Week 2 Storytelling: To Be or Not To Be Best Fri-end-s

Supernatural TV show logo.
CW network uploaded it on Wikipedia. 

Jom and Terry are the best of friends. They have been friends for a long time. Their favorite thing to do is to drive their trucks, especially during the winter season when the roads were empty and covered in snow and ice. 

It was winter, and on one snowy evening, the two friends decided to go for a drive. They drove and drove without any real destination in mind. After some time both decided to stop at a pool hall. They both went in and got comfy inside.

A waiter came over and asked, “Can I take your order, please”?

“Yes” said Jom.

“I will have a hamburger, a side of fries, and a large coke please” said Terry.

“I will have the same” said Jom.

After waiting for some time, they received their food, which Jom finished really quickly. Terry was surprised at how fast Jom had finished his food as they usually get done at the same time. Jom got up and walked over to the window.

“Jom” called out Terry.

But Jom did not pay attention to Terry. He kept looking through the window.

“JOM” yelled Terry.

But Jom did not move an inch.

Terry came over to see what was wrong with Jom. He was confused after he looked through the window. It was Spike, the deal maker who had the power to make any deal anyone had ever wanted. Spike had a glowing red shadow that glowed really brightly wherever he went. Terry remembered the deal Jom had made with Spike before he met Jom.

“I want a friend who would be by my side all the time” Jom said to Spike.

“I need half of your soul in return” said Spike.

“Deal” said Jom.

Spike instantly went and found the loneliest kid on the block. His name was Terry. He brought Terry over and told him to become friends with Jom. To Spike’s surprise, Terry became friends with Jom voluntarily without any spells from Spike.

Now there was only one reason Spike comes back to meet the person he had previously made a deal with: the deal maker called him and wants to make another deal.

“Jom, why is Spike here?” asked Terry anxiously.

“I made another deal with Spike” said Jom.

“What? What kind of deal this time, Jom?” asked Terry.

Just then Spike came through the door and brought a guy with him who looked to be super rich. Every expensive items Terry could think of, the guy was wearing them.

Spike came in and shook hands with Jom. And looked at Terry and said “Sorry buddy boy, you have been replaced!”

Terry understood immediately but asked anyway, “What is he talking about, Jom?”

“I need a best friend who can pay for anything I want” said Jom.

“What? What about our friendship? Why not just wish for you to become rich?”

“I am sorry, but our friendship seems to be over” said Jom. “My second wish had to be related to my first wish and it would replace my first wish ---I had to wish for another friend!”

“Ok then,” said Terry, who was left without any words. He left the pool hall and went back to his house.

Spike left also. Jom and his new friend, Tyke, also left. Upon returning home, Jom started finding out why wishing for another friend was not such a good idea. Tyke was not interested in playing games, in studying, in pretty much doing anything with Jom. When they went shopping the next day, Tyke made Jom pay for everything they bought. Jom started wondering what was happening. While doing so, he remembered when he and Terry would have such a great time when they used to hang out.

After coming back home, Jom remembered a crucial detail to his deal with Spike: since Spike did not use a spell in the first deal, he couldn’t use a spell in the second deal either. So even though Tyke is hanging out with him, Tyke doesn’t consider Jom as a friend. In the upcoming week, Jom started resenting his decision to replace Terry. During that time, Tyke had enough of Jom and his constant nagging. Tyke was so tired of Jom that Tyke worked on a plan to kill him.

The next day, Tyke came over to Jom’s house and they were both hanging out. At one point Jom fell asleep. After some time, Jom started to open his eyes after hearing some noises.

“AHHHHHHH” Jom started yelling as he saw Tyke with a sharp weapon in his hand. Jom looked to flee, but found his hands and legs to be tied. He looked on hopelessly trying to talk some sense into Tyke.

“STOP Tyke. What are you d…………” before he finished, Tyke started swinging, “AHHH…..” Jom screamed. “STO…..” Jom yelled while closing his eyes, knowing this is his last moment.


Everything went quiet. No sound was heard in the room.


The room was completely filled with the color red.



…….



Tyke was out of breath. He was shocked at what had happened.



……



He somehow got from Jom’s house to his just as he was inches away from making contact with Jom with his swing.

Jom opened his eyes after some time. He was surprised to see Spike and his glowing red shadow in the room. He understood Spike had saved him, but didn’t know why. But he was very thankful anyway.

Right then Terry opened the door to Jom’s house and came in. Terry had sold his whole soul in exchange for getting things back to the way they were before Jom had asked for his second wish. Since the wish was very big, Spike needed Terry’s full soul in order to do the deal. Terry did it without even thinking about it.

Jom was very happy to see Terry. After he became untied, he apologized to Terry for everything and promised never to treat his best friend badly ever again.


Author's Note. This story is mainly based on the fable "The Goatherd and the Wild Goats" found at the Aesop for Children book. This book was illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). In the original story, a Goatherd found some wild goats in a cave, where he sought shelter with his goats. After seeing the wild goats, he fed them more than his own goats in an attempt to take them with him. After getting out of the cave, the wild goats went their own ways citing the treatment of his old goats as the reason. I tried to make the story as elaborate as possible by changing everything from the characters to the settings. But I kept the important lesson intact: It is unwise to treat old friends badly for the sake of new ones. I was watching Supernatural before I started writing this story, that's where all the soul selling and making deals came from. The character's names came from Tom and Jerry, which my sister was watching. I would like to think this was one way to complete the growth challenges. Another lesson was also added in the story. The lesson from the fable "The Ass and the Load of Salt" - The same measures will not suit all circumstances. Jom found this out the hard way. Since Supernatural was my biggest source for this story, the logo of supernatural is my image for this story.

Bibliography: "The Goatherd and the Wild Goats" by Milo Winter, from The Aesop for Children (1919). Web Source: UnTextbook.

                      "The Ass and the Load of Salt" by Milo Winter, from The Aesop for Children (1919). Web Source: UnTextbook.