Portrait of a Loser

What’s on my mind? A cautionary tale about greed, playing fair, and isolationism:

The lonely boy had everything except friends. Laughing and pointing at him, his father called him a loser.

“You'll never get anywhere with that handful of marbles!” he said. “Invite some boys to play. Tell them to bring their marbles.”

So the lonely boy did, putting up a rare purple cat’s-eye he promised to whomever won the game. His father bought him the cat’s-eye because his father urged him to win, no matter the cost.

When it came time to divide the spoils, the lonely boy falsely claimed the winner had cheated. The lonely boy took back the cat’s-eye, all his other marbles, and all of everyone else’s marbles. When the other boys protested, the lonely boy had a tantrum, upon which his father ordered everyone to leave.

The lonely boy now had the most marbles, but wanted more, and more, and still more. He had more marbles than anyone he’d ever met, but nonetheless inflated the numbers with untrue boasts.

The lonely boy had many hangers-on and others who feared him. Sometimes, he counted his marbles in secret, just because he could and because he believed no one could stop him.

The odd thing was, the more marbles the lonely boy had, the less people liked and respected him. The odder thing was, the more marbles the lonely boy had, the fewer friends he had. The oddest thing was, the more marbles he had, the more often people whispered: “Donald’s lost his marbles.” 

© Nicole Parton, 2019