Danny was on his way home from school one day when he heard the distinct sound of someone biting into a Nestle Crunch Bar. It had been a long day and Danny was very hungry, so he followed the joyful chewing sound until he came upon its source.
A boy was leaning against a shop window, happily eating his Nestle Crunch Bar. Danny quickly rushed up to the boy, pulled out his Swiss Army knife, and cut his throat. Blood poured from the boy’s open neck and he collapsed onto the ground. Danny bent down and picked up the candy bar, now soaked, and let out a little laugh. As he excitedly took his first bite he noticed another boy walking out of the shop behind him.
The boy and Danny made eye contact. Realizing that he had no chance of getting away, the boy walked slowly towards Danny.
“What do you want?” Danny asked.
“Oh please,” the boy said, “let me be your servant. What ever you need I’ll help you with, just please don’t hurt me.”
Danny paused for a moment, obviously amused by the boy’s fear.
“Alright,” he responded; “do what I say and you’ll even have some good food to eat.”
Danny lead the boy to one of his favorite hiding spots and explained his plan to him: “Each day after school you have to go downtown and see if there are any kids holding Charleston Chews, Bazooka Gum, Necco Wafers, Slo Pokes, Razzles, Satellite Wafers, Bit-O-Honeys, Atomic Fireballs, Caramel Creams, Mary Janes, Tootsie Rolls, Candy Buttons, Smarties, Dots, Gobstoppers, Now and Laters, Pixy Sticks, Fun Dip, Pop Rocks, Boston Baked Beans, or Bonomo Turkish Taffy. If you see any, find me here and say: ‘Danny, food is in sight.’ Then I will kill whoever has it and I will give you some of the candy.”
So day after day the boy walked around downtown and, spotting a kid eating candy, he would return to Danny’s hiding spot and shout: “Danny, food is in sight!”
Then Danny would rush out and kill whoever had the candy, sharing the spoils with the boy.
Now, the boy had never had such great candy to eat, or so much of it. His parents were very strict and didn’t allow him to enjoy these sugary treats. So as time went on, the boy grew larger and larger, until he was really proud of his great size and strength.
“Gosh, look how big and strong I am,” he said to himself.
“Why am I living day after day on food given to me by another? I want to kill for my own eating. I’ll go out and find an adult with a big box of Jujyfruits and kill them for myself.”
So the boy went to Danny and said, “I want to eat candy that I have earned myself. Will you let me stay in your hiding spot, while you go downtown to look for an adult eating Jujyfruits? Then when you see one, you can come to me and say, ‘food is in sight!’ Then I’ll come out and kill them.”
“Listen,” Danny said, “only I can get away with killing adults. The world has never seen a boy like you who was able to do it. Just get over that idea and eat what I bring you.”
Nothing that Danny said, however, would deter the boy. So at last Danny gave in: “Fine, have it your way. Hide out here and I’ll go find someone.”
After half an hour Danny spotted a woman cheerfully chewing on a handful of Jujyfruits. He rushed back to his hiding spot, yelling out to the boy, “food is in sight!”
The boy jumped to his feet and ran towards downtown, instantly spotting the woman with the Jujyfruits. He pulled out Danny’s Swiss Army knife and started to run at her. But right before he could reach the woman, he slipped on a loose wrapper and fell to the ground. The woman quickly stomped on the boys arm as he tried to get back up, while an onlooker ran inside to phone the police.
Having watched all of this from his hiding spot, Danny grinned and said to himself, “There won’t be much more candy for you, you big loser!”
Danny rushed out and ran to the scene. He reached down and grabbed the Swiss Army knife from the boys hand, then lunged it into the woman’s leg. Once she was on the ground, Danny proceeded to repeatedly plunge the knife into her chest as blood danced over them. He then turned to the boy and swiftly pushed the knife into his heart. He picked up the remaining Jujyfruits before running back to his favorite hiding spot.
A Jataka Tale
Artwork by Whale Song Partridge
