or how about the new
Awesome Man issue, its very popular you know, your friends all have one by now for sure"

"No, I don't want to get comics like everyone else either"

"Hmm, well for a dollar, you can get a yo-yo, or a slinky or the new Lightning monkey"

"No, no toys, its just what they always get, I want something else"

"What else would you like dear, these are the things all kids come and buy, what else would you like for a dollar" said the lady getting slightly impatient.

"Well you tell me, thats why I asked you!"

"No need to get upset, lets see here, I have these keychains for a dollar each, would you like one?"

"No I have a nice one, it looks like a car, these are no good"

"Well then, tell you what, why don't you go look around and see if you find anything for under a dollar"

"Well ok" said the boy and walked inside.

This was tough, the shelves were quite high, he could only reach up to the second level and even then could barely tell what was where and how much it cost, so he was relegated to browsing the lower shelves for something to get. There was so much stuff lying around, 10.99$, 15.99$, 3.99$, 25.99$ but nothing for 99 cents, or even close. This wasn't quite working out. Aisle after aisle, looking up and down, trying to find something of some interest, he had already covered most of the store, clothes, shoes, laundry detergent, cereal, rice, medicine, buckets, and on and on...and then something caught his eye. Aisle 6, lower shelf, he saw this strange looking object. Curious, he pushed the other stuff aside and reached for it, 99 cents it said. "Wooow" went the boy, this was it, he had found something for under a dollar, finally! So he ran back up to the counter and presented the item to the lady and said "I want to buy this!"

"Hahahaha!" uncontrollable laughter, "Hahaha!, what are you going to do with that???"

"I dunno, I like it"

"Hehehe, well ok, it comes to a bit more than a dollar with tax, but I'll give it you anyway, that will be a dollar"

"Here you go" said the boy and handed her to dollar bill and started heading back home. Once outside, in broad daylight, he had more time to inspect his purchase. "Well lets see what this does" and took a closer look. He shook it violently, it didnt make a sound, he hit it on his hand, and it didn't seem to make any noises, or do anything special, he tried twisting and pulling, but nothing happened. He couldn't figure out what it was at all, all it said on the side was 'Banpo'. Thats it. No explanation, no tag, no feature list, nothing, just 'Banpo'.

"Well I'll do something with it" thought Billy.

So he headed back home, and just as he entered, his mom came out the kitchen

"Well, did you go shopping?"

"Yes I did ma"

"So what did you get with your money"

"I got this" and he showed her his purchase, with a slightly uncertain expression since he wasn't sure how his mom was going to react.

"Hahaha!" uncontrollable laughter, "Hahaha! how did you think of that???"

Think of what? He had no clue what she was saying, she was having the same reaction the lady in the store had and he didn't even know what it was he was holding in his hand

"My dear Billy, that was very thoughtful of you, you went and got me a whisk, just when I was thinking of baking a cake for you"

"Uhm.....ok"

Billy was still confused, as his mom took away the object and went inside, he wondered what was going on, and as he sat waiting and wondering at the table, he saw his mom use the whisk

"Oh so thats what its for!" exclaimed Billy.

That evening, he was treated to chocolate cake, which he was tasting for the first time and it was fantastic, he was loving every mouthful, and while going through several slices and stuffing himself with delicious cake, he felt it was well worth the dollar that he spent.

Rofa and the Secret Parcel

It was a cold dark night in November when the car came driving down the road towards Rofa with just a single headlight. Rofa couldn't quite tell if this was intentional or just carelessness by the driver, for he was waiting to receive a secret parcel from an unknown man sent by a contact. "A dark road lit by a one eyed car looks creepier" thought Rofa as it came closer. The brakes squeaked gently as the car slowed down, the driver didnt seem to be in any sort of hurry thought Rofa, and found quite odd considering that he was carrying the secret parcel. But as it slowed down to a walking speed, he sort of felt as though the driver had no intention of stopping. He could have very well driven up to him much quicker than he did, and right now, he was quite a distance away crawling towards him instead of getting it over with. Rofa got impatient, he had been asked to wait under the fifth tree on the street, but he couldn't take this anymore, he decided he would walk towards the car to save time.

He adjusted his cap, looked across the road to see if anyone else was looking, and slowly started walking towards the one eyed car. He was so unsure about his move, that he decided to take the first few steps really slowly. Gently, he moved a few paces towards the car, he was no longer under the assigned tree, he looked up to see where the car was. It was still some distance away and approaching at the same speed. "Well" Rofa thought, "my movement towards him hasnt made him change his mind, so I might just have to meet him at the midway point". So he picked up his pace, started getting anxious as he started walking faster, this was it, he was going to get the secret parcel, and the exchange would've occurred smoothly.

As he approached closer, he noticed something strange, the headlight didnt appear fixed, it was jerking around left and right ever so slightly, something wasn't right, Rofa got even more anxious and walked even faster towards the light, quickly, almost starting a mild jog. He got closer and closer and what did he see? A bicycle with a headlamp, with a dull looking bugger pedaling ever so slowly, struggling to pedal any faster. All the world came collapsing around him as he thought of what he had just done, he had moved out of his designated spot.Just then, he heard a screech behind him, he turned around to see a car waiting next to the fifth tree, with both headlights on.

Rofa had to make a move, he started running towards the car immediately, startling the guy in the bicycle. But just as he started gathering speed, the car took off, made a sharp turn and with squealing tires left the scene. Rofa reached the fifth tree only to see two red lights moving away in the distance, sighing and panting to gather his breath, he had lost his chance to get the secret parcel. The guy on the bicycle slowly went past him with a random squeak from the brakes and the dull looking bugger whistling a soft tune...